Wireless network is unidentified by wireless adaptor on Compaq Presario laptop
Hello and Good Afternoon Everyone,
I am needing help resolving a rather perplexing connection problem being experienced when my friend's Compaq Presario laptop connects to my wireless network. The issues being experienced is as follows: Whenever I select the name of my network to connect to within the list of available wireless networks, I get a message indicating that it is connected with full signal strength. However, there is an icon at the bottom screen with 2 pc's instead of the expected bars indicating signal strength. When I check the status, I see a message indicating connected to unidentified network (Netgear) which is the correct name for my wireless.
With respect to troubleshooting strategies, I updated SP1 of Windows Vista to SP2. Also, I uninstalled and reinstalled the wireless drivers which resulted in the following things: I received a message indicating to press the Configuration button of the access point or to enter the paraphrase if the configuration button could not be located. So, I entered the password for my secured wireless and got a message saying Successfully connected. However, the wireless was continuing to see this connection as an Unidentified network. Personally, I do not think it is a problem with my Netgear router because all other wireless laptops and pcs connect just fine wirelessly. There is one thing which I has not been tried yet which is a driver update for the wireless adaptor.
Just in case these things might be needed in helping to resolve the issue at hand, here is a rundown of some of the technical specs of this laptop. It is running Windows Vista Home Edition SP2. The laptop is a Compaq Presario (Model CQ50-139WM).
In closing, any feedback given to this question will be appreciated. I will be looking forward to trying out any suggestions given because I am completely stumped at this point.
Thank you
George
I am needing help resolving a rather perplexing connection problem being experienced when my friend's Compaq Presario laptop connects to my wireless network. The issues being experienced is as follows: Whenever I select the name of my network to connect to within the list of available wireless networks, I get a message indicating that it is connected with full signal strength. However, there is an icon at the bottom screen with 2 pc's instead of the expected bars indicating signal strength. When I check the status, I see a message indicating connected to unidentified network (Netgear) which is the correct name for my wireless.
With respect to troubleshooting strategies, I updated SP1 of Windows Vista to SP2. Also, I uninstalled and reinstalled the wireless drivers which resulted in the following things: I received a message indicating to press the Configuration button of the access point or to enter the paraphrase if the configuration button could not be located. So, I entered the password for my secured wireless and got a message saying Successfully connected. However, the wireless was continuing to see this connection as an Unidentified network. Personally, I do not think it is a problem with my Netgear router because all other wireless laptops and pcs connect just fine wirelessly. There is one thing which I has not been tried yet which is a driver update for the wireless adaptor.
Just in case these things might be needed in helping to resolve the issue at hand, here is a rundown of some of the technical specs of this laptop. It is running Windows Vista Home Edition SP2. The laptop is a Compaq Presario (Model CQ50-139WM).
In closing, any feedback given to this question will be appreciated. I will be looking forward to trying out any suggestions given because I am completely stumped at this point.
Thank you
George
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Hi
Yes, I was just getting ready to add a comment here about my request for an updated wireless driver. I just noticed it has been addressed within my other opened post.
Thank you for your followup information on what to do once at this site. I will go ahead with the troubleshooting using the suggestions given; see where it leads me. I will post back with any additional followup questions which might need addressing in addtion to the outcome of the strategies used.
George
Yes, I was just getting ready to add a comment here about my request for an updated wireless driver. I just noticed it has been addressed within my other opened post.
Thank you for your followup information on what to do once at this site. I will go ahead with the troubleshooting using the suggestions given; see where it leads me. I will post back with any additional followup questions which might need addressing in addtion to the outcome of the strategies used.
