Windows Vista and Wireless Networks Question

Hi Guys,

Hoping someone can help me troubleshoot an issue. A friend of mine has 3 laptops for their family. They have broadband from Sky and all the laptops connect via wireless. A couple of weeks ago one laptop stopped talking to the internet, the others were fine. Windows OS is Vista (latest SP and hotfixes).

I've been asked to take a look and here's what I've found so far.

- The laptop can connect to the wireless network and will receive an IP address via DHCP.
- The laptop can NOT ping the router or access the router webpage (regardless if IP is static or DHCP).
- The laptop can successfully connect to other wireless network and browse the internet.

One thing I did notice is that when the laptop connects to the home network is says "Local Only" in terms of access and it lists it as "unidentified network" (I thought Vista gave you the option of public or private networks).

I've done some Googling and there are some suggestions about resetting the network stack which I've done and disabling IPv6 but this hasn't made a difference.

Is there anyway to make Vista completely forget the wireless network (I know you can delete it from the Networking Control Panel). I don't want to reinstall Vista if I can really help it.

Many thanks in advance.

Have you removed that particular wireless profile from "manage wireless networks", and then tried reconnecting from scratch re-entering the wifi key etc?

You can change the network location by clicking customize in the network and sharing center, see: http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/2563d1...

Have you analyzed the result of an IPconfig /all to rule out any oddities?

Has a proxy server inadvertantly been configured in internet options in IE?

Also, perhaps try disabling the windows firewall to rule that out.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

Have you removed that particular wireless profile from "manage wireless networks", and then tried reconnecting from scratch re-entering the wifi key etc?

Yep done that. It allows me to re-enter the security key but then marks it as "Unidentified network" with "Local Only" access which makes me think Vista isn't deleting the whole profile.

I'll check out your link tomorrow.

The IPConfig looks fine. No proxies configured that I can see. The laptop works fine when connected to my wireless network here. Windows firewall is also disabled.

Have you tried updating the Wireless Network Drivers.
Have seen at least one Laptop runiing Vista which could connect to older SKY Routers and BT Hubs, but not the newer SKY Routers. After i updated the Wireless network drivers, connected first time to the newer SKY Router.
So worth a try.

Search for any newer drivers and download those if available.
Turn off the wireless adapter and uninstall it completely.
Delete any associated software folders and run CCleaner or similar.
If you can install the new drivers without turning the adapter on, do so. If not, turn it on and at the "New Hardware" prompt, force it to use the newer drivers (If available).

I have had this problem with Vista and the solution was to disable DHCP on the laptop and give it a fixed IP address. Gary

Lots of people have asked me about this problem probably hundreds of times before with Vista. Wasn't anything to do with the drivers at all.

On Windows Vista, they set the security settings to check for a DHCP broadcast flag when it connects to any wireless router ( like a special club handshake ). Not all routers have this capability, so Vista wont give you internet access.

Microsoft released a patch for this which turns this feature off which can be downloaded from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233

Hi Pipexer,

I followed that link. Changed the location to Private however upon reboot it went back to "Unidentified".

TTEnt / Deadbeat,

Have uninstalled the drivers, rebooted the laptop and installed the latest drivers from the manufacturer. No difference. It can see the wireless network, get an IP address but won't browse the internet.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I have had this problem with Vista and the solution was to disable DHCP on the laptop and give it a fixed IP address. Gary

Tried it with a static IP address, no joy.