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Cannot connect to secured wireless network

12K views 33 replies 3 participants last post by  warrior19 
#1 ·
Hi all, I'm having a problem with the wireless connection at our house that I can't resolve by googling or basic know-how.

We recently renamed our wireless connection and gave it a network key. There are two computers using the network and since securing it neither computer has had difficulty connecting to the internet. Today, my computer stopped connecting to the secured network. Upon running network diagnostics I was told the network key on my computer does not match the network key on the router. I rebooted my computer, I reset the router (unplugged the router, waited one full minute, plugged it back in), and am still having this difficulty.

The network key has not changed, and the other computer using the wireless network is connecting without any difficulty at all. I cannot connect to the network. We have not changed any settings and there hasn't been any contact with the router except for when I tried to restart it. I attempted to run system restore in case a recent Windows Update caused the trouble, which didn't do anything. I have turned Windows Firewall on and off to see if either setting made a difference, which it did not. I'm running out of things to guess at to try to change or fix to get on the network.

My computer is a Compaq v6000 laptop, running Windows XP SPIII (I think). I am able to connect to other available (unsecured) networks, so I know my wireless is working fine.

Does anybody else have any ideas to what I can try so I can reconnect to the correct network:confused If more information is needed, please let me know and I will provide what I can.

Thanks in advance.
 
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#2 ·
can you connect to your wireless unsecured ?
how many other netwroks in the area - may want to look at the channels in use
change to one least used - try and use 1 or 6 or 11 as they do not overlap

download and install
Download and install
http://www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php

Then run the program and post a screen shot of the program running
To post a screen shot of the active window, hold the Alt key and press the PrtScn key. Open the Windows PAINT application and Paste the screen shot. You can then use PAINT to trim to suit, and save it as a JPG format file.
To upload it to the forum, open the full reply window and use the Manage Attachments button to upload it here.
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#3 ·
Have you deleted all wireless profiles on the laptop.
View Available Networks then Change the Order of preferred networks. Then delete all profiles.

With all deleted retry View Available Networks and connect to your network and reenter the key.

OR


If the router has 4 ethernet LAN ports can you wired connect and enter the router config to get the security key?

Some recent issues have been resolved by going in the router....disabling wireless security (for a few moments/minutes). Test connection wireless unsecure. Then go back and reapply security on the router and re-enter the keys.
 
#5 ·
Hi,

Well, the internet worked perfectly yesterday. I shut it down, left it off for a while, and it worked this morning up until about 11:30. I deleted all the profiles of wireless connections on my computer (just this network!), turned off my wireless adapter, rebooted. I went down to the room where the router is, unplugged the router, plugged it back in, and then tried connecting. All I am getting is an error message which states. "Windows cannot connect to the wireless connection. It may have gone out of range" and... I'm less than a foot away from the router, it can't be out of range. Deleting the profile and trying to reconnect doesn't work because I haven't been able to connect to it.

The other laptop in the house still connects to the wireless without any difficulties. I am currently sitting at the desktop that is hooked by cable into the router, and I have checked that there are no available firmware upgrades for the router. The router is a D-LINK DIR-615.

Following etaf's suggestion I did get a screenshot from that Wifitools program, and here it is, attached. I am currently connected to unsecured network "dlink" which is not the network I am trying to access, but I can't post here if I can't get on the internet, so using the network I can't connect to at all wouldn't work out.

Etaf mentioned a few other things that I didn't understand:
can you connect to your wireless unsecured ?
how many other netwroks in the area - may want to look at the channels in use
change to one least used - try and use 1 or 6 or 11 as they do not overlap
I don't understand these questions or statements. My wireless is secured; we had wanted to leave it unsecured, but when we changed the name of our network we could not work out how to make it an unsecured network. Because the network isn't mine, I do not wish to make any changes to it (secured vs. unsecured), I only wish to be able to connect to it. Since other computers in the same household can connect to the wireless without a hitch, it is my computer that is having the problem, and I don't want to do anything to the network other than configure my computer to work with it.

There are actually a good number of networks in use... I can see anywhere from 4 to about 10 depending on time of day and where I sit in the house. Ours, this one I've connected to, and a pretty good half dozen other secured networks that are not ours. The one I am connected to isn't mine; I want to connect to mine and stay connected to mine. I don't understand about changing channels.
 

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#7 ·
I have restored to a time prior to several windows updates and I am having the exact same problem. It still gives me the "Windows cannot connect to the selected network. The network may no longer be in range" and it doesn't even add itself to my list of selected networks. I am still seated next to the router with this laptop and it is definitely in range. Have turned on the other computer using the wireless network again, and it is still connecting without a hitch.

I have now disabled Windows Updates. I am planning on purchasing a new computer in the near future but until then I still must make this one connect to the internet.

I don't understand. How could I have made it work yesterday, but today it doesn't? I am so confused.
 
#8 ·
Hi the network you connect to is 'dlink' right? From the xirrus screenshot that signal is very weak and probably being drowned out by other wireless devices using channel 6. 'valhome' your neighbour is so strong its like your in their house!!! Although that is in channel 1 so should not interfere. On the router can you gain access to the config? We can talk you through if you do not know how? Then i suggest you go to wireless setup and change 'dlink' from channel 6 to channel 11 which seems to be the free channel from your screenshot.
 
