Wireless LAN won't connect

[RobFM]

I have a working wired LAN connecting my laptop to my desktop via an 8-port hub.
I have created a share on 2 of the desktop's folders and I can map drives on the laptop to them and transfer files.

When I replace the wired LAN with a wireless LAN (I also have to disable the Network Bridge (MAC Bridge Miniport) on the laptop) and try to map the drives I get
"The network location cannot be reached".

The laptop has an Orinoco Gold card with Boingo software which shows the signal strength as excellent and that I have a connection to the SSID on the Linksys WAP11.
The WAP is connected to the hub. Same SSID, same channel.

IP addresses and OS are:
Laptop 192.168.1.15 (XP Home)
Desktop 192.168.1.10 (W2K)
WAP 192.168.1.251

All subnets 255.255.255.0 All gateways 0.0.0.0

From the desktop
ping desktop successful
ping WAP successful
ping laptop gives request timed out

From the laptop
ping laptop gives Destination host unreachable (???) (can ping with wired network)
ping desktop gives Destination host unreachable (can ping with wired network)
ping WAP gives Destination host unreachable (can ping with wired network)

Desktop and laptop both in workgroup "HOMEGROUP".
No firewall
Other settings not listed since wired LAN works OK.

I get the same result with WEP on or off.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm going round in circles.

Rob

 

[Worked4me]

Hey Rob,

Go to command line and type route print and post
the information and we will go from there.

 

[HoLoCroN]

Rob,

Can you access your routers setup page??

You would have to do this from a computer that is connected to the ports on the back of the WAP.

Are the uplink switches used correctly? (from Hub to switch to router)

 

[RobFM]

Worked4Me & HoLoCroN
Thanks both for your interest.

route print from the desktop gives: (not sure how well this will be formatted)
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x1000003 ...00 00 e8 ee ad 71 ...... Realtek RTL8029(AS) Ethernet Adapt
0x2000004 ...00 53 45 00 00 00 ...... WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 195.137.123.49 195.137.123.49 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.10 1
192.168.1.10 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.10 1
195.137.123.49 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
195.137.123.255 255.255.255.255 195.137.123.49 195.137.123.49 1
217.41.128.200 255.255.255.255 195.137.123.49 195.137.123.49 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.10 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 195.137.123.49 195.137.123.49 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.10 1
Default Gateway: 195.137.123.49
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

From the laptop in 'wired LAN' (working) mode:
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x10003 ...02 40 d0 30 4a 3d ...... MAC Bridge Miniport - Packet Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.15 192.168.1.15 10
192.168.1.15 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.15 192.168.1.15 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.15 192.168.1.15 10
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.15 192.168.1.15 1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

And from the laptop in 'Wireless LAN' (not working) mode:
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None


I can access the WAP from the desktop via http://192.168.1.251 and I can view/amend the IP address, ssid, wep, etc here so I guess the physical link is OK. The Linksys WAP11 has 1 port which is connected to one of the 8 ports on my hub (not to the uplink port). Another port goes to the desktop LAN card.

I'm investigating the Network Bridge on the laptop (XP Home) at the moment. I'm not really sure if this is needed for an XP to W2K and some documents on MS site suggest it may need deleting.

This is all new to me so I appreciate any help.

Rob

 

[HoLoCroN]

Thanks for posting the data.

A couple of things, first of all, you really don't need the bridge on the laptop, Windows XP has the capability to "bridge" two network connections to improve connectivity and increase performance.

Most of the time, this bridge is made up of your NIC and your IEEE1394 - Firewire Port. Since you can network two computers through your firewire port, Windows makes that bridge by default... but guess what. If you don't have a firewire cable connected to the computers... the bridge is useless.

Windows will default to the NIC only.. So go ahead and delete that bridge and just keep the NIC and any other network devices seperate for now. This will help simplify troubleshooting.

Second, if you don't have your WAP connected to your 8-port hubs uplink port (AND hit the uplink button) your deviced WILL NOT be able to communicate with each other. Making your wireless portion of your network... unusable. Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

 

[RobFM]

Thanks for your suggestions HoLoCroN which I've just tried out.

I understand your point about the Bridge and it confirms what I have read elsewhere but when I remove the connections from the Bridge and delete the Bridge I can't then connect from the laptop to the WAP. If I restore the Bridge and disable it (??) I can connect laptop to WAP.

I've also tried the WAP connection to the uplink port on the hub but it doesn't like it. I can't ping the WAP from the desktop (timed out). Put it back in one of the 8 normal ports and I can ping OK.

I have found a connection history log with repeated error messages stating: "Connection:ConnectViaListItem:Line#117 - Err#: 80070491 - Automation error There was no match for the specified key in the index." Haven't found what this relates to yet but it is followed by message "Connected to homenet" (homenet is my SSID).

So the wireless connection to WAP seems to be there but I can't ping the WAP. The physical connection from desktop to WAP is there (ping, WAP setup) unless it is in one direction only.

I'm getting more baffled....

 

[HoLoCroN]

What kind of hub are you using? (make/model)

 

[RobFM]

The hub is a Unex Nexhub HA080 8-port 10Base-T hub.