George
ASKER
Hi Everyone,
Before calling it a night, I want to provide some updates regarding tonight's troubleshooting attemps. First, the download link for the drivers. The updated driver date given within the link for the Atheros Wireless LAN Driver is 06/20/08 which is newer than the installed Atheros Wireless LAN Driver on the problem laptop which has a driver date of 04/27/2008. While I was able to successfully download this driver given the link provided, I was not able to do a full install of it onto the problem laptop. I never got an confirmation that it was installed successfully nor did I find the folder in which the extracted files were stored at on the HDD. Secondly, the Unidentified network within the area of Network and Sharing Center indicates it to be a Public network when this is really a Private network. At any rate, whenever I click Customize next to this area and select the correct one or Private network, it keeps going back to Public network whenever the connection is reestablished.
In closing, I greatly appreciate everyone's continued interest in helping me resolve this issue. I apologize for it being a bit more complicated than expected with respect to finding a solution. Hopefully, we are getting close to figuring it out.
I will look over any additional suggestions or shared insights tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone.
George
Before calling it a night, I want to provide some updates regarding tonight's troubleshooting attemps. First, the download link for the drivers. The updated driver date given within the link for the Atheros Wireless LAN Driver is 06/20/08 which is newer than the installed Atheros Wireless LAN Driver on the problem laptop which has a driver date of 04/27/2008. While I was able to successfully download this driver given the link provided, I was not able to do a full install of it onto the problem laptop. I never got an confirmation that it was installed successfully nor did I find the folder in which the extracted files were stored at on the HDD. Secondly, the Unidentified network within the area of Network and Sharing Center indicates it to be a Public network when this is really a Private network. At any rate, whenever I click Customize next to this area and select the correct one or Private network, it keeps going back to Public network whenever the connection is reestablished.
In closing, I greatly appreciate everyone's continued interest in helping me resolve this issue. I apologize for it being a bit more complicated than expected with respect to finding a solution. Hopefully, we are getting close to figuring it out.
I will look over any additional suggestions or shared insights tomorrow.
Goodnight everyone.
George
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ASKER
Hello and Good Evening,
At this point, I need to provide some more updates on some troubleshooting carried out this evening. First, the "wired" connection to the internet does work with the problem laptop. Whenever I used an ethernet cable to form a direct connection between my Netgear Wireless Router and the laptop, I was instantly on the internet and surfing pages. However, the "wireless" connection still does not work despite of the uninstallation of the pre-existing Atheros wireless software, uninstallation of the existing wireless driver, and installation of the updated or new wireless driver. I did talk to my boss about his problem laptop earlier today and he did confirm with me that there were issues with it with respect to getting a wireless connection working at his house. Now he tells me LOL.
Since this is apparently some sort of technical issue with the wireless card of this Compaq Presario laptop which has been and continues to be unresponsive to our troubleshooting attempts, I am wondering if we can work around this issue and still have wireless capabilities for this problem laptop. What I have in mind which I think should work is a wireless USB network adapter. I acknowledge this will not directly fix the original problem, but, at least it will allow us to work around it while still achieving the end goal of obtaining wireless access to the internet. If this is a feasible option to this technical concern, where might I be able to purchase one and how much would it cost?
Thanks in advance for any further shared input to the updates given in addition to any feedback provided in response to my followup questions within this post.
George
At this point, I need to provide some more updates on some troubleshooting carried out this evening. First, the "wired" connection to the internet does work with the problem laptop. Whenever I used an ethernet cable to form a direct connection between my Netgear Wireless Router and the laptop, I was instantly on the internet and surfing pages. However, the "wireless" connection still does not work despite of the uninstallation of the pre-existing Atheros wireless software, uninstallation of the existing wireless driver, and installation of the updated or new wireless driver. I did talk to my boss about his problem laptop earlier today and he did confirm with me that there were issues with it with respect to getting a wireless connection working at his house. Now he tells me LOL.
Since this is apparently some sort of technical issue with the wireless card of this Compaq Presario laptop which has been and continues to be unresponsive to our troubleshooting attempts, I am wondering if we can work around this issue and still have wireless capabilities for this problem laptop. What I have in mind which I think should work is a wireless USB network adapter. I acknowledge this will not directly fix the original problem, but, at least it will allow us to work around it while still achieving the end goal of obtaining wireless access to the internet. If this is a feasible option to this technical concern, where might I be able to purchase one and how much would it cost?