#12 ·
Ok your detail about connecting to someone elses network helps :)

Valhome is on a wireless N network. If you have access to the Valhome router it might be setup as Wirless N only currently. If you/whoever can access that router the option would be WIRELESS MODE = Mixed or 802.1n, 802.1G and 802.1b. Setting the router for this will allow non Wireless N devices like your to connect.
 
#14 ·
I still haven't figured out where to change the channel or the wireless mode on here, but I did discover that the date was wrong (august 2008 sometime) and changed that, and then updated the firmware on the router. This hasn't changed anything on my end as far as connecting to the network, but I thought it might be useful to do it.
 
#15 ·
can always be useful to do a firmware update

theres a number of versions
looking at the version 3 manual

there should be an option for
Manual Wireless Network Setup

you should see a number of settings
802.11 Mode:
Select one of the following:
802.11g Only - Select if all of your wireless clients are 802.11g.
Mixed 802.11g and 802.11b - Select if you are using both 802.11b and 802.11g wireless clients.
802.11b Only - Select if all of your wireless clients are 802.11b.
802.11n Only - Select only if all of your wireless clients are 802.11n.
Mixed 802.11n, 802.11b, and 802.11g - Select if you are using a mix of 802.11n, 11g, and 11b wireless clients.
Mixed 802.11n and 802.11g - Select if you are using a mix of 802.11n and 802.11g wireless clients.
Wireless Channel:
Indicates the channel setting for the DIR-615. By default the channel is set to 6. The Channel can be changed to fit the channel setting for an existing wireless network or to customize the wireless network. If you enable Auto Channel Scan, this option will be greyed out.
 
#17 ·
The router is already set up to mixed 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n mode.

I unchecked the box marked "Enable auto channel scan."

I set the channel to 1.

I then deleted all of my wireless profiles (as above), and attempted to reconnect to valhome. It connected, the status window claimed "excellent" signal. It took awhile to connect to the internet, it spent a few seconds on acquiring network address, it connected and stayed that way for approximately 1-2 minutes, and then it disconnected itself and stayed disconnected, and it would not reconnect. I tried to reconnect and had to input the network key again, and it does not connect to the network.

What is wrong with my computer that it refuses to connect to *only this network* even when the correct key is input? Is there any way that I can see the actual key on the router without changing it? I'm 99.9999% certain I'm inputting it correctly, as I wrote it down and saved it when we set up the network key, but I kind of want to double check for my own peace of mind.

(Note. As I mentioned there are two laptops using the wireless. The laptop I am on is running XP; the other laptop is a windows 7 machine. The other laptop can still connect to the internet without a hitch, but mine does not connect to this network at all, or if I can coax it into connecting, it does not stay connected. So I really, really don't think there is a problem with the router or the network, just with my computer, and I can't figure out how to fix it.)
 
#18 ·
I'm 99.9999% certain I'm inputting it correctly, as I wrote it down and saved it when we set up the network key, but I kind of want to double check for my own peace of mind.
well if you had the wrong key - you would not get onto the internet
But yes you can see the key
in wireless secruity section
 
#19 ·
what is the wirless card make/model? you can check in Start---Control Panel---System---Hardware---Device Manager---Network Adapters?

Based upon what it says we might be able to download new/replacement software drivers in case existing ones are out of date or corrupted somehow.
 
#20 ·
The router is already on mixed mode (b/g/n), so I didn't have to change that. I did uncheck the box for auto channel detect, and set it to 1. I was able to connect off/on for a few minutes, but I turned my computer off and then on again, and it is back to not connecting.

I have uninstalled my wireless adaptor and let Windows detect and reinstall it. According to Windows there are no further updates to my wireless adapter available.

My wireless adapter is:
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
It is enabled.

Running Network Diagnostics (I open up IE when I am not connected and click the Diagnose Network Problems button) always gives me first the suggestion to turn the router off then on, and then after that tells me the network key on my computer does not match the router.

Attempting to connect to the network is still telling me "Windows cannot connect to the selected network. It may be out of range."

So... it kinda worked for a little, and then I had to turn my computer on/off and it stopped working again.
 
#25 ·
The intel utility wouldn't install... I downloaded it and it said that it wasn't compatible with my processor type (though I may have downloaded the wrong one?)

I did run the ICS_Dx32.exe (the one from this link:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspxagr=Y&DwnldID=18404&ProdId=2259&lang=eng
) and it disconnected my internet and automatically reconnected me to the dlink network (since I've been using that).

I deleted the profiles and attempted to reconnect to valhome, same as above. "Unable to connected to selected network" etc.. etc. Tried to connect a second time, and I got a pop up message that it was unable to find a valid certificate. Opened up the properties window again and unchecked the "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network." (which I have to do every time, I wish it would remember this) Tried to connect a third time, and it connected.... then went on/off/on/off until it finally disconnected and didn't try to reconnect. So I went and manually tried to reconnect, it asked me for the network key again, and it claimed to be connected to the internet but I couldn't browse any sites nor connect to GTalk or Skype. It went through the spiel of on/off/on/off for awhile, never connecting to the internet, until it stopped altogether and I gave up and went back on dlink so I could post this message.
 
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