In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

I think what they mean is to use the native windows configuration software, rather than the supplier based one which is sometimes prettier but fail in so many other ways

I've only used the windows configuration software, I don't think I even have a supplicant.

Removing the drivers before re-installing them didn't work either. It's odd that the laptop can see all the neighbours networks straight away but takes ages to find mine, it's also odd that the other laptop is fine despite them being identical. I'm tempted to re-install windows just in case it helps.

Boot from a WinPE CD before taking such drastic action. The Falcon4 UBCD should do just fine.

Edited by Deadbeat (Fri 19-Oct-12 18:56:55)

-Go into "manage wireless networks" and remove all entries out of there.
-Try changing wireless channel
-Try changing wireless mode (g only, mixed, etc, etc)
-Try changing encryption/security type
-Try changing any other settings!! (wireless afterburner, etc, etc)

The wireless system we use at work probably cost close to £100k and the troubleshooting process is still the same, "change lots o' settings 'till it works".

You may well find a reinstall of Windows cures the issue, but you might like to try with a live CD of some sort with wireless support first to see whether the issue is resolved.

Edited by Pipexer (Fri 19-Oct-12 18:57:55)

In reply to a post by _ben:

It's odd that the laptop can see all the neighbours networks straight away but takes ages to find mine,

Then the neighbours' networks should provide some clue as to why this is so. Use inSSIDer to compare them and note any differences, say in Security method.

Or you could try connecting & installing a different USB Wifi adapter if you have one handy to see if the existing one is causing the issue...

Edited by deleted (Fri 19-Oct-12 20:34:46)

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Then the neighbours' networks should provide some clue as to why this is so. Use inSSIDer to compare them and note any differences, say in Security method.

Well that was interesting, but all my neighbours networks look the same - WPA2 Personal, max rate 144, Netgear - in fact all the neighbours are using virgin hubs like me. I'm on channel1, there are a couple of others on channel6 and one on channel11, so it looks like it's picked the right channel. Not sure that its really got me anywhere though.

Your post is unclear; have you tried changing the setting or are you assuming the world is perfect and that because it is on channel 1 and your neighbour's are on channel 6 and 11 and have the same encryption type that those settings are absolutely not causing a problem?

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

Your post is unclear; have you tried changing the setting or are you assuming the world is perfect and that because it is on channel 1 and your neighbour's are on channel 6 and 11 and have the same encryption type that those settings are absolutely not causing a problem?

I'd already tried changing things like encryption settings. I haven't changed the channel yet, and as the other channels are in use locally channel 1 seems the best place to be, but to investigate the problem I'll change channel tonight and see how the laptop connects in the morning.

Just as a thought... with most routers I've used (though I'm not with Virgin), if I let them auto-select the wireless channel they settle for channel 1 and usually give problems at various times.

If I manually set them to channel 1 they work fine... go figure, but it might be worth a try!

(On 2.4GHz I now usually use channel 4, but that's specific to my environment)

Well manually changing channels seems to have done the trick (thanks to all who suggested it), so I'll try manually putting it back to channel 1 now and see if it still works.

Edit: Manually putting the hub back to channel 1 causes the problem to return, so I guess its channel 1 that the laptop has a problem with. I still don't understand why it takes ages to see the network and then works fine after a while, but at least we have a solution now, even if it does mean using the same channel as the neighbours. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

Edited by deleted (Sat 20-Oct-12 16:53:50)