E6520 wifi domain logon issue

This is not a hardware problem.

Windows  provides a fast logon optimization feature.

By default, computers with these operating systems do not wait for the network to start when they boot up.

This policy is controlled by the setting in

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon.

Description of the Windows XP Professional Fast Logon ...

Create a second hardware profile for the wireless adapters and configure them accordingly. At home they don't need to join the network, just use the Internet connection. So you don't need to change membership. If they're going to use the same wifi card at home you will need to configure the alternate configuration tab of TCP/IP properties so it can connect to 2 different networks without changing the other settings.

Troubleshooting IEEE 802.11 Wireless Access with Microsoft Windows

You cannot connect to a wireless access point with the Wi-Fi ...

You'll need to connect to the domain while using a physycal network cable at least once. Once that's done, the domain credentials get cached, and you no longer need to be connect to the domain to log in. So when you're back on wifi, it will let you log in, even though wifi isn't connected. Once the user is logged in, wifi will connect, and everything will run as it should.

Intel's drivers for XP supported a "Prelogon Connection", while their Win 7 drivers don't. Chech out the feature comparison:
http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031772.htm

Run GPEDIT.MSC, for a non-domain joined computer - go to Group Policy management on the server - and configure the PC to wait for network before logging on.

I've enabled "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon", rebooted and am still receiving the "There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request" error when logging in w/ a new user to this laptop.

To provide more information...we have many other Dell laptops running Win7 Pro and do not experience this issue.  I just tested it w/ my E6510 Win7 Pro.  It's only been w/ the new E6520's we've recently purchased.  That's why I'm leaning towards a hardware problem as that's the only thing that's not common among our Dell Win7 Pro laptops.

This is a software issue not a Dell Hardware issue.

"currently no logon servers available to service the logon request" has to do with WINS.

In an environment that relies on Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) to resolve NetBIOS names, the error message "There are no logon servers available to service the logon request" appears if you are an administrator and you do one or more of the following:

   * You attempt to remotely administer a trusted domain. For example, you use File Manager to assign share permissions to users from the trusted domain.

   * You attempt to select the trusted domain in User Manager for Domains.

To resolve this problem:

• Allow WINS dynamic registration.
  
  This ensures that Domain Controllers register their DOMAIN<1C> NetBIOS names with the WINS Server.
• Make certain that WINS database replication is successful between WINS Servers. Missing database entries for domain names may indicate Problems with the WINS Servers and replication.

To work around this problem:

NOTE: Microsoft does not recommend using static mappings in the WINS database for WINS enabled computers.

1. Run the WINS Administration Utility to add static mappings for the Domain<1C> registrations (of the trusted domain) that are not listed in the WINS database:
   

         Name:        Master DOMAIN Name
         IP Address:  Address of the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) of the
                       domain
         Type:        Domain Name
     
   						

If you are logged on as an administrator at a Domain Controller, remote administration works now successfully. If you are attempting to remotely administer the domain while logged on to a Server (not a domain controller) or Windows NT Workstation, you must add DOMAIN<1C> entries for both the trusted and trusting domains.

Back to the top

MORE INFORMATION

To remotely administer a trusted domain, several pass-through authentication steps must take place. If the WINS database does not have the proper domain registrations, the pass-through authentication fails.

For example, a trust is established between DOMAIN_A and DOMAIN_B. Server PDC_A is in DOMAIN_A and PDC_B is in DOMAIN_B. DOMAIN_A is the trusted (master) domain, and DOMAIN_B is the resource (trusting) domain. To establish this trust relationship, the following NetBIOS names must be resolved to IP addresses, either through WINS or broadcast:

   NetBIOS Name      Description of Use of Name
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
   DOMAIN_A<1B>      PDC_B uses this to query the PDC of DOMAIN_A
   PDC_A<00>         PDC_B uses this to set up a session with the PDC of
                     DOMAIN_A
   DOMAIN_A<1C>      PDC_B uses this to get DC list of DOMAIN_A
				

With these three names being registered, and if your account has administrator priviledges, the trust can be established and the message "The trust relationship was established successfully" appears. When you reboot the computer, or the first time you attempt remote administration, another NetBIOS name is needed:

   NetBIOS Name   Description of Use of Name
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
   DOMAIN_A<1C>   Each Domain Controller in DOMAIN_B uses this name to
                  establish a secure channel with a Domain Controller in
                  the trusted domain.
				

The Domain Controller (DC) in the trusting domain attempts to create a secure channel with any DC in the trusted domain by making a multicast logon request to the NetBIOS name DOMAIN_A<1C>. This logon request is part of a process that creates a Secure Channel between the two DCs. The logon ID in this logon request is the inter-domain trust account for the trusting domain, DOMAIN_B$. If there is no registration for DOMAIN_A<1C> in the WINS database the error message STATUS_NO_LOGON_SERVERS is returned to the call. The message "There are currently no logon servers available" is then returned to the user.   The WINS database does not have the proper domain registrations for pass- through authentication. See the more information section below for more details.

This problem occurs most often in environments where the administrator has created a two-way trust between two previously independent domains. Most often, there are WINS servers in each domain and the WINS servers do not replicate their databases to each other.

For additional information about special NetBIOS name registrations in WINS, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: