Help with wireless internet - Sony Vaio running VISTA

[orangelil]

I was hoping someone can help me. I have just got a BT Home Hub with wireless. I have a new Sony Viao laptop with wireless incorporated running Vista. I also have quite an old PC running XP. The broadband works fine on the PC (through ethernet cable) but I am having problems with the wireless on the laptop. I have followed all the instructions that came with the Home hub for setting up the wireless connection but am now completely at a loss. The laptop has found the connection quite a few times, but I have only managed to get onto the internet once for about ten minutes, then I lost the connection again. I have been trying to connect now for many days.
I know what the first question you ask me will be and yes, the wireless button on the laptop is definitley on! I have adsl filters on the phone etc to stop interference, though have tried it without as well. I have moved the laptop to lots of different locations, beside the Hub, a few feet away and many feet away, but to no avail, I am still unable to find the connection.
I really appreciate your advice. I don't know too much about computers. Thanks karen

[johnwill]

Does the laptop connect properly with a wired connection? We need to know if networking works at all.

Did you take the laptop to a local Internet hotspot and see if it works normally there?

[orangelil]

Thanks for your response. I have connected the laptop through an ethernet connection twice, the first time, I did get onto the internet but it was very very slow. Tonight I tried again, and although it says that it is connected to the network, I cannot get on to the internet. It says Local Connection only, limited access. Thanks

[johnwill]

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows Vista.

Start, Programs\Accessories and right click on Command Prompt, select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Reset IPv6 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

[orangelil]

Hi Thanks so much for your help. Unfortunately the laptop is still not finding the wireless network. I will go offline now and switch the ethernet connection from the pc to the laptop and see if i can connect. I'll let you know. Thanks

[orangelil]

Hi I have tried the ethernet connection in the laptop, and although it says that it is connected - local connection, I still can't access the internet. Is there anything else I can try? Thanks

[johnwill]

Let's see this when you're connected with a wired connection.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[orangelil]

Laptop running a lot more quickly with the ethernet plugged in tonight, but still no wireless internet!

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\karen>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : orawe-laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Con
nection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1C-BF-93-9D-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E Fast Ethernet
Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-80-B5-D0-DB
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::98f0:1bf8:d531:8818%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.65(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 31 August 2008 22:25:18
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 01 September 2008 22:49:07
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201333376
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{47990899-366B-408B-84E0-74A90E2E3
416}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.home
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.65%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:d5c7:a2ca:24c9:3316:3f57:febe(Pref
erred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::24c9:3316:3f57:febe%10(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

[johnwill]

OK, one step at a time. :D

You need to disable ALL encryption on the router and see if you can connect that way.

[orangelil]

Hi John, Sorry I am useless with computers. How do I do that? I have logged into my hub, and it only gives two options for encryption, 'use WEP' or use 'WPA or WPA2'. There is no option to disable encryption. Thanks

[johnwill]

Actually, I'm sure there really is an option. What's the exact model? Do you have a link to the user's manual for that router?

[orangelil]

It's a BT Home Hub 2.0. The link is this:

http://bt.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/bt.cf...tup/userguides

Thanks

[johnwill]

Look on page 17 of the manual for the basic setup procedure. Note that WEP with a key on the label of the router is pre-configured. I believe page 40 has instructions for changing the encryption mode, there should be an option for none.

I'd suggest reading the manual first, it should answer many of the questions.

[orangelil]

Hi I really do appreciate your help. I did read the manual inside out before setting up the hub. I had a look at page 40 again as you suggested, and from the advice it gives, there was still no option to diable the encryption mode. I did finally work out how to do it. It was in the advanced settings page. I did not originally look here as it is not mentioned in the manual and because there was a warning box that came up saying not to change anything unless you knew what you were doing. As you know, I don't know what I'm doing!

So anyway I finally went past the warning box, and disabled the encryption as requested. Here is the info you asked for from the laptop through a wired connection (which isn't working tonight...)

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\karen>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : orawe-laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Con
nection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1C-BF-93-9D-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E Fast Ethernet
Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-80-B5-D0-DB
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::98f0:1bf8:d531:8818%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 04 September 2008 21:15:51
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 05 September 2008 21:15:51
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201333376
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{47990899-366B-408B-84E0-74A90E2E3
416}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5efe:192.168.1.64%16(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Thank you
Karen

[johnwill]

Something is a bit odd there, the Default Gateway is all zeros.


Configure DHCP for Windows Vista.

1. Click on the Start menu, and select Control Panel.
2. Click on Network and Internet. (Skip this step if you do not see this Control Panel item.)
3. Click on Network and Sharing Center.
4. Click on Manage network connections.
5. Right click on Local Area Connection and choose Properties. If Windows say it needs your permission to continue, click Continue.
6. Select Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
7. Select Obtain an IP address automatically.
8. Click OK to close the TCP/IP Properties window.
9. Click OK to close the Local Area Connection Properties window.
10. Click Close to close the Network Connections window.
11. Click Close to close the Control Panel window.
12. Restart your computer.

[orangelil]

Hi John, I went through what it says on your post, but didn't have to change anything. It was already set up to obtain ip address automatically. Thanks

[johnwill]

So, now wired or wireless isn't working again?

[orangelil]

Hi, just to let you know that the wireless on the laptop is now working. I was reading through some different posts on the forums and fiddled around with different channels. I set it to channel 6, though the router was saying that channel 1 was the best. The wireless has worked for 2 days now, but I'm not counting on it staying like that! Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it. Karen

[johnwill]

Glad you got it sorted out.