PC to Router doesnt allow any data transfer at all. Advice needed please...

Hi all

When I boot my PC my wireless adapter shows "Aquiring IP Address"
constantly. The only way to resolve this is to reboot the router.

So I disabled DHCP on the router and manually set the IP addresses in
my PC. All works fine and when I boot the PC I get a good connection
to the router.

The only trouble is that their is now no data transfer between my PC
and the router - I cant access the router at all. The only solution is
to reboot the router again.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what may be the problem?

Is the router broken?
Could it be a configuration issue?

please help as I have not idea where to go with this one.

many thanks

Harry

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:07:05 +0100, Harry
<Harry@WiseWebs.co.nospam.uk> wrote:

>When I boot my PC my wireless adapter shows "Aquiring IP Address"
>constantly. The only way to resolve this is to reboot the router.
>
>So I disabled DHCP on the router and manually set the IP addresses in
>my PC. All works fine and when I boot the PC I get a good connection
>to the router.
>
>The only trouble is that their is now no data transfer between my PC
>and the router - I cant access the router at all. The only solution is
>to reboot the router again.
>
>Can anyone give me some advice as to what may be the problem?
>
>Is the router broken?
>Could it be a configuration issue?
>
>please help as I have not idea where to go with this one.

Welcome to the joys of WEP key ASCII to Hex conversion. What's
happening is that your unspecified hardware has failed to negotiate a
compatible WEP encryption key. That's due to the stupid situation
where different manufacturers use different algorithms to convert from
and ASCII (text) key to a Hexadecimal (hex) key. Windoze XP wireless
zero config only supports one of the algorithms. Windoze XP also
agrivates the situation by not offering even a token amount of
troubleshooting information. All you get is "Aquiring IP address"
followed eventually by "Limited connectivity..." That's not very
useful.

Use a Hex key and everything will work.

If you have any furthur questions, I suggest you disclose what
hardware and Windoze mutation you're using.


--
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

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 05:00:40 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> wrote:

>On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 10:07:05 +0100, Harry
><Harry@WiseWebs.co.nospam.uk> wrote:
>
>>When I boot my PC my wireless adapter shows "Aquiring IP Address"
>>constantly. The only way to resolve this is to reboot the router.
>>
>>So I disabled DHCP on the router and manually set the IP addresses in
>>my PC. All works fine and when I boot the PC I get a good connection
>>to the router.
>>
>>The only trouble is that their is now no data transfer between my PC
>>and the router - I cant access the router at all. The only solution is
>>to reboot the router again.
>>
>>Can anyone give me some advice as to what may be the problem?
>>
>>Is the router broken?
>>Could it be a configuration issue?
>>
>>please help as I have not idea where to go with this one.
>
>Welcome to the joys of WEP key ASCII to Hex conversion. What's
>happening is that your unspecified hardware has failed to negotiate a
>compatible WEP encryption key. That's due to the stupid situation
>where different manufacturers use different algorithms to convert from
>and ASCII (text) key to a Hexadecimal (hex) key. Windoze XP wireless
>zero config only supports one of the algorithms. Windoze XP also
>agrivates the situation by not offering even a token amount of
>troubleshooting information. All you get is "Aquiring IP address"
>followed eventually by "Limited connectivity..." That's not very
>useful.
>
>Use a Hex key and everything will work.
>
>If you have any furthur questions, I suggest you disclose what
>hardware and Windoze mutation you're using.
Hi again

The router is a 3COM Office connect ADSL router and the adapter is a
3COM 54g USB adapter. I am using WPA currently on Windows XP Pro + SP2
via the Zero Config Option.

Despite using WPA is your recommendation still relevent?
Would it be safer to use the supplier 3COM connection CD to connect my
PC to the router, or shall I stick with the Zero Config?

TIA

Harry

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:30:53 +0100, Harry
<Harry@WiseWebs.co.nospam.uk> wrote:

>The router is a 3COM Office connect ADSL router and the adapter is a
>3COM 54g USB adapter.

I could probably search the 3com site for the exact model numbers but
I'm lazy today. When you find your model numbers, also check the 3Com
web pile for updated firmware and drivers.

>I am using WPA currently on Windows XP Pro + SP2
>via the Zero Config Option.
>
>Despite using WPA is your recommendation still relevent?

No. It's only relevent for WEP encryption. WPA is consistent. So
much for that theory.

>Would it be safer to use the supplier 3COM connection CD to connect my
>PC to the router, or shall I stick with the Zero Config?

Can WZC "see" the 3com router under "Show available networks"?

Duz the 3com router have a log file or diagnostic page that will show
failed connections?

I don't know if the 3com driver will help. Basically, DHCP is not
working on power up. It may also not be working at all. I had one
machine that had been infected with spyware like that. When the
spyware removal program (Ad-Aware) was done, I was left with an IP
stack where DHCP just didn't work but static IP's did. I never really
fixed the machine. I was able to repair part of the DHCP puzzle with
one of the LSP editors, but never could get DHCP to accept the DNS
addresses. So, I just set the DNS servers as static and left it
rather than risk making things worse. You might have something
similar happening. Is this a new installation or an old installation
that previously worked as expected?

