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Problem in re-establishing a WiFi connection
I would be grateful for any suggestions regarding the following problem.
The OEM hard drive on my two year-old Dimension E520 crashed (one month out of warranty), and I am currently restoring my system with a new hard drive. I'm having trouble connecting the computer to my home WiFi network, and the diagnoses and connection repair attempts using WinVista and Network Magic haven't been successful.
It isn't my adapter (D-Link DWA-142 Rangebuster N USB adapter). I was using that to connect successfully to my network before the HDD crash, and I can use it now to connect to a neighbor's router.
It isn't my router (Verizon FiOS ActionTec MI424WR) because my laptop (WinXP) and DVR are both connected to the network and performing fine. Visitors with a variety of notebooks have been able to connect easily to my network.
I have rebooted the router several times, but that hasn't helped. The signal strength at my adapter is "excellent," and far stronger than the neighbor's network to which I have been able to connect. And yes, I'm using the correct password for the network's WPA2 encryption.
Network Magic diagnoses the problem as between my computer and the router, whereas WinVista usually says it's between the router and the internet. I'm stumped, although with my limited experience of networking it could well be a simple matter that I've overlooked. Does anyone have any bright ideas as to what I should try next?
PudgyOne
9 Legend
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January 29th, 2009 09:00
makemp,
You can read this article for an explanation and/or do what is stated below, everything should work again.
Since the operating system was re-installed did you remember to go to drivers and downloads, enter your service tag(DO NOT POST SERVICE TAG here or your post will get deleted, since it contains your personal information), and install these drivers in this order.
Desktop System Software or Notebook System Software
Chipset or SMBus driver
Processor Driver (if applicable)
Video
Audio (sound)
Input Drivers (keyboard/mouse)
Modem
Network Card
Rick
makemp
14 Posts
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January 29th, 2009 14:00
Rick,
Thanks for this. Yes, you are correct that after reinstalling WinVista I neglected to ensure that I had all the necessary Dell drivers. So after running Dell Diagnostics (everything OK) I went down the list at Article # 327740, and installed (or reinstalled) everything I found in the order specified there.
However, the bad news is that doing that does not appear to have solved my WiFi connection issue. Everything is still exactly the same as described in my original post.
Any other suggestions would be most welcome.
MAK
PudgyOne
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January 30th, 2009 03:00
MAK,
I see that you're using a USB adapter. First, did you install the drivers for the USB adapter? Then I would recommend that you use these Recommended Wireless Router Settings to get everything to work again.
Rick
MRF4700
1.8K Posts
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January 30th, 2009 07:00
makemp,
If you attempted to install the Dell drivers in the proper order without first re-installing the operating system, this procedure seldom remedies the trouble. You need to do a fresh install of the operating system then, install the Dell device drivers in the proper order. This usually fixes the problem. I hope this helps?
makemp
14 Posts
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January 30th, 2009 09:00
Thanks for both of these suggestions. I had done a fresh install of WinVista before installing the device drivers.
As I cycled yesterday through many successive rounds of updates of WinVista (and associated reboots), at some stage after my last posting the computer started to attach to my WiFi network. I suspect that it was following an update of the adapter driver, although that doesn't really explain why I had previously been able to access a neighbor's router but not my own. Anyway, the issue is resolved at this stage.
Thanks again for the good suggestions.
MAK