Jennifer R <james.raden@gmail.com> hath wroth:
>I'm sitting here in my favorite coffee shop, noticing people working
>around me with their laptops. They're all connected to the internet. I
>have a Dell M90, with a Dell Wireless 1490 Dual B and WLAN Mini-Card
>(Microsoft's Packet Scheduler), Windows XP SP2. I set up my connection
>using all the defaults -- WPA-Personal (PSK).
>
>Anyway, terrific signal strength, I have the password, the network ID
>is broadcast. BUT - the router refuses to give me -- and only me -- an
>IP address. With Ethereal/Wireshark in promiscuous mode, I can see
>packets flying all over the place on my adapter. I can see my computer
>sending "DHCP Discover" packets every 3 seconds. But the router NEVER
>sends a packet in reply. Nobody else here is at all sophisticated --
>they're using the default OS wifi settings, DHCP, etc.
>
>However, if I set my IP address to a static address, I can use their
>network just fine. Everything's peachy.
>
>What the heck? This is a new coffee shop, new router equipment, my
>laptop is new -- why would they refuse me (or my NIC type, or god
>knows what category they might be using)? I tried every other
>combination of wifi settings, to no avail.
>
>Nothing works. Help!
Well, I'll assume that your M90 connects to other wireless access
points correctly.
Does the coffee shop really use WPA-PSK encryption? Very very few
coffee shops and public hot spots use encryption. Are you sure that
"password" you're using is for WPA-PSK, or might it be for a login
splash screen once you're connected?
If you wanna double check, try this DHCP test tool:
<http://www.weirdsolutions.com/weirdSolutions/files/products/desktopSoftware/desktopQueryTool/querytool_free.exe>
If you get a DCHP offer as a reply, then there's something screwy with
your XP IP stack. I've seen DHCP failures with XP that I could not
fix. However, it was where all DHCP would not work with any wired or
wireless router (and required a registry cleaned to fix). This seems
different. I've also seen VPN shims and failed spyware removals mess
up the DHCP client. However, again it should fail with all wired and
wireless connections, not just one, and apparently that's not the case
here. Weird.
Any clue what they're using for a wireless router? Deploying new
routers, with antique firmware seems to be a common practice. Methinks
this is the most likely culprit.
Have you tried to reboot your M90? I've found that running Wireshark
sometimes causes my various NIC interfaces to go nuts which requires a
reboot to clear.
Also, are you perhaps spoofing your MAC address on the wireless card.
That's usually harmless, but strange MAC addresses (i.e. all zeros or
1's) can do odd things.
--
Jeff Liebermann
jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558