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General Category => Off the Record => Computer Affairs => Topic started by: Maladict on December 22, 2012, 04:12:09 PM

Title: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 22, 2012, 04:12:09 PM
My PC stopped connecting to the router all of a sudden. My laptop and mobile phones are still connecting fine.
Accessing the router I see it is aware of the PC but lists its IP as 0.0.0.0.
The only thing I can think of is a faulty wifi-adapter, anyone got a better idea before I get a new one?

Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Vricklund on December 22, 2012, 05:29:00 PM
1. Make sure the computer is not set to a static IP. If you've been playing around with file and printer sharing it's possible windows mucked up your settings.
2. Check that your network device has a TCP-protocol (IPv4) otherwise install it.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 22, 2012, 06:04:09 PM
No, that's not it, thanks. I haven't changed anything for months, except changing the wifi channel on the router because of interference from the neighbours.
Reset the router to factory settings, still no difference. Only the desktop pc won't connect.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Grey Fox on December 22, 2012, 08:29:24 PM
Try disabling all wired connection devices and the wifi, then enable wifi back.

Maybe new wifi channel has too many interference near where your PC to connect effectively.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Vricklund on December 23, 2012, 03:55:29 AM
3. Try deleting all the saved wireless networks and reboot.
4. Reinstall the adapter drivers.

For diagnostics it would be interesting to know if it works with encryption disabled. Also if it works with static IP settings. If you run ipconfig /all from the prompt does anything look strange?
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 08:00:21 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on December 22, 2012, 08:29:24 PM
Try disabling all wired connection devices and the wifi, then enable wifi back.

Maybe new wifi channel has too many interference near where your PC to connect effectively.

No, I've tried a few different channels. There are no wired connections.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Liep on December 23, 2012, 08:07:25 AM
Pull the plug on the router and wait 15 seconds. Also, if you use mac filtering I've once experienced my router just discarded my phone's address, that was a frustrating troubleshoot.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 08:07:45 AM
Quote from: Vricklund on December 23, 2012, 03:55:29 AM
3. Try deleting all the saved wireless networks and reboot.
4. Reinstall the adapter drivers.

For diagnostics it would be interesting to know if it works with encryption disabled. Also if it works with static IP settings. If you run ipconfig /all from the prompt does anything look strange?

Default gateway is blank, otherwise nothing looks strange.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 08:08:21 AM
Quote from: Liep on December 23, 2012, 08:07:25 AM
Pull the plug on the router and wait 15 seconds.

First thing I tried  :)
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 10:40:33 AM
Trying static IP seems to work only on the third attempt  :mellow:
The only downside is that I seem to have locked myself out of the router, must have inadvertently changed the password.
Thanks all for the help.  :cool:
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Vricklund on December 23, 2012, 02:46:07 PM
Then there's probably nothing physically wrong with your network adapter. Somehow your desktop isn't getting it's IP via DHCP and chances are it's a user issue. :) When you ipconfig'ed was IP 0.0.0.0 there as well or something else? If windows can't find a DHCP server then it defaults to an IP in the 169.254.x.x range.

Ctrl+Alt+Del and click on services, is the DHCP client running? Do you have a software firewall/antivirus program running on your desktop? The DHCP client listens on tcp/udp port 68.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 03:25:59 PM
IP was in the 169.x.x.x range. DHCP is running, well actually it's stopped.
The windows firewall is off, I get an error message trying to turn it on. Other than that I only have MS Security Essentials running.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Grey Fox on December 23, 2012, 03:48:41 PM
You got XP, right?

The firewall error is probably what's causing your problem.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on December 23, 2012, 04:07:25 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on December 23, 2012, 03:48:41 PM
You got XP, right?

The firewall error is probably what's causing your problem.

Win7
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Vricklund on December 31, 2012, 09:55:53 AM
Sounds weird indeed. Why is DHCP stopped, because you're using static or is something perventing it from starting (I'm thinking firewall too)? Look at the microsoft databases there seems to be a number of similar problems with DHCP and firewalls.
Title: Re: PC not connecting to wireless router
Post by: Maladict on January 02, 2013, 03:20:58 PM
The firewall seems to be completely fucked. I'm doing regular scans with other software, it doesn't appear to be malevolent.