Can't connect to unsecured wireless signal

Hello -

I live in a flat where for various reasons my wife and I can't get our own broadband account. Periodically we switch on our laptops and see lot's of signals floating around from our neighbors, all secured.

About 3 weeks ago I saw another one, called FON_AP. It was unsecured and it turns out it is part of a company called fonero which sells wireless routers which create a private and public wireless signal which is perfect for me.

I signed up and have been connecting fine. Since the bulk of my work is done on my pc (my laptop is a mac) I bought a sitecom wireless PCI card. It worked great for the first couple of weeks, though once in a while it would lose the signal and I would have to 'repair' the wireless connection.

About a week ago, I wasn't able to connect, neither through the sitecom connection utility, nor the xp zero wireless utility. To make a long story short, after thinking I had a faulty card, I realized that I can connect to all of the secure signals (although since i don't have the wep keys i don't get any further) the UNSECURED signal doesn't let me connect at all. I can see the FON signal, but it always shows disconnected and nothing I have tried changes it. I can connect fine through my laptop, even though my airport wireless modem is a lot less powerful than the sitecom one.

I am at a loss as to what to do - even when i use the sitecom connection utility, clicking on one of the half-dozen or so signals produces some result - a screen asking for the password, for example, but the unsecured signal doesn't react at all. It's almost as if it's not there.

Any suggestions?

Regards,

Gordon

Maybe the owner deliberately left security off because he/she needs to be able to connect a device that doesn't handle encryption, but finally turned on MAC address filtering to keep out intruders.

How would I be able to connect with 2 other computers then? Both are apple laptops, and don't have any problem connecting at all - it's just the pc.

Try to reinstall the wireless adapter with latest driver, it might help..

If still fail, check with that service provider on your problem, see whether they turn on MAC filtering to filter your PC's MAC address. Also check whether they limit the connecting computers from customer.


piocHat
Home Network and Wireless Network Help

What channel is your router set to use? By default, most wifi routers come set at ch.6. If nearby encrypted signals are also using that channel, you'll have problems like you've described. Change your router to any channel but 6 or 9! A question: is your broadband DSL? If so, you may be having problems with one of the two channels used. Also if DSL, have the provider run a line check from their end for enough power.

Another thought; try uninstalling your current wireless adapter through control panel then re-installing it. This would re-set registry settings.