Home network wireless internet connection problem with Windows Vista

After you connect wirelessly to the local network, open a Command window and run
IPCONFIG /ALL

Compare the 'Default Gateway' entry in the Wireless card's info block to the address of the router (they should match).

And generally, the first three octets of your assigned IP Address should match the first three octets of the router/gateway's IP address (e.g. typically 192.168.1.xxx or 192.168.0.xxx).

If that's all geek to you, in the ipconfig Command window, please right-click - Mark, click & drag to select (just the wireless section is fine), hit Enter to Copy, then right-click - Paste it into the reply here. It should look something like:

Ethernet adapter Local Wireless Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini-PCI Card
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-B2-99-9B
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.233.104
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : fe80::290:4bff:feb2:999b%7
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.233.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.233.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.233.1
                                            fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                            fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                            fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 09 April, 2008 18:56:09
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, 18 January, 2038 23:14:07

Here's what I have:

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::750d:ae51:97a9:4923%8(Preferred)
   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.73.35(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 134267048
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet
 Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-25-41-C9-E8
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::7d6d:2f93:2b70:3d4a%9(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.100(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, April 09, 2008 9:30:37 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, April 16, 2008 9:30:36 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 150995749
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

I'm not thinking they match, but I'm also not positive which sets of numbers I should be looking at.  I also don't know exactly what to do to change them if they don't match.  Thanks.

Yeah, it seems they're different, seeing as how my wireless network adapter has no default gateway and my router address is 192.168.1.0 (seems like my ethernet adapter's default gateway is set to that, which is why it connects, correct?).  

It appears the router address is 192.168.0.1 (you swapped the last 2 octets there).

You're not actually connecting locally, either. 169.254.x.x / 255.255.0.0 is in the APIPA range and it means the wireless card requested an IP but it never saw a reply from a DHCP server.

Can you connect wirelessly elsewhere?

What model and version is the DLink router?

Have you examined the wireless profile for that network in windows to verify the settings are correct?
i.e. it sounds to me like the radios are talking to each other, but the client is not authenticating, so it's never assigned an IP address by the DHCP server.

You're right about the router.  I have been able to connect wirelessly with few problems before and at local hotspots with relative ease (I often times lost the signal and had to wait a few minutes to reconnect).  The DLink router is a DI-614+, 2.4GHz Wireless Router.  Yes, I believe all the settings are correct.  What all settings need to be checked?  I know the network key is correct, but I'm not sure what other settings I should check out.

Well, it's an 802.11b router, but I don't see anything in particular to its settings that might cause the problem you describe... i.e. besides the ACL list on the Advanced tab across the top, Filters on the left. Screen shot telling how it works is below. If it's being used to list the MAC addresses that have access and your card's MAC (00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B) is not in the list, you won't connect wirelessly even if you have the correct WEP or WPA passphrase entered in the profile.
If the ACL's not enabled, then you could look at the router's log for clues to what's happening. They're viewable in the web interface, on the Status tab along the top then the Log tab on the left. When you're ready to try connecting to it wirelessly again, click the Log settings button and check all 5 of the Log type boxes, then Apply. Try to connect wirelessly, then come back to look at what the log says... it'll likely hold only 8 or 9 pages before it starts scrolling off to the bit bucket. When you're done uncheck them all except Activity and Attacks, then click Apply again.

Also, have you checked the web site of the laptop's manufacturer for updated wireless card drivers? Or, if you've updated them previously, it sometimes helps to completely uninstall the card (software/driver-wise and from Device Manager, but not physically if it's an internal card), reboot, allow windows to detect it again, then reinstall the latest drivers.
DIR-614--ACL.png

I'll check into that tomorrow.  Thanks for the advice.  I hope it works and keep you updated.

MAC filtering is disabled.  I have tried uninstalling the wireless device and allowing the computer to redetect and reinstall it and that did nothing.  I also checked for driver updates and none were available.  Here is what my ipconfig looks like when I am connected through an ethernet cable and my computer says the wireless is also working (albeit only locally).  I have set it so that my preferred ipv4 address falls within the ip addresses usable by the router, and this is about the best wired/wireless combo I can get at this point.  When my connection is fine and my wired and wireless are both connected and showing the same network, I then disconnect the cable and lose my internet. Still have no idea what else I can do.  Any other suggestions?  

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::750d:ae51:97a9:4923%16(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.109(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet
 Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-25-41-C9-E8
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::7d6d:2f93:2b70:3d4a%8(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.101(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 11, 2008 4:25:43 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 18, 2008 4:25:42 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 134218533
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Here is what the log is telling me.  It seems to just keep repeating for awhile, so hopefully this can help you help me.  Thanks again:

May/18/2074 21:10:06  Drop TCP packet from WAN 201.81.21.193:58521 71.14.95.134:27713 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:10:03  Drop TCP packet from WAN 201.81.21.193:58521 71.14.95.134:27713 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:59  Drop ICMP packet from WAN 208.96.13.51:3 71.14.95.134:10 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:24  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.71.185:11071 71.14.95.134:1028 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:24  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.71.185:11071 71.14.95.134:1026 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:24  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.71.185:11071 71.14.95.134:1027 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:24  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.71.185:11071 71.14.95.134:1026 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:09:24  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.71.185:11071 71.14.95.134:1027 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:08:55  Drop ICMP packet from WAN 208.96.13.51:3 71.14.95.134:10 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:08:34  Drop TCP packet from WAN 201.81.21.193:58431 71.14.95.134:27713 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:07:54  Drop UDP packet from WAN 201.81.21.193:3146 71.14.95.134:27713 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:07:51  Drop ICMP packet from WAN 208.96.13.51:3 71.14.95.134:10 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:07:02  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.90.104:25549 71.14.95.134:1028 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:07:02  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.90.104:25549 71.14.95.134:1027 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:07:02  Drop UDP packet from WAN 24.64.90.104:25549 71.14.95.134:1026 Rule: Default deny
May/18/2074 21:06:47  Drop ICMP packet from WAN 208.96.13.51:3 71.14.95.134:10 Rule: Default deny


Thanks again!

