Connecting Vista laptop to wireless network

btw, the ip settings attached are taken while the nokia phone is connected to the network.

I really don't think you need to worry about manual settings for the Vista LT.
But, there may be other issues.
Let it be DHCP and let's see what you get then....

I can see a couple of potential problems, depending on whether you have your XP setup in ad-hoc mode or infrastructure mode.

Firstly, assuming you are using infrastructure mode:

Be aware that your XP is acting as a DHCP server on the wireless LAN - you need to be sure that your wireless Access Point (or Wireless router - what ever you have) is not also set up as a DHCP server.

That means you should be able to setup your Vista machine to join the network (after getting through the security of your infrastructure wireless AP) and pick up an IP address from the XP PC - something on the 192.168.0.0/24 network with a default gateway of 192.168.0.1 and DNS of 192.168.0.1 (or you can manually set these if you must)

Secondly, (in ad-hoc or infrastructure mode), be aware that what you are doing is turning your PC into a security risk - anyone who now has access to the wireless network will now have access to the internet.

If you want to take this further:
1. Give us the config of your XP PC - ie show us the output of:
netsh wlan show interfaces (I think this works on XP - works on Vista)

2.  Give us the config of your Vista PC:
ipconfig /all
netsh wlan show interfaces

You should be able to see what the Nokia is picking up and from whom but who knows where that may be hiding on there. If you do have to manually configure it to route through the XP it looks like you would be on the 192.168.0.0 subnet with a  subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 and default gateway of 192.168.0.1.
DNS would be 201.17.0.115, 201.17.0.114, and 201.17.0.215.

red_nectar, here is the ipconfig /all of the vista laptop, whilst connected to another network called "connection_point"

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GatewayLaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : rjo.virtua.com.br

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Juniper Network Connect Virtual Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-68-5D-FF-85
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : rjo.virtua.com.br
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-E3-F3-C7
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.107(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 11 January 2010 20:09:49
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 13 January 2010 20:09:52
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-B8-C7-29-F9
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{AE981036-D16D-460E-9472-99448F1CBB37}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : rjo.virtua.com.br
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e50:10ec:28d8:42df:42fa(Preferred) 
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::10ec:28d8:42df:42fa%11(Preferred) 
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 15:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{922A408F-1F58-4737-A133-069C5F61B46E}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

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red_nectar, here is the netsh etc of the Vista laptop whilst connected to another network called "connection_point"

There is 1 interface on the system: 

    Name                 : Wireless Network Connection 2
    Description          : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
    GUID                 : 6bc9935e-feac-47e8-ad0c-828dbc1ad620
    Physical Address     : 00:c0:a8:e3:f3:c7
    State                : connected
    SSID                 : ConnectionPoint
    BSSID                : 00:01:e3:f2:81:c4
    Network Type         : Infrastructure
    Radio Type           : 802.11g
    Authentication       : Open
    Cipher               : None
    Connection Mode      : Profile
    Channel              : 6
    Receive Rate (Mbps)  : 54
    Transmit Rate (Mbps) : 54
    Signal               : 100% 
    Profile              : ConnectionPoint

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The adhoc network no longer seems to be working at the moment. Sometimes a restart does the trick, but i'm not at liberty to do this often - any other ideas how to get it running again? Since anyway even with a restart it is temperamental.

btw "netsh wlan show interfaces" not working on XP

The adhoc wireless connection i want (called "MCACER2") no longer appears on the list of wireless networks on the XP host - any ideas how to get it back? It disappeared after i tried to connect to it a few times from both host and client side.

I think the adhoc's signal may be getting overridden by the AP but I am not sure if that is why the connection is gone. Which two devices are the adhoc trying to run on? It looks like the Vista box is connecting via wireless to an AP using an SSID named ConnectionPoint with 802.11G on channel 6 and getting IP 192.168.2.107. Your XP wireless is showing 192.168.0.1. I'm not sure where the Nokia comes in.

If you are trying to run adhoc between the XP and Vista PCs for some reason then you are going to have to contend with the other AP the Vista is connecting to. Is that AP one you control? If not you will have to configure your wifi on something other than Channel 6.

To be sure - this is what I now understand you are trying to do:

[Vista Laptop] <-ad-hoc wireless->[XP Laptop]<-rjo.virtua.com.br network->[Internet]

But what is happening is:

[Vista Laptop] <-infrastructure wireless ConnectionPoint->??????

