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51 Posts
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28233
August 7th, 2004 15:00
'One or more wireless networks available'... HOW CAN I AUTOMATICALLY CONNECT?
Help!
I have an Inspiron 8600 with internal mini PCI card DTM 1300. Besides another Inspiron 8500 notebook with mini PCI card DTM 1300 and a Dell 8250 desktop with D-Link adaptor. All wireless connected to my D-Link router. Win XP Home on all and the latest Windows updates etc.
Both notebooks show every 5 min. or so 'One or more wireless networks available, click here to connect'. There are indeed 1 or 2 other wireless networks available and I have set mine to be the preferred network. I have also ticked 'Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings' because unchecking it gives me connection problems.
WHY do I actually NEED to click and select my network out of the 3 available (or even none sometimes!) to stay connected every 5 min.? I have already instructed that my network is the preferred one and it should automatically select that one. If I don't click I will loose my connection.
What's your advice?
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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August 7th, 2004 16:00
Hiding SSID and the enabling other security features on your router are done in the configuration utility of the router. Read the manual! The Windows Zero Wireless Configuration is enabled when you have the check mark next to "Use Windows to configure..." It is designed to make any network broadcasting its SSID available, and thus may be causing the problem.
By tweaking, I mean to disable the Windows Zero utility and play around with the other settings on the utility that came with the network card. For example, turn off or on "Enable 802.1x Authentication" etc.
But, my recommendation is to find out who the other networks belong to, advise them that their network is insecure, and interfering with your network. On your network, you should secure it better by hiding SSID, enabling MAC filtering, and using WPA (preferred) or WEP encryption.
Does your desktop connect through a wireless connection or a an ethernet connection? If it connects through a wired ethernet connection, then the message about available wireless networks will not show up.
Steve
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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August 7th, 2004 16:00
Since allowing Windows to handle it will always try to connect to a network that is broadcasting its SSID, either let the utility that came with the network card handle the connection and disable Windows handling (something I know you have tried, but it may need some tweaking) or find out who the other networks belong to and have them hide their SSID and enable other security features on their insecure networks.
Steve
engelbertink
51 Posts
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August 7th, 2004 16:00
1. How can you hide your SSID?
2.With 'disable Windows handeling' you mean uncheck 'Use Windows to configure...'? What's there to tweak? Please give me some hints..
BTW it's interesting I never get this 'One or more wireless...' message on my desktop! Why?
engelbertink
51 Posts
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August 8th, 2004 19:00
I think I'm almost there with your help...
It seems that the settings on my desktop (which does NOT have the problems and connects wireless as well) is different from my 2 notebooks.
I have made the following changes under Wireless Network Connection Properties:
(General tab) unchecked the AEGIS Protocol (IEEE 802.1x) v2.3.1.7
(Wireless Networks tab) I have unchecked the (Use Windows..) but it's checked again each time I log off although I save the settings by clicking OK. I have noticed that if it's checked I can highlight my network and click configure. Then I see 'Network Authentication' OPEN under the 'Association tab' (should this be WPA ??) and 'Data encryption' is set to WEP. Under the 'Authentication tab' everything (even the grey ones) are unchecked. I can't see what the settings are on my desktop since the 'Use Windows...' is unchecked so I can't go into configurations and I don't want to fiddle with that since the desktop never gets the 'One or more wireless networks...' message!
volcano11
2 Intern
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28K Posts
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August 9th, 2004 04:00
See if the following helps:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=313242
Steve
JohnJohn107
24 Posts
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August 9th, 2004 14:00
What is the model number of the D-Link. Check this KB article called "How do I configure my Dellâ„¢ TrueMobileâ„¢ Wireless Card to connect to a D-Link access point or wireless router?"http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1089122&c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555 . If you may need to register with support.dell.com.
MuzTx
23 Posts
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August 10th, 2004 05:00
To keep Windows Zero Configuration utility from restarting itself each time you reboot, you will need to disable the Service. Unchecking the box does not change the settings for the Service, it merely stops it from running at that time. If the Service is set to Automatic, it will restart itself each time you reboot.
To disable the Service, click Start, click Run, type services.msc and click OK. When the Services window appears, scroll to the bottom and look for Windows Zero Configuration. Double click on this, halfway down the page change the Start-Up type to Disabled and click Apply. Under this is Service Status. If the Status is Stopped, all is good and you can click OK and then close the Services window. If the Status is Started, click Stop, wait until the Status reads Stopped, then click OK and close the Services window. The Wireless Zero Service can interfere with the settings you have set in the adapters utility if it is running, so this would be a better solution if multiple networks are in the area. Since you know you have multiple wireless networks in the area, it would be an excellent idea for you to secure your network as was stated in a previous post. A combination of changing the default SSID, disabling the SSID broadcast (if your router supports it), MAC Authentication or Filtering (again, if the router supports it), and WPA (preferred) or WEP encryption works best for security. Before enabling any security, it is always a good idea to get the network working correctly first. Turning off DHCP on the router and setting each computer with a Static IP address (including Static DNS Addresses) will help with the security, as well as making some file and printer sharing tasks more efficient since the computers will always have the same IP address, no matter what the router does.