OK... go back into the Log Settings and uncheck everything except System Activity and Notices... what you want to see is something like this:

Apr/12/2008 13:49:35  DHCP lease IP 192.168.228.104 to IXP8200   00-90-4b-b2-99-9b
Apr/12/2008 13:49:30  Wireless PC connected   00-90-4b-b2-99-9b

You should at least see something like the bottom entry, but what we want to know is why it's not giving a DHCP lease... hopefully the log will tell why.

Oh, and you should setup a time server on that AP... if you didn't notice, it thinks the date is 66 years in the future.

Here's what I'm getting now.  Not sure if it's going to help.

Apr/01/2002 06:06:46  Wireless PC connected   00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B

But now you have DHCP disabled on the adapter, so it's not asking the router for an address.

Here is an updated log.  It seems when I do get the DHCP lease IP connection, my MAC address is different from the one that says Wireless PC connected, unlike in your example where they are both the same.  Is this my issue or is it something else?

Apr/12/2008 17:23:49  DHCP Request   71.14.95.134
Apr/12/2008 17:20:36  Wireless PC connected   00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B
Apr/12/2008 17:12:16  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 17:12:07  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 17:11:08  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 17:07:56  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 17:07:52  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 17:07:50  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:53:14  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:53:13  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:40:54  DHCP Request   71.14.95.134
Apr/12/2008 16:40:00  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:39:50  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:31:25  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:31:18  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:31:09  DHCP lease IP 192.168.0.100 to Justin-PC   00-03-25-41-C9-E8
Apr/12/2008 16:21:20  Wireless PC connected   00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B
Apr/12/2008 16:21:20  Wireless PC connected   00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B
Apr/12/2008 16:21:20  Wireless PC connected   00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B

Well, the 00-C0-A8-D2-52-7B MAC address is the Realtek 8185 wireless card making the connection, but then the router is issuing the address to the Marvel Yukon (MAC# 00-03-25-41-C9-E8), which would usually be an onboard-type controller; apparently it's on the same PCI-e bus as the wireless card. You did not have an ethernet cable hooked to it at the same time, did you?

How large is the pool of addresses in the DIR-614's DHCP server?

What brand/model is the laptop?

I did have the ethernet cable hooked up at the same time.  The pool of addresses runs from -100 to -199 and the laptop is a Gateway MT-3705.  

Well, from that log clip it appears the DLink is passing on the DHCP request to a charter cable DHCP server in St Louis. So I'll admit I'm not sure what's going on with that.

But since other computers are connecting wirelessly to this router/AP just fine, let's assume for now the problem's specific to the Gateway. Possibly the way the 2 devices are exchanging/validating the security key. Sometimes the driver can change the way that's done. To confirm whether that's the problem, you could disable security temporarily on the DLink, delete the profile in the notebook and connect fresh... if you can get to the Internet ok then, either the key is entered wrong in the notebook or the problem is in the exchange. If you're entering it as HEX the case shouldn't matter, but an ASCII passphrase IS case sensitive.
After double-checking that (or is it triple now?), if they're not exchanging the key correctly try a different driver

The Realtek-chipset card you have looks to be this one:
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/Bishop/6008015R/6008015Rmv.shtml

Gateway has two vista-32 wireless drivers available to download for that Intel-branded card:
version 10.6.0.46
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=21082

version 11.1.0.86
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=21148

In the Device Manager, click the + next to Network Adapters, select the wireless adapter and choose Properties, then look on the Driver tab... if the version shown on the Driver tab doesn't match either of those shown above, click the Driver Details button. You should be able to scroll through the list of filenames and see what the version of each file is, there.

Whichever version of that you're currently using, download the OTHER one from the links above, uninstall the card from Device Manager (right-click on it and choose remove or uninstall), reboot and let vista detect it again, then run the driver install package you just downloaded following the directions in the 'How to Install' links on those driver download pages.

Please let us know your progress on this problem. :-]

You should probably also confirm that
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/Bishop/6008015R/6008015Rmv.shtml
is the card you have before downloading any drivers, using the serial number from your notebook there on the support.gateway.com site.

I went in and disabled the WEP security and tried connecting and it appears to do the exact same thing as before: saying there is local access but not internet.  Windows Network Diagnostics repairs do nothing to remedy the situation.  

When attempting fix number two, updating wireless adapter drivers, as soon as I uninstall the wireless adapter, Windows immediately reinstalls it before the uninstall window can even close.  This includes the driver version 6.1113.215.2008.  The 215.2008 is merely the driver date, so I'm assuming 6.1113 is the version number because that is the only number I can find.  I've tried automatically updating the driver, rolling back the driver and downloading the two drivers you suggested and then having Windows search the files containing those drivers for updates and it merely searches momentarily and then tells me the driver is up to date.  

This issue is really starting to frustrate me.  I appreciate your ideas and looking into it for me  Any other suggestions at this point?  

Thanks for your help.  I'm trying Gateway's support, so hopefully something will come of it.