Your Vista laptop picks up an IP from 192.168.2.1 rather than from your XP Laptop (192.168.0.1).

To ensure that you attach to your XP laptop, you will have to configure the XP laptop in ad-hoc mode (assume you have already done this) and it would be best to use a channel that is not 6. Also make sure the link is encrypted and password protected.

I've just set up an example that works just fine - My Vista PC gets an IP of 192.168.0.206 and deafult gw 192.168.0.1 (my XP PC) and DNS of 192.168.0.1 as well, and can browse the net just fine.

red_nectar, yes that's correct i'm trying to do this:
[Vista Laptop] <-ad-hoc wireless->[XP Laptop]<-rjo.virtua.com.br network->[Internet]

.. and have finally managed now! But ideally would like some diagnostic pointers on doing this, as it seems to have worked by chance (only difference now is that both laptops were put on standby or hibernate and have now been re-awoken)

1. if the host wireless network "MCACER2" does not appear on the XP host, how do i make it appear?
2. if i cannot connect on the Vista machine, what diagnostics or steps can i take?

Next posts give config info in current working state..

Working setup: ipconfig/all from Vista client

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GatewayLaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mshome.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Juniper Network Connect Virtual Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-68-5D-FF-85
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : mshome.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-E3-F3-C7
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.212(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 12 January 2010 12:18:08
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 19 January 2010 12:23:08
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-B8-C7-29-F9
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{AE981036-D16D-460E-9472-99448F1CBB37}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : mshome.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e50:34f7:2f5c:3f57:ff2b(Preferred) 
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::34f7:2f5c:3f57:ff2b%11(Preferred) 
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 15:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{922A408F-1F58-4737-A133-069C5F61B46E}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

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Working setup: "netsh wlan show interfaces" from Vista client

There is 1 interface on the system: 

    Name                 : Wireless Network Connection 2
    Description          : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
    GUID                 : 6bc9935e-feac-47e8-ad0c-828dbc1ad620
    Physical Address     : 00:c0:a8:e3:f3:c7
    State                : connected
    SSID                 : MCACER2
    BSSID                : 26:de:31:21:73:5f
    Network Type         : Adhoc
    Radio Type           : 802.11g
    Authentication       : Open
    Cipher               : WEP
    Connection Mode      : Profile
    Channel              : 11
    Receive Rate (Mbps)  : 54
    Transmit Rate (Mbps) : 54
    Signal               : 100% 
    Profile              : MCACER2

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1. Add a profile and manually configure it with that SSID and match all the settings used on the other PC.

2. Load up Inssider or Xirrus and see what other devices may be around that could be interfereing with the band and channel you are trying to use. Change channels if there is another strong signal source nearby.
Confirm IP settings are compatible like same subnet, DNS, etc using ipconfig /all.

re 1. the profile is already added, just sometimes it does not appear on the list of available wireless connections. Last time it just re-appeared by itself by putting the XP laptop into standby and next day waking it again.. how could this be?

2. I don't know what these programs are, and rather not have to install diagnostic tools if there's a simpler check.

I don't use any ad hoc so I don't know if the connection maybe disappears if there is no peer active?

Those tools give you a better picture of what wireless devices are in the area and at what signal strength, etc. Also what channel they are on so you can easily see any confilicts with your own setup.
You can see some of the info in the view wireless networks panel in Windows but not with the detail and graphing available in the tools. In your case it may be enough if there is nothing interfering nearby.

Yes that makes sense. But should there not at least be a formal way to re-active it on the host? ie not by sleeping my laptop and then re-awakening it.

If you go into control panel/network connections is it gone from there too or is it just missing from the status bar?

It is only missing from the status bar - available Wireless network connections.

So my guess is that is most likely not going to be there unless the peer to peer connection is up.

What is that, & how would i check it/ fix it?

btw, now the connection has appeared, but i cannot connect on the host, dialogue keeps saying "waiting for the network" then gives up without any message, and connection status becomes "automatic".

I was referring to the ad-hoc connection to the other PC.

What action can i take to check/correct this?

red_nectar, thanks this is a good summary of how to get things up and running first time, and matches what i did and it works... but temporamentally! The issue is now in handling connection failures which are sporadic, maybe due to timeouts etc. I get various errors, see post above: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/25041771/Connecting-Vista-laptop-to-wireless-network.html?anchorAnswerId=26293180#a26293180

Any help here will be for extra points.

