Problems with DHCP request on Windows XP Home SP2

Hello all,

I have just recently bought a new desktop PC running Windows XP Home SP2
with an ASUS wireless network card. I have a US Robotics Wireless Router,
which is configured with WEP Authentication.

I have set up the WEP key on the desktop and Windows reports that it has
connected correctly to the router. However, Windows then reports that it is
"acquiring network address". This finally times out and Windows assigns a
dreaded 169.x.x.x address.

I have a second computer on the wireless network and it works just fine, so
I'm pretty certain the problem is not in the router (I am not using MAC
address access contol).

I have deployed a network sniffer - windump - on both the desktop and the
second computer. In neither case do I see any traffic coming from the
wireless network interface.

I have tried disabling the Windows Firewall, but it made no difference.

Can anyone offer any advice? One idea I had - does Windows XP in some way
disable WiFi until it has been Activated? Without a network connection, I
have not been able to do that yet!

Thanks in advance,

PG

=?Utf-8?B?UGV0ZXIgRw==?=

A few suggestions:

1. Double check MAC filtering at router.
2. Disable WEP, see if it works. If it does, WEP isn't setup correctly.
3. Enable WEP and set authentication to "shared key". If the PC can't
connect to the router anymore, then WEP isn't setup correctly.
4. If in step 3, the PC can connect to the router, try "net stop dhcp"
followed by "net start dhcp". This will attempt to obtain IP address again.
5. I am not sure if your sniffer can receive 802.11 wireless frames. If it
can, you will see the authetication and association frames between your PC
and the router. Check if you can see data frames that is DHCP discover
message from PC or DHCP offer message from router. This can help you
pinpoint which side is not working.

"Peter G" <> wrote in message
news:A5CF307F-CDFD-45F4-A29F-...
> Hello all,
>
> I have just recently bought a new desktop PC running Windows XP Home SP2
> with an ASUS wireless network card. I have a US Robotics Wireless Router,
> which is configured with WEP Authentication.
>
> I have set up the WEP key on the desktop and Windows reports that it has
> connected correctly to the router. However, Windows then reports that it
> is
> "acquiring network address". This finally times out and Windows assigns a
> dreaded 169.x.x.x address.
>
> I have a second computer on the wireless network and it works just fine,
> so
> I'm pretty certain the problem is not in the router (I am not using MAC
> address access contol).
>
> I have deployed a network sniffer - windump - on both the desktop and the
> second computer. In neither case do I see any traffic coming from the
> wireless network interface.
>
> I have tried disabling the Windows Firewall, but it made no difference.
>
> Can anyone offer any advice? One idea I had - does Windows XP in some way
> disable WiFi until it has been Activated? Without a network connection, I
> have not been able to do that yet!
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> PG

Zhong Deng [MSFT]