Limited Connectivity problem with Vista

Question

Just bought a new Inspiron 6400. Cant get the wireless connection to work properly. It connects to the wireless router no problem but it comes up with a 'limited connectivity' msg and you cannot access the internet. An ipconfig shows no address in the default gateway area. Using the Windows diagnostic checks doesn't solve the problem.   Router: Netopia 2247NWG Laptop: Inspiron 6400 Card: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card OS: Windows Vista Home Premium   I have reset router and the laptop numerous times. It's running WEP encryption and the key is correct.     Output of Ipconfig is:   Connection-specific dns suffix: Link-local IPv6 Address: fe80::9e2:c1ee:b5e4:47f5%10 Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address: 169.254.71.245 Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0 Default Gateway:     Help?

ronss · Answer

Do you have MAC address filtering setup on your network?? if so have you added the new MAC address of your NIC??   Anti-Virus and Spyware scans may help. Re-install network drivers could also   Have you tried setting encription in wpa , and see what happens   Click on menu-control panel-classic view-networking and sharing-click on diagnoise and repair,,see what comes up.   call your isp provider and double check things on their end if its not working properly with  cable interent   is your notebook working okay with calbe hooked to it,,rj-45... then it has to be something with your wireless setup.

jetjackson · Answer

No MAC filtering. It's not the connection as two other pcs are having no problems accessing the web.   Its brand spanking new and has never accessed the internet so unless Dell has included spyware or virus in the install.   Diagnose and repair doesnt solve problem.   Havent tried with the RJ 45 yet, will have too try that.

Jeroen Renard · Answer

Sounds like an energy savings settings problem. Change energy saving from your wireless card to 'Maximum performance' and it should be allright. McAfee is not a problem, a lot of people are complaining about that and they are, somewhat, wrong.

eskymi · Answer

A friend of mine had the same problem. Here is what I did, might help.

On one of your other systems do the IPCONFIG /ALL and see the default gateway and DNS server numbers. Write those down for later.

On the computer with limited connectivity, click on the little computers in the system tray and go to network and sharing center.

Then click view status of your connection. Then go to properties and uncheck IPV6, click on IPV4 and click properties, then instead of automatically obtain IP address put the other option. Enter the IP address you wish to use, if it's linksys router it will be 192.168.1.XXX, this should be part of the information you got from the IP CONFIG /ALL check....then under subnet mask put 255.255.255.0 (question, every time I have done anything internet wise my subnet is always the 255.255.255.0..why is it even there if it's always the same number, why can't they default it to that?, but I digress.) Then under Default gateway and DNS servers type in the information that you wrote down earlier. Click ok and see if this allows you to connect

Now, when I did this for my friend, it accessed his network and changed the name from XXXXXX to XXXXXX 2. Then when I rebooted it tried to access XXXXX and wouldn't connect again, so I had to go in and merge XXXXXX 2 into XXXXXX so the settings would stick.

Message Edited by eskymi on 01-27-2008 07:48 AM

jetjackson · Answer

Okay I finally solved the problem. I seem to have done it accidentally though as I couldnt really isolate the real issue. I changed the type of encryption from wep automatic to manual and for some reason it started working after that.

eskymi · Answer

Well Done jetjackson.

Doesn't it make you feel good that you figured it out. I know what you mean though that you do something and then later you say to yourself, "what did I do? I wish I could remember." But I hope it's fixed for good.

StarryDancer · Answer

I'm having the same problem - How do you change the encryption from wep automatic to manual? Very un-techie person - sorry ;-)

Zeedok · Answer

I also have had this problem - I think the suggestion about the battery/power management configuration is on the money. I have adjusted the power management settings (and plugged the laptop in) and things seem to be going OK.

A word about vista (and microsoft), as an Ubuntu enthusiast . . .

I have been dual booting with vista/ubuntu for 10 months and this problem only just started happening.

I have NOT altered the power management settings myself. I am left wondering whether an automatic update 'helpfully' changed my settings to save battery power!??! Maybe microsoft is concerned about global warming?

Needless to say this is NOT a problem on Ubuntu (and I would not have solved it without Ubuntu - no internet = no help fixing problems).

More confirmation (as if I needed it), Linux provides a more satisfying computing experience.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Limited Connectivity problem with Vista

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