[deegeezee]

Hi all,

Here's the sitch: I can connect to most unsecured wireless networks, no problem. But my apartment building has "free" wireless, that doesn't work -- but used to. It's an unsecured network, my system tray says "connected," but I can't load any pages.

I've called Dell, they try a bunch of things, but always end up telling me to reformat. I've done this, and my internet works again for about a week or two, but then the problem always returns. None of my neighbors seem to have the same issue.

I've even tried restarting the router (sneaked into service area late at night), no cigar.

I've read through the "connected, but can't get online" threads here, and frankly, they're either over my head, or stuff I've already tried.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-deegeezee (currently using a neighbor's wireless)

[Couriant]

What IP Address do you have when you are 'connected'?

Note that connected means it is connected to a device, doesn't mean you are connected to the internet.

[deegeezee]

...um, how would i find that out, exactly? <ducks>

[Couriant]

Go to a command prompt (Start > Run > type cmd and press enter) and then type ipconfig /all.

[deegeezee]

192.168.3.29

thanks for you patience!

[Couriant]

This IP address is when you are connected to the apartment complex connection?

And sorry, i should have asked you to copy it all. Do this command:

ipconfig /all > c:\ipconfig.txt

It will look like nothing happened. That is fine.

Then go to My Computer, C: Drive, and open the file ipconfig.txt and copy and paste it here.

[deegeezee]

yes, this is when i'm supposedly "connected" to the apartment building's network. (i switch back to my neighbor's to post.) do you think this could be a malware issue? i have installed purchased software, and my scans haven't come up with anything... but i can't figure why else reformatting usually helps, albeit in the short term.


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : D5XR4281
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-CE-21-97-15
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.31
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.3.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, September 25, 2009 11:33:39 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, September 26, 2009 11:33:39 PM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-DF-66-B7

[JohnWill]

Try these simple tests.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD (COMMAND for W98/WME) to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

NOTE: For the items below in red surrounded with < >, see comments below for the actual information content, they are value substitutions from the previous IPCONFIG command output! Do NOT type <computer_IP_address> into the command, that won't work. Also, the < and > in the text is to identify the parameters, they are also NOT used in the actual commands.

Do NOT include the <> either, they're just to identify the values for substitution.

IPCONFIG /ALL

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING <dns_servers>

PING 74.125.45.100

PING yahoo.com

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

<computer_IP_address> - The IP Address of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above. (For Vista/Win7, the IPv4 Address)

<default_gateway_address> - The IP address of the Default Gateway, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

<dns_servers> - The IP address of the first (or only) address for DNS Servers, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[deegeezee]

Thanks for your reply!
When i ping'd my IP address, i got:

Reply from 192.168.3.40: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

(four times over, all were received)

The pinging for all the others timed out with 100% loss.

[JohnWill]

If you can't ping the router, I'd suspect a firewall configuration issue. Try booting in Safe Mode with Networking and see if you can repeat the ping tests.

The fact that you can connect wirelessly to other networks tells me it's something unique about the apartment network or a firewall configuration issue.

[Couriant]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

If you can't ping the router, I'd suspect a firewall configuration issue. Try booting in Safe Mode with Networking and see if you can repeat the ping tests.

The fact that you can connect wirelessly to other networks tells me it's something unique about the apartment network or a firewall configuration issue.

In case you don't know... to boot to Safe Mode, reboot your computer then hold down F8 until you see a menu screen (this will show before the Windows screen. If you see the Windows screen, reboot )

From what you have said, I would go with JW's former issue, but if your computer works for a little bit after the format... it may be something that you are installing.

[deegeezee]

sorry, guys -- i appear to be unable to reboot in Safe Mode with Networking; i've repeatedly gotten a blue error screen. i *can* say, however, that having tried to log on to the network in Safe Mode in the past with Dell tech support, that it hasn't made a difference.

Couriant, in answer to your suggestion about software... I can't imagine what would cause this. I only have CA antivirus and Lavasoft's Adaware, but haven't added anything else, e.g. file-sharing, etc. I haven't frequented any of the "seedier" corners of the interwebs, either. (No judgement intended.)

Sometimes this problem crops up after a week or two, sometimes it takes months and months, but it always comes back. I'm just SO over reformatting, and the endless updating, reinstalling, etc.

Thanks for trying to help, guys! Let me know if you think of anything else!