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At my friends house, I take my laptop. Always been good till this morning.
Its said its connected on the tool bar and everywhere else. Everything
appears to be normal but I cannot get IE6 to browse the internet. Not even
my IM program. nothing at all. My wireless switch is on. Even though my
Windows firewall is on, I dont ever touch it nor make changes. did a scan
for viruses & spyware. I even went back 2 days in system restore and
nothing.
At my home next door, i have dialup;SO, i know that i am able to connect to
the internet using my dialup service as i am now. But i like to go to my
friends house often for homework & research. Here is what she tried:
unplugging the outlet to see if it would refresh. did not help.
Let me add that there is no prob with her laptop either.
This is so weird that before we take this to customer service, i would like
to try troubleshooting first. any ideas & would appreciate
'easy'inderstanding terms. thank you

Well, i dont know what happened but it started working!!! just what exactly
got it going? i dont know. but still makes me wonder if its gonna happen
again randomly. Sorry to have posted sometihng that mysteriously fixed
itself. Still, if u have any troubleshooting ideas, in the event that It
doesnt connect in the future, I would appreciate it so I dont post
prematurely.
16 hours of waiting for this thing to work.....an it did it all by itself I
guess.It figures.

"Marcy" <rm@rmcom> wrote in message
news:...
> At my friends house, I take my laptop. Always been good till this morning.
> Its said its connected on the tool bar and everywhere else. Everything
> appears to be normal but I cannot get IE6 to browse the internet. Not even
> my IM program. nothing at all. My wireless switch is on. Even though my
> Windows firewall is on, I dont ever touch it nor make changes. did a scan
> for viruses & spyware. I even went back 2 days in system restore and
> nothing.
> At my home next door, i have dialup;SO, i know that i am able to connect
> to the internet using my dialup service as i am now. But i like to go to
> my friends house often for homework & research. Here is what she tried:
> unplugging the outlet to see if it would refresh. did not help.
> Let me add that there is no prob with her laptop either.
> This is so weird that before we take this to customer service, i would
> like to try troubleshooting first. any ideas & would appreciate
> 'easy'inderstanding terms. thank you
>

Hi
In every environment there are few Network related settings that are unique
(like IPs, gateways, passwords, security level etc).
When you move with a Wireless laptop from one place to the other, the
network variables are set for the old location. Sometimes it adapts to the
new location, sometimes a specific setting need to be change to make sure
that it works.
You were lucky it adapted.
If you have few minutes read these pages it might give you tools and
understanding how the Wireless works in case you are Not so lucky the next
time.
My New Wireless does not work - http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
Wireless, Basic Configuration - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Marcy" <rm@rmcom> wrote in message
news:...
> At my friends house, I take my laptop. Always been good till this morning.
> Its said its connected on the tool bar and everywhere else. Everything
> appears to be normal but I cannot get IE6 to browse the internet. Not even
> my IM program. nothing at all. My wireless switch is on. Even though my
> Windows firewall is on, I dont ever touch it nor make changes. did a scan
> for viruses & spyware. I even went back 2 days in system restore and
> nothing.
> At my home next door, i have dialup;SO, i know that i am able to connect
> to the internet using my dialup service as i am now. But i like to go to
> my friends house often for homework & research. Here is what she tried:
> unplugging the outlet to see if it would refresh. did not help.
> Let me add that there is no prob with her laptop either.
> This is so weird that before we take this to customer service, i would
> like to try troubleshooting first. any ideas & would appreciate
> 'easy'inderstanding terms. thank you
>

"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:

> Hi
> In every environment there are few Network related settings that are unique
> (like IPs, gateways, passwords, security level etc).
> When you move with a Wireless laptop from one place to the other, the
> network variables are set for the old location. Sometimes it adapts to the
> new location, sometimes a specific setting need to be change to make sure
> that it works.
> You were lucky it adapted.
> If you have few minutes read these pages it might give you tools and
> understanding how the Wireless works in case you are Not so lucky the next
> time.
> My New Wireless does not work - http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
> Wireless, Basic Configuration - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
> Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
> Jack (MVP-Networking).