Example XP screenshot attached. Trying to connect here has no effect. On the Vista side the same window says "waiting for users to connect"

current ip config from XP host attached also.

Windows IP Configuration



        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ACER_LAPTOP

        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 

        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : rjo.virtua.com.br



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : rjo.virtua.com.br

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Generic Marvell Yukon Chipset based Gigabit Ethernet Controller

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-36-6F-CF-14

        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 201.53.121.175

        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.240.0

        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 201.53.112.1

        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 201.17.0.14

        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 201.17.0.115

                                            201.17.0.114

                                            201.17.0.215

        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 15 January 2010 07:15:51

        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 15 January 2010 10:15:51



Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:



        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-CF-31-0E-00



Ethernet adapter Network Connect Adapter:



        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Juniper Network Connect Virtual Adapter

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-68-2D-17-86

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mcacer2-scrnshot.jpg

Vista results of "ipconfig /all" and "netsh wlan show interfaces" attached below, while Vista says "waiting for users to connect"

>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GatewayLaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Juniper Network Connect Virtual Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-68-3D-F1-85
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : mshome.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-E3-F3-C7
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-B8-C7-29-F9
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{AE981036-D16D-460E-9472-99448F1CBB37}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 15:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{922A408F-1F58-4737-A133-069C5F61B46E}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

>netsh wlan show interfaces

There is 1 interface on the system: 

    Name                 : Wireless Network Connection 2
    Description          : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter #2
    GUID                 : 6bc9935e-feac-47e8-ad0c-828dbc1ad620
    Physical Address     : 00:c0:a8:e3:f3:c7
    State                : ad hoc network formed
    SSID                 : MCACER2
    BSSID                : 02:e0:28:06:b2:d0
    Network Type         : Adhoc
    Radio Type           : 802.11g
    Authentication       : Open
    Cipher               : WEP
    Connection Mode      : Profile
    Channel              : 1
    Receive Rate (Mbps)  : 54
    Transmit Rate (Mbps) : 54
    Signal               : 0% 
    Profile              : MCACER2

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In this state, if i disconnect first on the Vista, then the XP host loses the network from the list of available wireless networks.. weird.. or?

Ok working again now, here's what i did:

Next i put both the XP and the Vista to sleep, then re-awoke them (XP first), the network re-appears on the XP host saying "Not connected". On the Vista i try to connect as normal, it works, and on the XP the status changes to "Connected"

Can you explain what is happening. Also, ideally i'm looking for this same fix, but *without* having to sleep the laptops, any ideas?

Oh, and i also turned off the Nokia mobile device, in case that was interferring.

Understanding on the following may help.. what do each of the following wireless status mean?
1. Manual
2. Automatic
3. Not connected
4. (blank) no status, but wireless network is on the list
5. (missing) wireless network does not appear on the list

And for each, what is a route to get to status "Connected"

now not working again, and putting all to sleep is not fixing it, so keen to understand the above..

Manual means you have to click on the connect button to get on.
Automatic means if the network is within range you will automatically connect to it if you aren't already connected to another network.
Not connected is showing other networks that are in range but you are not currently connected to them. You need to highlight it then click the connect button.
Blank is also showing other networks that are in range but you are not currently connected to them. You need to highlight it then click the connect button.
Missing means you are not in range and have not created a profile for a network. When it is in range it will change to one of the other statuses above.


Here is a link to some details about how to manage and troubeshoot wireless networks.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870702

And one about ad hoc
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_02april08.mspx

hi Rick, I am currently at number 5 (missing). I shoudl add that i mean 1-5 above to refer to the XP host status. The XP host is within range of itself! So your explanation does not apply here.

Thanks for the links i am checking these.

Wow, that doc is pretty hardcore. Ok i have
- disabled powersave on the wireless adaptor
- set wireless zero configuration startup type to Disabled
- there was no property for SSID on the wireless adaptor
Otherwise the checks suggest the wireless card is working fine.

I will restart now..

That one can also be caused when the access point has SSID broadcast disabled. If that is the case you need to add it manually because Windows can't detect it.

setting wireless zero configuration to Disabled simply disabled the wireless adaptor, so i have re-enabled it, so wireless networks are now visible again, though the XP host is still missing itself (number 5 above)

THere is no option to add more properties to the Broadcom wireless adaptor, i guess these are fixed part of the driver.

