Wireless network magic?

September 1, 2006 10:50 AM

Why is my wireless network WORKING?

I have a strange problem/non-problem that's driving me batty. My wireless networking is working without a problem. But ipconfig suggests that it shouldn't be. When I type ipconfig, I get "A device attached to the network is not functioning." But I do have an IP address that shows in Network Connections and I can access the internet no problem.

This whole thing started when I tried to install a Linksys bridge/retransmitter to extend the range of the network (I know, I know, bad idea). After that disaster, I had to re-install XP from scratch. I have an Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter on a Thinkpad. I am using a Netgear device that is a cable modem/wireless router in one (at the insistance of the cable company) with WEP (my roommate will not upgrade to WPA). I have the correct WEP key. After trying to install the bridge, the cable company had to come out to get everything working again.

I have updated my drivers. I have checked that Winsock is not corrupted using the instructions at www.howtonetworking.com. I have tried ipconfig /all, ipconfig /renew, and other variants. I have used netsh to reset TCP/IP. Sometimes, when I try ipconfig, my connection *stops* working, but if I turn the wireless radio off and on and reboot, it starts working fine again.

This might sound really stupid to pursue, because I am not having any obvious problem, but I really want to know why ipconfig is not working and how to fix it. Any ideas?

posted by underwater to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Is it possible that the error you are seeing is in reference to your ethernet card, not your wireless network? Barring that, is the IP address you have being dynamically assigned or is it static? Ipconfig will occasionally take issue with trying to renew a static IP address.
posted by quin at 11:20 AM on September 1, 2006

Also, rather than doing an ipconfig /renew, try going into your Network Connections folder and when you right click on Wireless Network Connection, it should give you the option to repair. This is similar to /renew, except that is also does some other maintenance like flushing your DNS.

Generally speaking, this is not something that you would ordinarily do with a wireless connection. (It's really more for when you are using ethernet), the IP is renewed when the wireless network connection is established.
posted by quin at 11:25 AM on September 1, 2006

Response by poster: Is it possible that the error you are seeing is in reference to your ethernet card, not your wireless network?

If that was true, wouldn't I expect to see an IP for the wireless even if there is an ethernet problem? I do have a dynamic IP.

try going into your Network Connections folder and when you right click on Wireless Network Connection, it should give you the option to repair.

I have tried this, unfortunately.

Please more ideas!
posted by underwater at 12:18 PM on September 1, 2006

Why don't you post your ipconfig /all command output here? Currently I'm surfing from an Internet cafe, and mine (formatted with the [pre] tag) looks like this:

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : WinBook-M
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : Savvis

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-D0-40-3F-01

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : Savvis
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Wireless-G Notebook Adapter v.2.0
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-10-2F-04-69
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.49
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.4
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.4
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 209.144.50.113
                                            209.144.50.126
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, September 01, 2006 1:56:50 P
M
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, September 01, 2006 5:56:50 P
M

You can see that my wired Ethernet port is currently disconnected, and my Wireless card is my current IP connection. How does your ipconfig /all output compare to this?
posted by paulsc at 12:52 PM on September 1, 2006

paulsc writes "Why don't you post your ipconfig /all command output here?"

Easy way to do this if your ipconfig scrolls out of your command prompt window: IPCONFIG /all >c:\ipconfig.txt

You can then copy paste the contents of ipconfig.txt
posted by Mitheral at 12:58 PM on September 1, 2006

Response by poster: Here is the entirety of the response when I ipconfig:

-----
Windows IP Configuration

An internal error occurred: A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Please contact Microsoft Product Support Services for further help.

Additional information: Unknown media status code.
-----

Any suggestions for my next step?
posted by underwater at 1:30 PM on September 1, 2006

I'd go to device manager and remove/reinstall your wifi adapter. Hopefully that will clear up the weird errors you are getting.

I don't get why installing a bridge/repeater would make you have to reinstall XP.

You sure theres nothing wrong with your wifi adapter?
posted by mphuie at 1:54 PM on September 1, 2006

This might help:

go to run -> services.msc

when that comes up make sure the following two services are started:

Remote procedure call (RPC)
Routing and Remote Access

Then try Ipconfig again.
posted by quin at 2:01 PM on September 1, 2006

Response by poster: Routing and Remote Access

That was it! That service was disabled.

Yay quin! Yay mefi!
posted by underwater at 3:46 PM on September 1, 2006