Jack, would you mind explaining why XP would report a "connected status"
when in reality it is not connected to Marcy's friends wireless network? I
have experienced this personally when I am travelling and my laptop would say
I am connected but really not so. here's something to try: say you're in an
area where there are several wifi network active (several SSIDs showing and
says encrypted connectivity. So you connect to it, and just entered a random
key/password. A hort time later your OS will say its connected (sometimes it
will say limited connectivity), but in reality, you are NOT connected to any
network. Your IP address is not the typical 192.xxx.x.x address. I think XP
lied. I wonder if Vista also do the same?

On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:10:02 -0700, Commander Data <Commander
> wrote:

>
>
>"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> In every environment there are few Network related settings that are unique
>> (like IPs, gateways, passwords, security level etc).
>> When you move with a Wireless laptop from one place to the other, the
>> network variables are set for the old location. Sometimes it adapts to the
>> new location, sometimes a specific setting need to be change to make sure
>> that it works.
>> You were lucky it adapted.
>> If you have few minutes read these pages it might give you tools and
>> understanding how the Wireless works in case you are Not so lucky the next
>> time.
>> My New Wireless does not work - http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
>> Wireless, Basic Configuration - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
>> Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
>> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
>Jack, would you mind explaining why XP would report a "connected status"
>when in reality it is not connected to Marcy's friends wireless network? I
>have experienced this personally when I am travelling and my laptop would say
>I am connected but really not so. here's something to try: say you're in an
>area where there are several wifi network active (several SSIDs showing and
>says encrypted connectivity. So you connect to it, and just entered a random
>key/password. A hort time later your OS will say its connected (sometimes it
>will say limited connectivity), but in reality, you are NOT connected to any
>network. Your IP address is not the typical 192.xxx.x.x address. I think XP
>lied. I wonder if Vista also do the same?

If you're connecting to the WiFi AP, but getting a "169.254.x.x" address (that's
APIPA aka "limited or no connectivity"), then DHCP services aren't available.
Either there is no DHCP server, or DHCP is using MAC address filtering.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.

HI
It has to do with "bad wording" of the message. Connected means that your
Wireless client is capable to receive a signal from a specific Wireless
Router/Access Point.
However, it might be that the Network is Not capable to process traffic.
Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Commander Data" <Commander > wrote in message
news:4B8C9D8F-65EA-40C0-BE7B-...
>
>
> "Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> In every environment there are few Network related settings that are
>> unique
>> (like IPs, gateways, passwords, security level etc).
>> When you move with a Wireless laptop from one place to the other, the
>> network variables are set for the old location. Sometimes it adapts to
>> the
>> new location, sometimes a specific setting need to be change to make sure
>> that it works.
>> You were lucky it adapted.
>> If you have few minutes read these pages it might give you tools and
>> understanding how the Wireless works in case you are Not so lucky the
>> next
>> time.
>> My New Wireless does not work - http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
>> Wireless, Basic Configuration -
>> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
>> Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
>> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
> Jack, would you mind explaining why XP would report a "connected status"
> when in reality it is not connected to Marcy's friends wireless network?
> I
> have experienced this personally when I am travelling and my laptop would
> say
> I am connected but really not so. here's something to try: say you're in
> an
> area where there are several wifi network active (several SSIDs showing
> and
> says encrypted connectivity. So you connect to it, and just entered a
> random
> key/password. A hort time later your OS will say its connected (sometimes
> it
> will say limited connectivity), but in reality, you are NOT connected to
> any
> network. Your IP address is not the typical 192.xxx.x.x address. I think
> XP
> lied. I wonder if Vista also do the same?

"Chuck [MVP]" wrote:
> If you're connecting to the WiFi AP, but getting a "169.254.x.x" address (that's
> APIPA aka "limited or no connectivity"), then DHCP services aren't available.
> Either there is no DHCP server, or DHCP is using MAC address filtering.