What is the explanation to number 5 above? ie how can the XP host be missing its own wireless network (other external networks are still visible though)

I don't think it Windows will detect itself. If the Vista machine is up then that one should come back.

the XP machine is the hosting the network (MCACER2), so surely the vista machine should not have any effect here?

But there is another clue, the network (MCACER2) shows on the vista machine now, which i find strange, since the XP host does not seem to be broadcasting. When i try to connect on the vista machine it says "waiting for users to connect".

(a minute or so later)

And now i see the network has re-appeared on the host, but when i try to connect it does nothing then goes to "automatic". Vista remains waiting.

Again, what is the explanation for number 5 above? This seems to be the starting point for the issue.

I must admit that I've not carefully read all the posts here.  But, in the interest of clarity I figure I'll ask a few key questions and make a few comments:

- The situation you describe isn't unusual in the general case even for infrastructure mode and generally can be fixed.  But, it's a lot easier to do if one is sitting at the computer!  But, I'll try to help.  In infrastructure mode the manually entered "defined connections" are often lost until an actual connection has been made.  Only then are they saved.  Results on this vary.

- As it appears you know, there are TWO software applications that can manage the wireless interface.  One is Windows built-in software and the other is usually from the interface manufacturer.  This can be confusing because the Windows app is always there but not always functional for everything you need to do.  
**So, the first step is to decide which application software you're going to use.  Often I start with the manufacturer's software.  (And, lately I've run into Dell network software that made things difficult and had to learn how to disable it for the wireless interface).  
**The problem with providing advice for the manufacturer's software is that they are all different in their dialog details and many of them are less than intuitive.
From the screenshot it appears you're using the Windows interface so that's probably good as more folks can help you from afar.

- Is the wireless secured?  If you're having these kinds of problems then perhaps it's better to turn off the security.  It forces you to redo everything after turning the security ON, but by then you have a better idea that things are working.  But, once you have it working then this issue may be a moot point.

- I got the impression that you were providing the XP information as a reference point.  I got the impression that you are NOT using the XP host as a DHCP server.  Is that right?  Host, client, etc. all mean the same thing while "server" means something else.  I didn't see where you said it was a server and IT is getting its IP via DHCP.  So, that might be a confusion point.  
In reading further it appears that's exactly what you do want.  So, I suppose that Internet Connection Sharing is turned on on the XP machine.

- Why is the Vista connection ad hoc?  My understanding of ad hoc connections is that they are *intended* to roam and, as such, may not show up unless connected to "something".  I have NEVER used it and don't see why you'd be using it here.  I suggest you use infrastructure mode.  From all I've read here that seems to be a likely source of the confusion AND performance.

What I was saying is that the XP machine won't see its own ad hoc network in the view networks. But if the Vista machine for that ad hoc network is there then the XP will see it.

the XP laptop has wired internet, and the purpose of the wireless connection is to share this internet with another laptop (vista), and a mobile phone (nokia). There is no server. The setup works well when it works, but sporadically cuts out and no obvious pattern in how to get it going again each time. Maybe some sort of channel conflict as rick mentions, or timeout on one of the machines/devices. I've no idea. I'm going to close this in a few hours as i'll be away for 3 weeks, and maybe re-post a follow-up question later.

Rick, not sure if this is always true. If i sleep everything then just turn on the XP laptop, sometimes the network (MCACER2) comes back, sometimes with status "not connected". It has just done this now. Now i awake the vista and status on XP has changed to "automatic".

Or could there be hackers in the building? how could i check? not sure how this would affect things.

Just caught the XP seemingly randomly changing back to "Not connected", this has usually been a good sign. SO i tried to connect again on the Vista and it works fine again.  Any ideas why?

With AD HOC you do need to be on the same band and channel and IP subnet etc. I have no idea why it would change.

Me puzzled too. I'm off now, gonna let this q sleep for 3 weeks now. Will close off then (in case someone else has some ideas) and re-post.

Thanks all for your efforts.

Why is it set to be ad hoc?  That seems out of context with what you're wanting to do....

I am back on 8th february will close the question that week.

I may post a follow-up as there are still doubts about how to get this working consistently.