Network never avaliable at start

soccer45,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Try the following:

• Update the drivers and firmware for the router and also for the wireless network card.
• Try changing the channel on the wireless adapter.
• Remove all sources of interference, like cordless telephones, microwaves, etc.
• Disable WEP on your router.

A customer came up with the following items to check for an intermittent connection with wireless:

2. Make sure that there is not any devices operating on the 2.4GHz frequency, i.e. portable phones, baby monitors, ect. If you have a 2.4GHz phone, remove power to the base station itself. The base station is always broadcasting out a signal, hence the reason you can get a call while the phone itself is not plugged into a cradle.
4. Make sure that there is not another wireless network nearby operating on or near the same channel as your wireless network. The 802.11b spectrum is divided into 11 channels, but the only non-overlapping channels are 1, 6, and 11; which allows three different wireless networks to operate without interfering. To be kind to others around you, use only those three channels. Unfortunately, the PROSet's scanning utility does not show the channel that the other networks are operating at; so your are left to either correct by trial-and-error or find a site monitoring/wireless scanner that will work with this card.
6. If the connection seems to drop every 3 (sometimes 5) minutes, make sure that 802.1X is not enable in the wireless profile. If you are using XP to configure the wireless, open the entry for your Preferred Network, go to the Authentication tab, the first option will be "Enable 802.1X Authentication". Remove all the checks on this tab from the bottom up, so that nothing is checked off.
8. if the connection is using WEP, make sure that the box is not check for "The key is provided for me automatically" on the Association tab and that you are entering the ASCII or Hexadecimal key. This card does not support "PassPhrase", a technology commonly used in Linksys routers. If this does not resolve the issue, disable the WEP on both the router and card for testing purposes. If the card will associate, then there is a possible issue with the router's firmware, consider updating to the latest release.
10. The card supports Open Authentication by default, change the router's Authentication type to Open also; some are set to use both Open and Shared Key Authentication by default.
12. The 802.11b specification uses Long Preamble, as does this card. If the router is set to Short, change it to Long.
14. The card does not support the "Turbo" modes (22Mbps) that some routers advertise, just those of 1-2-5.5-11Mbps. Set the router's TX (or Transmission) Rate to the 802.11b specification.
16. Since the card is part of the "Centrino" specification, the card has the ability to go into a power saving mode, sometimes dropping the connection or not being able to transmit data. The power setting can be adjusted in the PROSet Utility by going to the Adapter tab -> Configure button in the Power Settings -> choose Manual and set the slider bar to Maximum Performance. The option can also be access by going to the Advanced tab of the wireless card's properties in Device Manager. The option will be listed in the properties box.
18. Make sure that router that the card is associating to has the latest firmware. Some manufactures of the non-Dell routers have name Centrino specifically as a component to the routers update.
20. Make sure that the card has the latest drivers installed. Also try removing the drivers in Safe Mode and reinstall the drivers, even if the latest is already installed.
22. Disable the Wireless Zero Config in the Services in Administrative Tools inside of Control Panel and only use the PROSet utility to configure the wireless network.
24. Manually reseat the card and antennaes. Instructions can be found in the Service Manual for your particular system.
26. If the system uses a Dell style BIOS (black background with teal blue letters) reset the BIOS by doing Alt-F, this reset the BIOS back to factory defaults. Readjust the time and date to reflect the current. Save changes and reboot.

Soccer45,

What is the name of the router and adaptor card being used? Are you using any security? Example: Wep  or WPA. Does the problem occur just when booting up?

Regards,
Techsphere

* Inspiron 8600 Pentium-M, 1.6ghz, 15.4 in WUXGA
* 512 MB,DDR
* 128MB nVidia GeForce FX
* 80GB Ultra ATA HD
* TrueMobile 1300 WLAN (802.11 b/g) mini PCI card
* Linksys WRT54G 4-port Wireless router
* Comcast Broadband
* Hitachi 4X DVD+RW,INSP8600 CD-RW / DVD+RW
* Windows XP home edition

techsphere,

i have a linksys 2.4 ghz wireless-b usb nework adapter. i have xp professional. i'm not sure what security i have.  the network is never reconized when i first boot up but the speed and the signal strength change constantly.

Soccer45

Soccer45,

Ok, but what router are you using? I am not speaking about XP security, I am referring to the router and if you have enabled the wireless security. If so, is Wep or WPA being used? Are you familiar with these?

Techsphere

techsphere,

The router i am using is a linksys brand wireless router. I don't think i have enabled the security on it, and i have no idea what Wep or WPA is.

Soccer45