Help: USB Wireless Adapter problem

There are two PC, one is where the main router is connected (wired) and the other PC is using USB wireless adapter. I can browse the internet using the PC where the Main router is wired-connected.
The other PC (with USB wireless adapter) cannot connect to the Main router.

I didnt do any soft or hard reset at Main Router since i can access the internet without any problem.

but the other PC with USB wireless adapter cannot connect to the main router (no internet).... i uninstall/reinstall the USB wireless adapter software but after that still cannot connet to the main router.

I ask my friend to follow the instruction you posted here, and he gave me this iformation:


" Cannot associate with the access point "

"You are connected to the access point, but the internet cannot be found"

 

OK, can you tell me the brand + model of the router?

philby

 

the brand is Linksys (both main router and USB wireless adapter), i'll email my friend about the model # and let you know.

 

This is the manual for the ST585 router.

Your friend's router's web interface will be very similar to that shown in this manual, if not the same.

Ask him what the "Security" part looks like when he goes to the router's IP address, logs in and navigates as per the 5 steps below:



philby

 

i can tell you right now that the "Broadcast Network Name" at main router is checked and there's no encryption, its disable.

Not sure about "allow new devices" if its automatically configure.


Philby, if you will check your post #12...do i need to check more or change any setting on USB wireless adapter after i uninstall/reinstall it again, so that if i visit him this week i have all the information to check/change his USB adapter setting.

thanks!

 

This is important because if it is not checked and your friend has not configured a MAC access list on the router, you will not be able to connect.

You shouldn't have to do anything here.

You can do it now without visiting him:
Ask him to d/l and run Teamviewer (no install required) from here (For The Instant Customer)
Download and install Teamviewer onto your machine (For The Supporter)
Ask him to tell you the ID + Password generated when he runs the .exe
Enter that ID + Password combination into Teamviewer at your end

You can now explore his PC and enter his router's web interface to check all relevant settings.

philby

 

fce,

That's great, but in problem solving you need to constantly step back and forth to verify that the problem is properly defined before you start focusing on a solution. In part, that's happening, but it's scattered throughout the thread now. Let's take a moment to summarize....

• The basic configuration: 2 PC's, one with with a hardware connection, one with a wireless connection. The hard wired connection is fine, the wireless one is not.
• The router is a Linksys model, as is the USB wireless adapter.
  • You need to get the model numbers of both Linksys pieces of hardware. People helping you could then take a peek at the manuals and offer focused suggestions.
• When you say "password", do you really mean password (to access the router Admin panel) or do you mean WEP/WPA/WPA2 encryption passphrase? My own experience is that most issues revolve around this area. If it's an encryption passphrase, is everything synched with respect to constraints/settings on both sides (router and adapter, specific encryption protocol, number of bits/characteracters as appropriate, etc.). Refer to the vendor manuals here.
• When you say you can't find the wireless network on the wireless PC, can you see any wireless networks at all? How long do you wait in a search here? If you don't see anything, have you waited a minute or two and refreshed the available network list?
• You note that "when i changed the main router password, after that i can't see any "view available wireless networks" on the other PC with USB Wireless Adapter". This really doesn't make a lot of sense if you changed the router Admin panel access password. It also doesn't make sense if you changed the encryption passphrase in that you should still see the network, but you won't be able to successfully associate with it.
• However, later on, you state that "the SSID is almost the same showing on the image (but with different SSID name for main router), but when i try to connet, it won't connect with error message (i forgot the error message).". This seems at odds with the previous statement regarding viewing wireless networks. It appears you can view the network, otherwise you couldn't try to connect and get an error message.
• You state "where i can get the WEP Key 1, is that a default value or i need to get that on Main Router info". You enter this key into both devices, there is no default. If multiple key numbers are supported, make sure you use the same number key on both devices.
• With respect to "I didnt do any soft or hard reset at Main Router since i can access the internet without any problem." - sometimes simply powering down the router and restarting it (or initiating a restart command from the Admin panel) is the quickest way to fix a wireless problem. I'd recommend trying this - however, before doing so, make sure the vendor manuals are available locally.
• You state "i can tell you right now that the "Broadcast Network Name" at main router is checked and there's no encryption, its disable". Make sure both sides are configured for the same security protocol (or both are disabled - which naturally is not recommended - but let's get it working first).

As mentioned above - make sure the problem is fully defined before walking down a path to the solution. It does save time and minimizes false starts.

Blue

PS - when you're unsure of what to do or ask for, screenshots of precisely what you are attempting to describe do help immensely.

