windows vista HP notebook - no network

It is an HP G60-2304S and the switch is next to the power button and is also green and tells you it is either off or on as you switch it off and on.

I picked a G60-xxxx at random and looked at some of its manuals, and it appears the WiFi button might be above the keyboard next to the power button on those models.

Ahhh... ok. Next thing to check is in the network settings, see if it's configured for ad hoc networks only. If it is, it won't 'see' infrastructure networks at all.

I didn't go thru the ad hoc wizard at all, I set it up as wireless WPA and verified the settings manually by logging into the router, printing the information and entering it into the HP, it said it was successful, but it still sees no network.

Does that wireless network use the IP ranges 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x-172.32.x.x, or 192.168.x.x ?

192.168.x.x  

Those are private address ranges, so network discovery should find them by default.

Does the wireless adapter show any problems in the Device Status box of its properties dialog in Device Manager?  (Start->Run, devmgmt.msc [Enter], expand the Network Adapters section and double-click the wireless adapter.)

It says it is working properly

If it's an Intel wireless card in the HP, set the D-Link to G-only, or lock it to 20MHz-wide channels and try it. Intel does not support 40MHz-wide channel 11n mode in the 2.4GHz band because of the interference it can cause to legacy 11g devices.

everything appears to be ok, I believe it is the wireless g network, I advised them to upgrade to a Linksys wireless N due to the addition of a new wireless camera security system. Does this sound like a solution? I can get excellent signal close to the router but no signal downstairs where the security monitor is located.

Most of the Linksys draft-n releases have been 2.4GHz. I recommend only dual-band draft-n router/AP models (Linksys *does* make some of those). Wherever possible, I recommend extending the network with cat5e cabling, then tapping off the wired system to add wireless, and using only channels 1, 6 and 11 in the 2.4GHz band.

I told them to get the WRT160N as it has worked well before for me at a Harley shop. But I don't know what else, I know the signal strength of the N will be greater and they have exceptional signal strength upstairs, but as soon as you bring the laptop downstairs it looses all but about 2 bars of signal and starts flashing when you unplug the security monitor. There are 2 hard wired computers upstairs as well that also have no connection problems. Vista was continuously telling me there was no wireless adapter hardware on the PC, but as soon as you go back upstairs, (in a normal style home, not even a great distance) the signal is full power. I had issues getting vista to show me the Wi-Fi network I had installed, so I deleted them all (there were about 5 on her laptop) and created one and then it was staying visible... it has been a real challenge to say the least and there is no easy approach to extending their network.

The WRT160N is 2.4GHz only.
Examples of dual-band Linksys 11n models are the WRT320N, WRT400N, WRT610N and WAP610N.

But if the WRT160N doesn't boost the signal enough downstairs, bring the DIR-615 down and connect them together with powerline adapters... (e.g. Linksys PLK300 - http://www.shoplinksys.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=53934584 - you can probably find them cheaper elsewhere, and lots of other companies make them, also... not all have a starter kits like that, though), disable the DHCP server in the DLink, set its LAN IP to something in the Linksys network (pick an unused IP between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.99 - the default DHCP range for Linksys starts at 192.168.1.100), and connect them LAN port to LAN port. That essentially turns the DLink into an access point instead of a router.

I am supposed to go back tomorrow around 10am and hook it up, they are picking it up tonight locally.
It was my impression of G vs N was pretty substantial? It's main purpose was to penetrate obsticles much easier than G? I also thought they were different frequencies as well, but I see that is wrong as well lol ... Thank goodness for experts-exchange!

11n can utilize both the 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies, but when you use wide channels with 11n in the 2.4GHz band it takes up 2 out of the 3 non-overlapping channels (e.g. 1, 6 and 11) available in the b/g band... that's why Intel, Cisco, Apple, et al, do not support wide channels in the 2.4GHz band, which means its speed using their equipment would top out around 130 or 144 instead of 300 Mbps when used in the 2.4GHz range.

so would they be better off with maybe some sort of powered antenae instead of a new router?

I would not recommend that, no. In my opinion when feasible it's always preferrable to extend the network with wiring (even if it's with powerline units if running cat 5 isn't possible), then tap off the wired system to add routers or APs where wireless access is desired. Most routers can be turned into APs by using the process I described for the DLink in http:25227838... turn off its DHCP server, and connect it to the network using one of its LAN ports instead of the WAN/Internet port. Setting the LAN IP to match the subnet is just so you can access the setup menus across the network (otherwise you would need to set a static IP matching ITS subnet and connect directly to it to access the web configuration)... the LAN IP is not used or needed for any type of routing in that configuration.

I currently have the N linksys hooked up and cannot even get a signal. I am on one pc that is hard wired and I am on the internet with the WRT160N router. The laptop insists that there is no signal, but also has a poor signal availability occasionally. Even with the cat5 cable plugged in the laptop is telling me there is no cable plugged in. The laptop is within 12" of the router and the router settings indicate it is working properly, but so does the laptop... wow

> I currently have the N linksys hooked up and cannot even get a signal.

