Wireless network connection problem

October 8, 2009 3:15 PM

ARGH. Wireless connectivity problem. Laptop tells me I am connected with excellent signal strength, and yet I'm not able to load any webpages.

So, I am in the process of moving. I got internet service connected at the new place, and my laptop (running Windows XP) connects to the internet with no problem when hooked up via Ethernet. So then I unhooked the wireless modem from my old place (where it had been working just fine with my laptop), and hooked it up at the new place.

My wireless network shows up in the list of available networks on my laptop; when I try to connect to it, I get the message that it is connected and signal strength is excellent. But -- it's not actually accessing the internet. I *can* connect with a neighbor's unsecured wireless network, but not with mine, even though every screen that relates to the wireless connection status tells me I'm connected.

Stuff I have tried with no effect:
--Rebooting.
--Checking all hardware connections.
--Disabling Windows firewall.
--Repairing the connection.

In "Network Connection Details" it says:
--Address Type: Assigned by DHCP
--IP Address: 192.168.1.100
--Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
--Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
--DHCP Server: 192.168.1.1
--Lease obtained: 10/8/2009 3:06:37 PM
--Lease expires: 10/9/2009 3:06:37 PM
--DNS Servers: 68.87.69.146
68.87.85.98
68.87.78.130

I have WPA security on the network, but the password or key don't seem to be presenting any problems.

It would probably help if I had a better grasp of how wireless networks work. But, based on this -- any ideas? Anything I could try?

posted by Kat Allison to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Double-check that your wireless router is connected (by ethernet) to your broadband (cable/DSL/etc.) modem.

While connected to your wireless network, go to http://192.168.1.1. You should need to enter a password; if you're not sure, try leaving the username blank and entering "admin" as the password. (Or search Google for the default password for your particular router.) This will let you access the setup and status pages for your router, which might give more information.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:21 PM on October 8

The wireless router is doing NAT, so it's standing in between you and the internet; for whatever reason, the local network is up, but the external network isn't. Try changing the DNS servers to 192.168.1.1 (a lot of NAT routers also act as stand-ins for DNS servers) to see if it's that the DNS isn't resolving, but packets are moving fine. Also, make sure your wireless router is actually connected to the internet - if you just took the ethernet cord out of the computer and plugged it in to the router, it might be a crossover cable, or is expecting a crossover cable. The wireless end doesn't sound like the problem; it's somewhere at the point where the wireless access point connects to the internet.
posted by AzraelBrown at 3:22 PM on October 8

Can you ping the default gateway of 192.168.1.1? If so, then it might just be a DNS issue. If you can't ping the gateway, then it's likely that you are not actually making a connection and I'd start looking at the WPA not authenticating properly. A simple enough test of this would be to set the router to be unencrypted and see if it starts working.

Also, when you plugged into ethernet, were you plugging into your wireless router, or bypassing it and plugging into the modem? If so, you need to remember to powercycle the modem every time you plug a different device into it so that it knows to assign a new IP address.
posted by quin at 3:23 PM on October 8

All comments and suggestions are excellent, but quin gets the prize for reminding me that -- TA DA -- the ONE thing you gotta ALWAYS do with connectivity problems, just like rebooting with software problems, is -- powercycle the goddamned modem!!

(Oh my god I am so totally embarrassed and ashamed of myself. My only excuse is that I've been packing/painting/cleaning/moving, with bronchitis, for the past week, and have no brain left.)

Thanks so much, everyone, and apologies for taking up your time with my numbskullery!
posted by Kat Allison at 4:24 PM on October 8