mark1.thompson45@btinternet.com hath wroth:

>I have a problem with a wireless connection between my
>Dell laptop with a Dell TrueMobile 1300 pcmcia wireless card and a
>Linksys WAG545 router, I have covered all the angles so I am looking
>for inspiration.

Typo... that's a WAG54S.
<http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?childpagename=US%2FLayout&packedargs=pag e%3D2%26cid%3D1115416835852%26c%3DL_Content_C1&pag ename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&SubmittedE lement=Linksys%2FFormSubmit%2FProductDownloadSearc h&sp_prodsku=1121194967097>
ADSL modem and wireless router.

>To set the scene I have 2 wireless routers [1 Linksys & 1 Netgear]

Model number of the Netgear router please?

>2 broadband connections into my house,

Are they both DSL connections or is one cable modem? (Just curious.)

>I have 1 PC connected to each
>router and I have removed any wireless security just to take that out
>of the equation, each router is on a different channel, I will call
>the PC's A & B and routers 1 [Netgear] & 2 [Linksys].

Ok, no wirelss security. However, both routers apparently still have
their DHCP servers running. If you have both wirelss routers set to
the same SSID, that should create the maximum confusion as to which
one to connect.

- Are you using the same SSID on both?
- Are they both on the same RF channel? (not related to the
current problem but probably your next headache).
- Do they both have their DCHP servers active?
- Is there any ethernet interconnection between these two routers?
- Do either PC-A and PC-B have simultaneous connections to both
routers?
- Are your computers running Windoze 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, OS/X,
Linux, or some other operating system?
- What are the LAN side IP addresses of the routers? What are the
DHCP server IP ranges (hopefully not overlapping)?
- Any other networking devices on the system that might cause
problems? (ie. PC's, routers and wireless access points?)

I can deduce the answers to some of these, but it would best if you
supplied a better description of your system.

>I can connect PC A wirelessley to both routers 1 & 2 and get an IP
>address from the local DHCP, my PC connection is configured to
>dynamically get the IP, so that works on both routers/broadband
>connection.

>PC 2 will only connect to Router 1 wirelessley, connecting
>to router 2 always fails with "limited or no connectivity", if i do an
>"ipconfig /all" I can see that windows has assigned my wireless
>connection the default ip autoconfiguration address of 169.254.x.x, I
>can however hardwire PC 2 to router 2 and it works fine, I get a
>correct IP address allocated [192.168.1.xxx].

What happens when you connect PC-2 to Router-2 (Linksys) via a CAT5
ethernet cable? Does DHCP now work?

What happens when you turn off Router-1 (Netgear) and only have
Router-2 (WAG54S) running? Also, turn off PC-1 in case it's set to
bridge between wireless and ethernet. In other words, simplify the
system to only the basics. Does PC-2 now get a proper DHCP IP address
from Router-2 (WAG54S)? If that works, then there's something in the
configuration, wiring, or setup of the two routers or PC-1 that's
causing problems.

>Something else I tried was configuring PC 2 with a static [manual] IP
>address and this then DID connect to router 2 wirelssley OK however I
>was getting issues where DNS names could not be resolved even though I
>had stated both DNS servers to use.

It's possible to have garbage for the DNS servers and gateway IP's if
you have two DHCP servers responding. There's nothing wrong with
having two DHCP servers, but if there's a sneak path between them
somewhere in your system (i.e. PC-1 bridging, ethernet wiring, etc),
you might have problems.

>The issue I have is why I only get the problem with PC 2 and router 2,
>I know that each component is OK as it works in another combination,

What other combinations have you tried? I'm particularly interested
in wired ethernet configurations and tests when parts or pieces have
been eliminated or replaced.

Also, are you running the latest firmware on the WAG54S and drivers on
the Dell Truemobile 1300 device?

>the only thing I can think of is maybe a compatability issue between
>the Linksys wireless configuration and the Dell configuration - but
>what ??

Well, it's possible. I'll assume Windoze XP. Download and try a DHCP
test tool from:
<http://www.weirdsolutions.com/weirdSolutions/files/products/desktopSoftware/desktopQueryTool/querytool_free.exe>
Where is asks for device identifier, uncheck the ethernet box, and
type in almost anything.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558