Wireless Networking

February 8, 2005 6:27 PM

Wireless Networking: How can I get my Netgear WG311v2 card to connect to my Linksys WRT54G router? It was connected for about a day or so and now, not so much. (more inside)

I've been trying to keep a desktop PC with a Netgear WG311v2 (802.11g) PCI card connected to my Linksys WRT54G (also 802.11g) router with no success. It was connected for about a day to the router with a connection using WEP (128 bit), but then for no apparent reason dropped the connection and won't reestablish it. It can see my network SSID in both the Windows wireless utility and the Netgear software with decent signal, but won't connect. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the latest drivers and Netgear connection utility software. I've tried explictly setting the router and the card to use only 802.11g or 802.11b rather than mixed mode. I've tried to get the connection with no security, with 128 bit WEP, with MAC address filtering, and with WEP and MAC address filtering at the same time. The whole time I've been able to connect to my network just fine with a Dell laptop with built in 802.11b. The desktop machine with the Netgear card is running WindowsXP SP1, in case that matter. What gives?

posted by shinji_ikari to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Try updating the firmware on the router, or checking to see if it works with other wireless devices, if you or your friends have any. There's been at least one post on WRT54G failure rate and quality on AskMeFi, so it might be worth checking. Mine has been a little flaky.
posted by mikeh at 6:46 PM on February 8, 2005

Does it connect up alright when you physically plug your machine into the back of the linksys? I've had pretty good luck with the ole wrt54g, but they do seem to work better with the latest firmware.

What kind of failure to connect are you experiencing? Does it connect and just not give you an ip address... or will it just not link up at all?
posted by ph00dz at 7:46 PM on February 8, 2005

Yeah, I have another desktop connected to the router with an ethernet cable and that works just fine. Same for other wireless devices like my laptop. It looks like it's not connecting at all. The Windows wireless network connection icon always says the connection is unavailable, and the Netgear software shows no connection either. It looks like a newer version of the WRT54G firmware just came out in January so I'll give that a shot and hope it works.
posted by shinji_ikari at 8:40 PM on February 8, 2005

Can you connect the laptop to the desktop ad-hoc? It sounds to me more like an issue with the desktop than the router...
posted by pompomtom at 8:54 PM on February 8, 2005

Sounds like the card has a physical fault. Return it to the manufacturer for warranty service.
posted by skallas at 11:14 AM on February 9, 2005