Wireless USB connection failures

[Jay_JWLH]

I am using a USB stick, Open303W. A nice cheap open source wireless device. It will install successfully, however it will not establish a connection with a certain modem. I just tested it right now, and it can connect without issues to a D-Link wireless router, the same one I am wired to, and get near weak signal strength on. However when I try to wirelessly connect it to a Linksy router, it will not work at all.

Vista being as helpful as they are, don't tell you anything unless you learn to read the small links and go to the Event Log. Here is the information below:

Helper Class (AutoConfig Helper Class) Event:

Wireless Diagnostic Informational Event

Information for connection being diagnosed
Interface GUID: 2421d372-5ce0-4ae8-8990-215dbedb2050
Interface name: XPC 802.11b/g Wireless Kit Driver #3
Interface type: Native WiFi
Profile: Discovery connection
SSID: cave
SSID length: 4
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Connect even if network is not broadcasting: No

Connection incident diagnosed
Auto Configuration ID: 1
Connection ID: 1

Connection status summary
Connection started at: 2008-04-13 19:05:30-159
Profile match: Success
Pre-Association: Success
Association: Fail
Security and Authentication: Not started

List of visible access point(s): 3 item(s) total, 3 item(s) displayed
BSSID BSS Type PHY Signal(dB) Chnl/freq SSID
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
00-14-85-BC-46-F0 Infra <unknown> -72 6
00-18-39-A5-90-34 Infra g -83 11 cave
00-15-E9-0E-7D-00 Infra g -83 6 Pinhole

Connection History

Information for Auto Configuration ID 2

List of visible networks: 3 item(s) total, 3 item(s) displayed
BSS Type PHY Security Signal(RSSI) Compatible SSID
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infra <unknown> No 56 Yes
Infra g Yes 42 Yes cave
Infra g Yes 34 Yes Pinhole

List of preferred networks: 0 item(s)

Information for Auto Configuration ID 1

List of visible networks: 2 item(s) total, 2 item(s) displayed
BSS Type PHY Security Signal(RSSI) Compatible SSID
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infra <unknown> No 56 Yes
Infra g Yes 40 Yes cave

List of preferred networks: 0 item(s)

Information for Connection ID 1
Connection started at: 2008-04-13 19:05:30-159
Auto Configuration ID: 1
Profile: Discovery connection
SSID: cave
SSID length: 4
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Pre-Association and Association
Connectivity settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Security settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Profile matches network requirements: Success
Pre-association status: Success
Association status: Fail 0x00038002
Association reason code: 0x00000002



Event Verbosity:0

I figure it something to do with the broadcast flag, but I doubt I have been able to do much about that considering I haven't gotten anywhere. Also would it have something to do with the fact that Linksy isn't Microsoft related, since they configure their own routers, while D-Link use open source.

[johnwill]

Changes that may help to increase the compatibility of Vista with older networking devices:



Disable the IP Helper service:

1. Hold the Windows key and type R, enter "services.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter
2. Scroll down to the IP Helper service, right click on it and select Properties
3. In the dropdown box that says "Automatic" or "Manual", set it to Disabled and then click on "Apply"
4. Then click on "Stop" to stop the service from running in the current session
5. Click OK to exit the dialog



Disable IPv6:

1. Hold the Windows key and type R, enter "ncpa.cpl" (without the quotes) and press Enter
2. Right click on each network connection and select "Properties"
3. Remove the checkmark from the box next to "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
4. Click OK to exit the dialog

NOTE: You should do this for each network connection.



Disable the DHCP Broadcast Flag:

Link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233

1. Hold the Windows key and type R, enter regedit and press Enter.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{GUID}
4. In this registry path, click the (GUID) subkey to be updated.
5. If the key DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag does not exist, use the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD (32-bit) Value. In the New Value #1 box, type DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag, and then press ENTER. If the key exists, skip this step.
6. Right-click DhcpConnForceBroadcastFlag, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
8. Close Registry Editor.

NOTE: You should do this for each and every GUID subkey.
NOTE2: (GUID) is a mnemonic for the individual subkeys, the actual text "GUID" does not appaer.




The only program I'm aware of that currently relies on IPv6 is the new Windows Meeting Space. The first 2 changes will cause that program not to work - but will leave all of your normal (IPv4) connections unaffected. If it causes problems that you can't overcome, simply revert back to the original settings.

[Jay_JWLH]

IP Helper service: Disabled/Stopped
IPv6: Deselected
Broadcast flag: disabled

Thats probably the link I reached before too. After a restart a connection still doesn't seem to become established. Nothing in the event log appears to have changed.

[johnwill]

How far does it get? Can you see the wireless connection, and just not establish a connection?

[Jay_JWLH]

I can go through the wizard presented to me in Vista, which first gives me a window that automatically searches for available connections. From there I can select one, and on the second window after putting in the correct passphrase, it tries to connect and fails. Of course it offers to either diagnose the problem or select another connection. Diagnosing it can only blame it on low signal strength... but it isn't really that low. It does however say "Wireless association failed because Windows did not recieve any response from the wireless router or access point". The router has already been reset at one point.

[johnwill]

I'd have to suspect encryption issues here.

Have you tried disabling all encryption and MAC filtering on the router and connecting?

[Jay_JWLH]

No MAC filtering is being used. Also even without encryption, nothing about the connection attempt changes.

[Jay_JWLH]

The problem could be more annoying than I thought. I have taken the router and put it close to the computer, with the USB wireless device over one meter from it. Keep in mind that this is the D-Link wireless router that I mentioned from the begining. With and without any sort of encryption, it doesn't appear to be letting me connect to it this time. I might be looking towards a full reinstall of Vista again. I think that this will be possible with a second hard drive to hold everything I need to install back, and I might be able to get a third 500GB HDD to make use of the RAID feature on the motherboard. I wouldn't call it true RAID, because I can only make it work from scratch.

[johnwill]

Try the USB adapter on a different machine.

[Jay_JWLH]

I have tried it on another machine, and it does in fact work (Windows XP Home). However even if I did somehow bridge the connection, the signal would be very weak, down to disconnected. This wouldn't be good for file sharing and other larger bandwidth activities, nor be good having the machine on all the time for me.
I suppose you can rule out hardware issues.

[johnwill]

The next suspect would be the Vista drivers...