You might wanna try the 3com drivers instead of using WZC. I don't
know if it will do anything useful. Be sure to create a restore point
before installing so you can easily undo any damage. I do that
whenever installing anything that claims to be a driver.

Oh, I just noticed that the connection doesn't work even when you
assign a static IP address. Did you also assign a gateway address and
DNS servers? How are you testing? I suggest trying to ping the IP
address of the 3com router for testing.


--
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

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 09:50:03 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> wrote:

>On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:30:53 +0100, Harry
><Harry@WiseWebs.co.nospam.uk> wrote:
>
>>The router is a 3COM Office connect ADSL router and the adapter is a
>>3COM 54g USB adapter.
>
>I could probably search the 3com site for the exact model numbers but
>I'm lazy today. When you find your model numbers, also check the 3Com
>web pile for updated firmware and drivers.
I have the latest Firmware for the router and latest drivers for the
USB adapter too.
>
>>I am using WPA currently on Windows XP Pro + SP2
>>via the Zero Config Option.
>>
>>Despite using WPA is your recommendation still relevent?
>
>No. It's only relevent for WEP encryption. WPA is consistent. So
>much for that theory.
>
>>Would it be safer to use the supplier 3COM connection CD to connect my
>>PC to the router, or shall I stick with the Zero Config?
>
>Can WZC "see" the 3com router under "Show available networks"?
>
>Duz the 3com router have a log file or diagnostic page that will show
>failed connections?
>
>I don't know if the 3com driver will help. Basically, DHCP is not
>working on power up. It may also not be working at all. I had one
>machine that had been infected with spyware like that. When the
>spyware removal program (Ad-Aware) was done, I was left with an IP
>stack where DHCP just didn't work but static IP's did. I never really
>fixed the machine. I was able to repair part of the DHCP puzzle with
>one of the LSP editors, but never could get DHCP to accept the DNS
>addresses. So, I just set the DNS servers as static and left it
>rather than risk making things worse. You might have something
>similar happening. Is this a new installation or an old installation
>that previously worked as expected?
>
>You might wanna try the 3com drivers instead of using WZC. I don't
>know if it will do anything useful. Be sure to create a restore point
>before installing so you can easily undo any damage. I do that
>whenever installing anything that claims to be a driver.
>
>Oh, I just noticed that the connection doesn't work even when you
>assign a static IP address. Did you also assign a gateway address and
>DNS servers? How are you testing? I suggest trying to ping the IP
>address of the 3com router for testing.
The PC is off during the day and when I switch on in the evening the
connection shows a OK but invariably no data can be transferred to the
or from the router. When I reboot the router and it all works fine.

The router has a ping block on it so I will disable it and try pinging
the router later when I get home.

cheers

Harry

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 09:50:03 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
<jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> wrote:

>On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:30:53 +0100, Harry
><Harry@WiseWebs.co.nospam.uk> wrote:
>
>>The router is a 3COM Office connect ADSL router and the adapter is a
>>3COM 54g USB adapter.
>
>I could probably search the 3com site for the exact model numbers but
>I'm lazy today. When you find your model numbers, also check the 3Com
>web pile for updated firmware and drivers.
>
>>I am using WPA currently on Windows XP Pro + SP2
>>via the Zero Config Option.
>>
>>Despite using WPA is your recommendation still relevent?
>
>No. It's only relevent for WEP encryption. WPA is consistent. So
>much for that theory.
>
>>Would it be safer to use the supplier 3COM connection CD to connect my
>>PC to the router, or shall I stick with the Zero Config?
>
>Can WZC "see" the 3com router under "Show available networks"?
>
>Duz the 3com router have a log file or diagnostic page that will show
>failed connections?
>
>I don't know if the 3com driver will help. Basically, DHCP is not
>working on power up. It may also not be working at all. I had one
>machine that had been infected with spyware like that. When the
>spyware removal program (Ad-Aware) was done, I was left with an IP
>stack where DHCP just didn't work but static IP's did. I never really
>fixed the machine. I was able to repair part of the DHCP puzzle with
>one of the LSP editors, but never could get DHCP to accept the DNS
>addresses. So, I just set the DNS servers as static and left it
>rather than risk making things worse. You might have something
>similar happening. Is this a new installation or an old installation
>that previously worked as expected?
>
>You might wanna try the 3com drivers instead of using WZC. I don't
>know if it will do anything useful. Be sure to create a restore point
>before installing so you can easily undo any damage. I do that
>whenever installing anything that claims to be a driver.
>
>Oh, I just noticed that the connection doesn't work even when you
>assign a static IP address. Did you also assign a gateway address and
>DNS servers? How are you testing? I suggest trying to ping the IP
>address of the 3com router for testing.
Ping works fine when the data is flowing. But if it goes into its "no
data" setup then the ping times out.