If you have firewall software installed, it is also a good idea to set the local network as a trusted network to keep the firewall from interfering with communications between computers (for example, file and printer sharing) or between the router and computer (DHCP requests, etc.).
engelbertink
51 Posts
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August 11th, 2004 17:00
Thanks for your very clear reply. But unfortunately when I do all this (disable start-up type and stop the service) I end up with no more internet connection!
Sorry, but I'm probably doing something wrong... in my systray I end up with red crosses in my connection status and when I double click on it I can't see a single network or do anything (it's all grey).
Tell me....
JohnJohn107
24 Posts
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August 11th, 2004 23:00
Engelbertink, follow the directions that the article states to for your wireless router that I posted earlier. That D-Link has a channel bonding feature called "Turbo Boost" and other proprietary feauters that can and will interfer with your non-Dlink card. Also, change the channel to 1, 6, or 11. If changing it once doesn't help, change it again. Don't disable Zero Wireless Configure Service either as suggested earlier. You can get it to work using windows.
Message Edited by JohnJohn107 on 08-11-2004 07:35 PM
engelbertink
51 Posts
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August 12th, 2004 15:00
John thanks, but i'm still confused... let me put a few things clear:
My aim is still to ignore all the other networks available and just stick to mine. It seems to work fine on my PC where 'Use Windows...' is NOT checked but can't get it sorted out for my 2 notebooks.
engelbertink
51 Posts
0
August 12th, 2004 17:00
.. and to add to the above:
On my desktop (where I don't have this problem of popping up 'One or more..') the services.msc is set to automatic and started! And 'Use Windows..' is not checked.
PLEASE H E L P
MuzTx
23 Posts
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August 15th, 2004 00:00
engelbertink
51 Posts
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August 17th, 2004 10:00
Well.. after spending so many hours on this I think I'm getting somewhere...
I have found out that If I UNCHECK 'Use Windows to...' I can than CHECK 'Let this tool...' to manage my wireless network! It's possible to enter that window for wireless card settings by clicking on the '4 bar strength indicator' in the systray. So now the settings are run by the D-Link Util and not Windows.
I've got 2 questions left which I would like to be answered (plse don't be shy!):
THANKS MY DELL FORUM FRIENDS!!!!
MuzTx
23 Posts
0
August 18th, 2004 04:00
To hide the SSID Broadcast and enable the wireless clients to connect, you will need to do the following:
On the router, select the appropriate setting to disable the SSID broadcast and apply that change.
On each of the computers, using the wireless adapters configuration utility, or Windows Zero Config utility (whichever is in use), you will need to create the wireless entry. Different card utilities will have it set up in different ways. For example, the Intel 2200 I'm currently using has a Configuration tab. I simply type in the SSID of the wireless network and enter the network key and save it (mine is saved as a Work profile name for at work, and a second entry as a Home profile name for at home with different settings). The wireless card automatically will connect to that network, even though the SSID broadcast is disabled. Different utilities may have this on a different tab, or you may need to click Change before being able to edit the settings, so check the documentation for the card to find out how to set this up manually.
With Windows Zero Config utility, open Network Connections, click the Wireless Settings tab. If your SSID is not listed in Preferred Networks, click Add, enter the SSID and any network key (you may need to uncheck the box 'This key is provided for me automatically' and then click OK. If there are any other networks that you do NOT connect to in the Preferred Networks list, highlight them and click Remove. Click the Advanced button in the lower left, make sure the 'Automatically connect to non-Preferred Networks' box is not checked. If you are only connecting with Access Points or routers, select that instead of Any available network and click Close. Click OK and you will be back in the Network Connections window. Windows should automatically connect at that point.
The usual disclaimers apply when setting up security. Get all of the Basic settings configured, then add one layer of security at a time so that you can see if one is causing a problem. My general method is to create the SSID first, then enable WEP or WPA (depending on which the card and router support), enable MAC authentication (or filtering, depending on how the router has it labeled), and finally turn of the SSID broadcast. If one of the steps stops things from working, I then know which step has failed and only have to troubleshoot that setting.
As for the different behavior of the antenna indicator with checking or unchecking the option to use Windows to configure, some of that may relate to how the card's software behaves. I've seen it do the same icon in available and preferred, and also to do the different icons in each box. Strange, but that's sometimes the way Windows and some software do things. Sometime nothing makes sense that should.