[pschurter]

Ok, on my wife's Dell running Vista Home, I just installed a new wireless card as the old one had died.

The new card is a Trendnet TEW-423PI.
The router I have it a Linksys WRT54G.
The cable modem a Motorala SB5101.

First, why I installed a new card. The old one was dead. It wouldn't find networks that were there. I know they were there as her laptop with XP would still get on.

I'm on a desktop plugged in by ethernet cable running Ubuntu and have no issues whatsoever. I hate wi-fi with a passion after all this.

Anyway, Vista noticed the new card, picked up it. Found the network (and our neighbors protected networks) and proceeded to get a good connection, but "local" only.

I know nothing about Vista, I just hope there is a simple way to get it to realize it can log onto the internet. How would I make it realize this?

[pedroguy]

OK;Welcome to TSG:
First things I might do:
Disable encryption and firewalls to see if that helps.
Make sure that you don't have more than one wireless manager(windows and a third party maybe associated with your new wireless card)running..
Take a look at your wireless card in device manager,Any error indicators?
Look at the driver section.Note driver and location.
Status should be enabled and working properly.
Then I guess give us an ipconfig /all

[pschurter]

Ack, sorry, forgot to mention that. Its unsecured and i tried turning off windows firewall.

I checked the drivers, it said they were good. I'll doublecheck to make sure there is only 1 wireless manager, I believe their is. I'll do an ipconfig /all as well

[pedroguy]

and the pings....

[pschurter]

Hmm...apparently a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. I booted it back up after fiddling around, and now its working.

I thought i had already rebooted after fiddling. I'm set for now, but I might be asking more questions if it forgets what its doing again.

This site looks very helpful!

[pedroguy]

Thanks for the feedback.
Sometimes a reboot fixes some strange issues.
We are here if you need us.

[pschurter]

Well, it lied to me. It SAID connected to local & internet, my wife's weatherbug program came up, but I couldn't actually get online using the browsers (IE & Chrome) now, its flitting back and forth between local and local & internet. But you can never get online.

Anyway, here is the ipconfig and hopefully the ping you wanted.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Katrina>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Katrina-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-D1-62-2C-77
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d5c8:8e7d:609f:cafe%16(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.202.254(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-A0-78-56-61
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{5A6E23AC-A96A-4C79-9B4B-D40152761
321}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Katrina>


Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Katrina>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Katrina-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-D1-62-2C-77
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d5c8:8e7d:609f:cafe%16(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.202.254(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-A0-78-56-61
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{5A6E23AC-A96A-4C79-9B4B-D40152761
321}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Katrina>ping 169.254.202.254 -t

Pinging 169.254.202.254 with 32 bytes of data:


Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 169.254.202.254: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 169.254.202.254:
Packets: Sent = 88, Received = 88, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms
Control-C
^C
C:\Users\Katrina>

I didn't make you suffer through all 88 times before i figured out how to stop it.

[pedroguy]

Yep:I figured it was too good to be true.
You have lost contact with the default gateway(router)
I would do four things.:
Change the wireless channel being used.1/6/11 in US.
Download and install any current firmware for your router.
Do a stack repair
Stack repair for XP and Vista.
Courtesy of Johnwill of the Networking forum.

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows Vista.

Start, All Programs\Accessories and right click on Command Prompt, select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Reset IPv6 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

And reset router to default config(hold reset button down at least 15 seconds.

Do these one at a time and see if we get anywhere.

[pschurter]

Ok, well, i did all that. It now works. Sort of.

The stupid weatherbug pops up and goes live. I can open the browsers and they work. For a few minutes. Then they stop working. They won't find web pages they were just at.

So, at least now i've got a little bit of internet connection, but it still isn't working completely yet. Or, I suppose reliably.

EDIT: Umm, ok, answer me this. If I wasn't using the latest driver for it, could that have caused it to work sporadically? I did some digging and found a newer driver and its been running for about 15 minutes now. I feel like an idiot that I didn't try that first, but it kept telling me the driver WAS up to date. Now I know it wasn't.

[pedroguy]

By driver,do you mean router firmware?
And you just did steps 1 and 2 above ?