Thanks in advance for any further shared input to the updates given in addition to any feedback provided in response to my followup questions within this post.
George
he did confirm with me that there were issues with it with respect to getting a wireless connection working at his house. Now he tells me LOL.
What I have in mind which I think should work is a wireless USB network adapter.
Yes - I suggested a USB wireless NIC further back here. So given the card appears to be non-functional than a USB NIC is the next step.
... Thinkpads_User
What I have in mind which I think should work is a wireless USB network adapter.
Yes - I suggested a USB wireless NIC further back here. So given the card appears to be non-functional than a USB NIC is the next step.
... Thinkpads_User
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ASKER
Hi
With respect to the recommended wireless network adapters, will the TP-Link wireless adapters be compatiable with most manufacture brand named wireless routers such as Netgear, Linksys, Belkin, etc.?
Thanks
George
With respect to the recommended wireless network adapters, will the TP-Link wireless adapters be compatiable with most manufacture brand named wireless routers such as Netgear, Linksys, Belkin, etc.?
Thanks
George
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George - thanks and I was happy to help.
... Thinkpads_User
... Thinkpads_User
ASKER
Hello and Good Morning Everyone,
I want to apologize for the delay in responding back to this post. However, I did want to wait until receiving the wireless USB NIC from newegg.com using the online purchase link given by Darr247. This unit has not arrived yet, so, I do not have any comments to make about it at this time. At any rate, I am confident the wireless USB NIC will be the work around for this problem because all signs indicate a failed wireless adapter which is likely to be the result of some sort of mechanical or physical issue since all software intervention strategies failed to resolve the wireless concern. Nevertheless, all suggested strategies given here were certainly great suggestions and insightful ideas which would have worked in many other situations.
Once the new wireless USB NIC come in shipment, should I disable the defective wireless within Device Manager before connecting it? I am thinking this step might be necessary in order to prevent the laptop from attempting to use the integrated one which is bad for its connection to a wireless.
In closing, many thanks once again for the insights and suggestions given to this post. As always, I did learn a great deal from this experience.
George
I want to apologize for the delay in responding back to this post. However, I did want to wait until receiving the wireless USB NIC from newegg.com using the online purchase link given by Darr247. This unit has not arrived yet, so, I do not have any comments to make about it at this time. At any rate, I am confident the wireless USB NIC will be the work around for this problem because all signs indicate a failed wireless adapter which is likely to be the result of some sort of mechanical or physical issue since all software intervention strategies failed to resolve the wireless concern. Nevertheless, all suggested strategies given here were certainly great suggestions and insightful ideas which would have worked in many other situations.
Once the new wireless USB NIC come in shipment, should I disable the defective wireless within Device Manager before connecting it? I am thinking this step might be necessary in order to prevent the laptop from attempting to use the integrated one which is bad for its connection to a wireless.
In closing, many thanks once again for the insights and suggestions given to this post. As always, I did learn a great deal from this experience.
George
I would disable the integrated adapter in the BIOS, if it actually IS an integrated adapter.
More-likely it's plugged into a Mini PCI-express (aka half-card) slot... in which case the laptop could be disassembled far enough to completely replace it.
Sometimes that's as simple as removing a small cover on the bottom; sometimes it requires removing the entire bottom and the keyboard to get at it.
More-likely it's plugged into a Mini PCI-express (aka half-card) slot... in which case the laptop could be disassembled far enough to completely replace it.
Sometimes that's as simple as removing a small cover on the bottom; sometimes it requires removing the entire bottom and the keyboard to get at it.
ASKER
Since the problem laptop is unable to connect to the internet due to the technical reasons described above, could someone provide a direct download link for the wireless drivers? The laptop is a laptop is a Compaq Presario (Model CQ50-139WM). In the meantime, I will go ahead and followup on the suggestions given.
Thanks once again everyone for the technical guidance to this issue.
George