Internet (Wireless + LAN) not working

[mzah8]

Hello,

Hope I can get some help here. :)

My laptop (Dell Inspiron 700m, running Windows XP Home Edition SP 2) stopped being able to connect to the Internet one day. It just happened; I am unaware of any particular settings having been changed prior to that.

My home wireless does not work on it but neither does my home LAN. Other laptops are fine connecting to either. (The Intel Proset Wireless says "no supported wireless adapters available on the system" - I did try replacing the driver but this did not work, and anyway I think the problem is with connecting to the Internet in general.)

I have tried using System Restore to a state before my Internet problems started. This didn't work.

I used ipconfig from the command prompt and there is an IP address for the Local Area Connection, but for the Wireless Network Connection it says "Media disconnected" even though my Wireless switch on my laptop is turned on. Not sure what this means or if this is relevant

Under Device Manager, these are my devices listed under Network adapaters:
* 1394 Net Adapter
* the Bluetooth adapter (not really relevant)
* Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
* Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection)
...and they are all listed as working properly. (No yellow question marks at the icons!)

I have read different things on different forums but thought it'd be best to post my details here. A friend of mine tells me my Ethernet card is probably fried. Is there any way I can verify this, and what can I do if this is true?

Thanks so much.

[johnwill]

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 to copy the contents to the clipboard.
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.

[mzah8]

Thank you for your reply!

Here are the results of ipconfig:
(with Wireless switch turned on and Ethernet cable plugged in)

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ****
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-81-CA-E5
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.202.50
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 169.254.202.50

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Networ
k Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-F0-8A-72-40

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth PAN Network Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-E7-60-00-D2

[johnwill]

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

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

Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands.

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.

[mzah8]

Hello and thanks again for the reply!

I followed your instructions and rebooted. However it didn't work. :/

I did however realise that I'd forgotten to mention I'm using Litestep. Not sure if it's relevant. But after that, I rebooted to revert to the Windows shell. And I then discovered that my wireless was being managed by Windows again, instead of the Intel PROSet Wireless software. Also, it was able to detect wireless networks!

However I can only get "limited or no connectivity" (in this case 'no connectivity') on my home wireless, whereas on a different laptop the connection is fine.

I tried ipconfig /all again and saw that this time an IP address was registering under the Wireless Network Connection.. also other attributes like "Dhcp Enabled", "Autoconfiguration enabled", etc. were showing up.

Any more suggestions? Your insights are much appreciated. :)

[johnwill]

Well, first it would be useful to post the IPCONFIG /ALL results so I can see what's going on.

[mzah8]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ****
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-81-CA-E5
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.202.50
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Networ
k Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-F0-8A-72-40
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.22.205
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth PAN Network Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-E7-60-00-D2

C:\Documents and Settings\User>Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ZIRA
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-81-CA-E5
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.202.50
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Networ
k Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-F0-8A-72-40
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.22.205
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth PAN Network Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-E7-60-00-D2

Thanks, sorry for the delay.

[johnwill]

Normally, a 169.254.x.x address indicates a bad cable, bad port on the router, or a bad NIC. I'd start by changing the cable and using a different port on the router.

For wireless connections, the most common cause is MAC filtering on the router blocking the connection, or incorrect encryption keys being used to connect.

[Sheego]

Hi Johnwill, I have the exact problem as mzah8. I dont know if his issues got resolved. I have pasted the details of the ipconfig /all before and after the TCP/IP reset. I am still getting limited connectivity and when I try to repair it the system says cannot get new ip. PLEASE HELP...

Below are the details of the IP before and after the TCP/IP reset.


Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Gagan>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : D4KY8W71
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-F0-AB-49-3D

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-80-36-F7
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 202.56.215.54
202.56.215.55

===============

After TCP/IP reset

===============

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Gagan>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : D4KY8W71
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-80-36-F7
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.144.63
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-F0-AB-49-3D

[Pvisagi]

On the connection, right click and choose properties. Manually enter the Security key for that connection and click "ok".

Try connecting again...