Chuck thanks for the quick response. Your answer makes sense from a
"limited connectivity" standpoint, if anything, the XP OS should have said:
NOT CONNECTED since at the time I encountered this problem, nowhere in the
available SSIDs (hidden or not) exists a NETWORK with 169.254.x.x IP address
range. Recall, I was trying to connect to an existing WIFI source with "full
bar signal strength and WEP encrypted. Thus if I tried to connect to it
without supplying the correct password, it should have returned "UNABLE TO
CONNECT (due to password failure) status, instead of indicating a false
status that I am connected to it, albeit with no access to the internet. I am
really not connected unless I have an assigned IP by the DHCP server. It is
like: "I can knock on the door, but if the door is not open, I cannot get in".

Commander Data wrote:
> "Chuck [MVP]" wrote:
>> If you're connecting to the WiFi AP, but getting a "169.254.x.x" address (that's
>> APIPA aka "limited or no connectivity"), then DHCP services aren't available.
>> Either there is no DHCP server, or DHCP is using MAC address filtering.
>
> Chuck thanks for the quick response. Your answer makes sense from a
> "limited connectivity" standpoint, if anything, the XP OS should have said:
> NOT CONNECTED since at the time I encountered this problem, nowhere in the
> available SSIDs (hidden or not) exists a NETWORK with 169.254.x.x IP address
> range. Recall, I was trying to connect to an existing WIFI source with "full
> bar signal strength and WEP encrypted. Thus if I tried to connect to it
> without supplying the correct password, it should have returned "UNABLE TO
> CONNECT (due to password failure) status, instead of indicating a false
> status that I am connected to it, albeit with no access to the internet. I am
> really not connected unless I have an assigned IP by the DHCP server. It is
> like: "I can knock on the door, but if the door is not open, I cannot get in".

Not quite (although I agree that MS error and warning messages are often
exceedingly cryptic). Google "APIPA."

By default, Windows enables "automatic private IP address" assignment.
If your NIC is set to "obtain an IP address automatically" -- that is,
to have your IP set by a DHCP server -- and for whatever reason (you
don't have the correct security info; the DHCP server is non-functional;
etc.) the NIC does not receive such an address after a given time (which
I don't recall), Windows automatically assigns an IP address in the
range 169.254.0.1 through 169.254.255.254.

Sometimes, this is a "good thing." For example, you can use this
capability to establish an ad hoc network connection. Other times, such
as the situation described by the OP, it just leads to confusion. You
can disable APIPA in favor of a fixed alternate IP address on the
"Alternate Configuration" tab of the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)"
properties page. Or you can set a static IP address on the "General"
tab of the same dialog.

--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer

On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:24:01 -0700, Commander Data
<> wrote:

>
>"Chuck [MVP]" wrote:
>> If you're connecting to the WiFi AP, but getting a "169.254.x.x" address (that's
>> APIPA aka "limited or no connectivity"), then DHCP services aren't available.
>> Either there is no DHCP server, or DHCP is using MAC address filtering.
>
>Chuck thanks for the quick response. Your answer makes sense from a
>"limited connectivity" standpoint, if anything, the XP OS should have said:
>NOT CONNECTED since at the time I encountered this problem, nowhere in the
>available SSIDs (hidden or not) exists a NETWORK with 169.254.x.x IP address
>range. Recall, I was trying to connect to an existing WIFI source with "full
>bar signal strength and WEP encrypted. Thus if I tried to connect to it
>without supplying the correct password, it should have returned "UNABLE TO
>CONNECT (due to password failure) status, instead of indicating a false
>status that I am connected to it, albeit with no access to the internet. I am
>really not connected unless I have an assigned IP by the DHCP server. It is
>like: "I can knock on the door, but if the door is not open, I cannot get in".

APIPA addresses were designed so any group of computers, without an available
DHCP server, can communicate among themselves. Limited connectivity means the
ability to communicate only with other computers using the 169.254/16 subnet, it
doesn't mean no connectivity. You don't HAVE to have an IP address assigned by
a DHCP server to have connectivity, you just have to have a unique IP address on
the same subnet as other computers.

So it's possible that the owner of the AP has it open, but with no DHCP server.
This lets anybody who knows how to setup their computer, to use it, without
dealing with authentication. It's a form of security by obscurity.

You knocked on the door. They opened a window, that you can't see, but their
friends know to crawl though.

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP 2005-2007 [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.