Wireless Issue

hi to all. i have been setting up a friends belkin F5D7231 UK4 wireless router. the second pc that is connecting to the router does so via a belkin F5D7001 version 2005UK PCI wireless card. there are no problems connecting to the internet through the wireless network from the second pc, that is until you try to set up security for the router. the card picks up the belkin router and the signal is good, however i have tried wpa and wep security and both result in an eternal quest in trying to obtain an ip address. end result was a limited or no connectivity as far as a connection to the internet was concerned.

i ended up disabling security for the router and only then could an internet connection be established over the wireless network. i do not know as to whether it is a belkin, virgin media or windows issue. my friend is running xp pro with service pack 2.

belkin support suggested connecting the second pc to the router, the one with the wireless belkin card no less, by ethernet cable and after entering the wpa password try disconnecting the ethernet cable and signing back in to the network using wireless. it did work, but the second pc was almost on top of the router on that occasion and after taking it back to the room next door it was impossible to acquire an ip address again. it was back to disabling the router's security and only then was it connecting to the net again over the network.

also, connecting a ps3 to the router, any tips? the router is connected to the net via a webstar modem.

your wisdom would be very much appreciated.

many thanks.

Did Belkin advise you to enter the TCIP settings manually? I was having the same problems, so connected via Ethernet and changed the TCIP boxes, including DNS info.

thanks for replying geoff. no, i never got that far. i do know how to edit the TCIP settings, would be grateful if you could let me know what should be entered if is standard for virgin media cable customers. so this shouldd solve the problem of connecting to the internet over a wireless network when security is enabled on router. thanks geoff for your help.

If the password is entered wrong, that can give the problem you are reporting. It doesn't say "sorry, wrong password" - it just sits there trying.

Other possiblilty is that you are connecting to someone else's network in the other room. A friend of mine had that situation as her neighbour had the same router with the same SSID. Make sure your SSID is set to something other than the default to ensure that you are talking to your network and not someone else's.

Otherwise, i'd not bother with wireless and go for ethernet over mains (often known as Powerline. Look at solwise.co.uk for more details and products). Gave up with wireless in our house some months ago as everyone and their dog around here has a wireless network and so get a lot of interference.

hi sid. no, there was only 2 SSID in range and i know for sure that it was his own belkin network that was being detected. as i said, a connection to the internet can only be achieved if the router security is disabled.

many thanks.