 

WEP/WPA/WPA2 encryption passphrase not the router admin.
Initially the main router have no password (WEP/WAP/WPA2)
and the other PC with USB wireless adapter CAN connect to the main router with no problem.
But when i change the setting and put a password (WEP) on main router the other PC
with USB wireless adapter cannot connect to the main router (but i can see the main
router name with a good signal). So i change again the main
router setting and removed the password (WEP), but still the other PC (with USB wireless
adapter) CANNOT connect to the main router.

i can see the main router name in other PC with USB wireless adapter. The signal is good
but when i hit "connect" i can't connect to main router and there's an error message. When i
google the error message (something like E001 i forgot the exact error message)
the advise is uninstall and resinstall the USB adapter software which i did but the
problem still there with the same error message. I also restart the PC after re-installing
the software.

"when i changed the main router password, after that
i can't see any "view available wireless networks" --> sorry, my bad. what i mean by
this is i cannot connect to main router but i can see the main router
Broadcast name with good signal.

sorry see above post.

i already try to power OFF the main router power supply and restart both PC,
still there's problem.

what do you mean by "Same security protocol" and how to check this?

ok. thanks

 

fce,

This really sounds like a wireless encryption issue - which can be hard to debug due to some implicit issues that I've seen.

Basically, you need to make sure that all encryption related settings match on both sides or adhere to constraints imposed by the hardware/software. This is where the specific model numbers for the router and adapter come into play. The needed information is likely there, although it is oftentimes not very obvious.

Blue

 

Hello Blue

I'm interested in this and would also like to help, as you can see from the above...

Wouldn't dropping all encryption (very temporarily) before trying once again to connect be a wise thing to do first, just to establish whether the OP has somehow got in a mess with WEP/WPA/WPA2 ??

philby

 

Yes - fce just needs to verify that everything enabled is disabled/wiped.

It was some time ago, but I seem to recall getting into this type of bind and mulling over seemingly running in circles. At the end of the day, the problem was tied to a mismatch in WEP key index between the router and adapter.

But your right - wipe clean, verify connectivity, then introduce complexity like encryption (which definitely should be enabled).

Blue

 

Thanks Blue - the quest for clarity continues on this one...

philby

 

After creating a passphrase for WEP/WPA...in the Aministration Panel (192.168.1.*), are you again inputting a passphrase in the Linksys network connections wizard or in the Windows network connections wizard.

This is the Windows Network Connections Wizard window for entering your passsphrase.



How many wireless networks are nearby?
Maybe you are trying to connect to the wrong router?
If so, give your router a unique SSID name or hide SSID to help distinguish it from others.

 

Main Router (Wireless-G Linksys) model # WRT54G
Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter model # WUSB54GC

 

OK, here are the needed vendor support links...

http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WRT54G
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WUSB54GC

Download the user guides for the appropriate version levels (not sure how much that changes things - it could be inconsequential).

Need to head off to work now....

Blue

 

I'll be at my friends house tomorrow, can you please list down the major item i need to check and change the setting base on the problem I stated.

thank you in advance.

 

fce,

This is what I'd do....

• Download the manuals/guides at the links above for reference.
• Download the USB adapter setup wizard.
• Logon to the router.
• Go to the wireless configuration portion of the admin panel, navigate to the section covering wireless security
• Disable any encryption method active
• If the router provides for wireless MAC filtering, make sure that it's disabled.
• I'd personally provide a user set SSID - something aside from the default of "linksys" and enable SSID broadcast.
• I think that's pretty much it for the router.
• For the adapter, I'd recommend using the setup wizard provided by Linksys. This should guide you through the process in an easy fashion.
• At this point, verify that you can see the router's wireless signal and connect to the internet.
• If things are working, enable wireless security (i.e. encryption). I tend to use WPA2 Personal - you simply need to assess what's supported on both ends and choose what's appropriate and implement identically on both sides. The configuration wizard should help here with the USB adapter, it's manual entry into the router.

That's pretty much it. The key idea is to start simple, change one thing at a time, and record EXACT messages/codes if problems arise.

Blue

 

thanks, i'll try that.

 

i just visit my friend and check the problem with limited time to work on the problem.

First I disable any encryption method active any everything is working fine. The other PC with USB wireless adapter is connected over the internet thru main router.

After that i enable WPA at main router and the other PC with USB is not working again (not connecting to main router).

Since i have limited time, what i did is disable the WPA and it work fine again.

 

This is a fairly good result - there's a software/configuration issue somewhere, not a hardware issue.

As a shot in the dark, I'd look at Wireless update rollup package for Windows XP is available regarding TPIK vs AES encryption schemes potentially being an issue. Aside from typos, it's hard to see where problems may reside without sitting in front of the PC

Blue

 

thanks for the help.

i will not bother to touch their wireless set up next time i visit my friends house