Did you set it to 20MHz channels or did you enable the 40MHz Wide channels?
If you don't have a draft-n adapter, try it on 20MHz.

What did you enter for the SSID?  (does it match exactly what the DLink had?)


> I am on one pc that is hard wired and I am on the internet with the WRT160N router.

Please clarify - do you mean you *can* reach the internet with the PC that's hard wired to the new router?


> Even with the cat5 cable plugged in the laptop is telling me there is no cable plugged in.

Sometimes that can be affected by a power-saving setting in a laptop NIC's advanced settings, but it should detect the cable and ask for an address within a minute or so. Without that setting windows checks the adapter for a connection every couple seconds, which can waste a lot of battery.


> ... the router settings indicate it is working properly, but so does the laptop... wow

I'm not clear on what you meant, there.

> Did you set it to 20MHz channels or did you enable the 40MHz Wide channels?
If you don't have a draft-n adapter, try it on 20MHz.
Yes, it actually deffaulted to this setting.

>What did you enter for the SSID?  (does it match exactly what the DLink had?)
No, I set up a new connection with a slightly different name to eliminate confusion.

> Please clarify - do you mean you *can* reach the internet with the PC that's hard wired to the new router?

exactly, yes.  I typed that message from their home, on a hard wired PC connected to the WRT160N at that particular time.

> Sometimes that can be affected by a power-saving setting in a laptop NIC's advanced settings, but it should detect the cable and ask for an address within a minute or so. Without that setting windows checks the adapter for a connection every couple seconds, which can waste a lot of battery.

 I left it hooked up for several minutes, rebooted everything twice and nothing, even though the routers light came on for the port that I plugged the laptop into.

> I'm not clear on what you meant, there.

I am having issues with the adapter, one time it tells me it cannot find any network hardware adapter, yet I am online at the time typing the above message for instance. The control panel, device manager indicates everything is working properly, router admin page indicates everything is good to go, even though at that time there was no connectivity. I disconnected the N and reconnected the G (D-Link) and had issues getting a connection. I have since gotten the hardwired PC online as well as the WLAN on the laptop using the D-Link. She told me last night they unplugged all the cameras on the security system and she was able to use the WLAN laptop downstairs until the comeras were plugged back in, at which time the laptop placed a nice pretty red 'X' on the status bar network connection icon.

20MHz setting was the default, I didn't clarify that well. That is the setting it was on, I never even tried 40MHz.

If the laptop usually works fine elsewhere, I would suspect a bad cable (or rather, a bad connection on 1 plug, since the Linksys is detecting the TX from the laptop's NIC ok).

Why it's having a problem picking up the wireless from the Linksys I haven't a clue from available info.
Can any other wireless device(s) connected to the WRT160N?

I would check for firmware updates... it tells what version firmware you have in the upper right corner of the web configuration, and it tells what version the router is on the barcode sticker affixed underneath the router. It appears they're already up to version 3.0 by the picklist at http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WRT160N/download

The laptop only works upstairs in close range of the D-Link, and down stairs if the security system is off. I am going to check with the security system tech support and see if I can change frequencies.
I don't think a bad cable would stop a wireless connection. and the laptop is the only wireless device on their network.

> I don't think a bad cable would stop a wireless connection.

Yeah... I'm trying to eliminate as many mentioned problems as possible.

In http:#25232535 you said, "Even with the cat5 cable plugged in the laptop is telling me there is no cable plugged in."
and then in http:#25234617 you said, "... even though the routers light came on for the port that I plugged the laptop into."

Which indicates the TX signal from the laptop is getting to the router (else its port LED would not come on).
Did you try that cable in a different LAN port on the router? (to see if it's a bad port rather than a bad cable.)

To what 'security system' are you referring when you mention it needs to be off for the laptop to get a wireless connection downstairs?
Do you mean, like, ADT?  or the wireless security?

I didn't mess around looking for a connection with a cable at all other than the one time I plugged it in and got no signal. I follow you now. I didn't try to fix that because that is not the solution they are after. The security system is a stand alone I believe that they purchased to keep tabs on their own property. Kind of like ADT, but monitored in house. Several wireless cameras with the wireless receiver/recorder downstairs where the wireless signal is getting interference.

Ohhhh... well, if that's a wireless camera system using 11b/11g it could definitely be causing interference, as each camera might use a different channel and there are only 3 non-overlapping 20MHz-wide channels in the 2.4GHz ISM band.

Is it possible to hardwire those and turn off their wireless signals permanently?  (e.g. using powerline devices if cabling them all isn't feasible).

this question can be closed, no solution found.

If the notebook is able to connect when the wireless security cameras are turned off, either hard-wiring the cameras or switching the security system to 5GHz or switching the rest of the wireless network to 5GHz is the solution.

ok, how do I switch the network to 5GHz? I do not believe the security cameras can be switched.