'Limited or no connectivity' after installing SP2

[Michael Taylor]

I'm getting the 'Limited or no connectivity' message for my wireless adapter
on my laptop. For a while I was able to temporarily resolve it by
uninstalling and re-installing the adapter using device manager. I've also
used NETSH commands to reset the TCPIP stack, which would make it work for a
while.

Now I found neither of these workarounds works any more. I can only get
connectivity by using a wired connection. My access point is normally
configured to use wep with 64bit encryption. I've also used wpa, but nothing
works. If I uninstall SP2 it all works perfectly.

My wireless equipment is all Dlink. I'm using the latest firmware for the
access point, and the latest MS certified driver for the PCMCIA card.

The MS knowledge base articles on the subject haven't helped. Can anyone
suggest other workarounds, solutions or resources on the net that could be
of use.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

Michael Taylor wrote on 26-Oct-2004 5:01 AM:

I'm getting the 'Limited or no connectivity' message for my wireless adapter
on my laptop. For a while I was able to temporarily resolve it by
uninstalling and re-installing the adapter using device manager. I've also
used NETSH commands to reset the TCPIP stack, which would make it work for a
while.

Now I found neither of these workarounds works any more. I can only get
connectivity by using a wired connection. My access point is normally
configured to use wep with 64bit encryption. I've also used wpa, but nothing
works. If I uninstall SP2 it all works perfectly.

My wireless equipment is all Dlink. I'm using the latest firmware for the
access point, and the latest MS certified driver for the PCMCIA card.

The MS knowledge base articles on the subject haven't helped. Can anyone
suggest other workarounds, solutions or resources on the net that could be
of use.

"limited connectivity" alerts are an option and they indicate an
inability to receive a dynamically assigned IP address. Check your
adapter settings and if the address is 169.254.x.y, then you are using
DHCP but are not getting an IP address assignment from your DHCP host
(your Dlink router).

Try assigning a static IP address from the router address range (usually
192.168.0.x or .1.x). If this works, it is definitely a DHCP issue. But
don't stop here, keep reading.

Try disabling the Windows firewall temporarily. If this solves the
problem, then your firewall is likely blocking broadcasts. Normally, the
default settings for the Windows firewall do not block DHCP, so reset to
defaults. There are enough problems with the new Windows firewall that
we can't rule out misbehaviour.

Finally "View all wireless networks" in XP or in the Dlink applet that
controls your wireless network. If you ever tried to connect to your
neighbor's WAP, your preferred order may have gotten mixed up and you
may be on the wrong access point. It can happen. If your neighbor is
smart enough to use MAC address filtering, your symptoms might appear.

Use WPA preferred or WEP as a fallback. Enable MAC address filtering and
then no one else can get on your WAP. If you only have 11g adapters,
then set your WAP to only accept 11g. That will block neighbors with
only 11b adapters.

I love the limited connectivity option. It really improves adapter
diagnostics. Did you notice the yellow balls on the tray icon? These
indicate that address assignment is happening. Until the yellow balls
disappear, your apps can't access the Internet.

Your adapter goes through three stages:

1) connecting to the wireless access point or hub/switch
2) getting an address assignment
3) enabling IP address and establishing IP connectivity

Wireless networks take more time for all of these to happen and with
improved security, each stage can break down in various ways.

 

[Michael Taylor]

Michael Taylor wrote on 26-Oct-2004 5:01 AM:
"limited connectivity" alerts are an option and they indicate an inability
to receive a dynamically assigned IP address. Check your adapter settings
and if the address is 169.254.x.y, then you are using DHCP but are not
getting an IP address assignment from your DHCP host (your Dlink router).

Try assigning a static IP address from the router address range (usually
192.168.0.x or .1.x). If this works, it is definitely a DHCP issue. But
don't stop here, keep reading.

Try disabling the Windows firewall temporarily. If this solves the
problem, then your firewall is likely blocking broadcasts. Normally, the
default settings for the Windows firewall do not block DHCP, so reset to
defaults. There are enough problems with the new Windows firewall that we
can't rule out misbehaviour.

Finally "View all wireless networks" in XP or in the Dlink applet that
controls your wireless network. If you ever tried to connect to your
neighbor's WAP, your preferred order may have gotten mixed up and you may
be on the wrong access point. It can happen. If your neighbor is smart
enough to use MAC address filtering, your symptoms might appear.

Use WPA preferred or WEP as a fallback. Enable MAC address filtering and
then no one else can get on your WAP. If you only have 11g adapters, then
set your WAP to only accept 11g. That will block neighbors with only 11b
adapters.

I love the limited connectivity option. It really improves adapter
diagnostics. Did you notice the yellow balls on the tray icon? These
indicate that address assignment is happening. Until the yellow balls
disappear, your apps can't access the Internet.

Your adapter goes through three stages:

1) connecting to the wireless access point or hub/switch
2) getting an address assignment
3) enabling IP address and establishing IP connectivity

Wireless networks take more time for all of these to happen and with
improved security, each stage can break down in various ways.

Kent,

Thank you for your advice. Yesterday I uninstalled SP2 and found that I
couldn't get wireless to work even on SP1. Thats never happened before. I
re-installed SP2 and wireless wouldn't work last night, but as of this
morning it is working fine. I've left my laptop running to see if it stays
connected.

My Dlink access point is a DWL-7000AP. I use the 802.11a capability for my
laptop and 802.11b for a pocket pc with wi-fi. 802.11a is using WPA while
802.11b is using wep because the pda won't support WPA.

I have tried a static IP address and found that when I had 'limited'
capability I could not ping any other devices on my private network. Do you
think my access point might have a problem retrieving a DHCP address from my
DSL router? My DSL router is a Zyxel Prestige 652-R11. That has DHCP running
on it, and DHCP is turned off in the access point so the two don't conflict.

Fortunately I have no neighbours using wi-fi. I use mac address filtering.

I have noticed the 'yellow balls' - i'm wondering if sometimes my access
point isn't quite fast enough to sort out the DHCP address. Is there a way
to make Windows wait a little longer before giving up? Perhaps a registry
change?

If the problem happens again, i'll reset the windows firewall and/or turn it
off. I have a feeling it may not be the firewall though, as my wi-fi access
through 802.11a with wpa is working.

Regards
Mike

 

[Kent W. England [MVP]]

Michael Taylor wrote on 28-Oct-2004 4:52 AM:

Thank you for your advice. Yesterday I uninstalled SP2 and found that I
couldn't get wireless to work even on SP1. Thats never happened before. I
re-installed SP2 and wireless wouldn't work last night, but as of this
morning it is working fine. I've left my laptop running to see if it stays
connected.

That pretty much rules out SP2 as the culprit.

My Dlink access point is a DWL-7000AP. I use the 802.11a capability for my
laptop and 802.11b for a pocket pc with wi-fi. 802.11a is using WPA while
802.11b is using wep because the pda won't support WPA.

I have tried a static IP address and found that when I had 'limited'
capability I could not ping any other devices on my private network.

That is to be expected if the other devices were successful in acquiring
a DHCP address or were using a static IP address. All your devices need
to be using the same scheme at the same time for them to all end up on
the same subnet for inter-communication.

Do you
think my access point might have a problem retrieving a DHCP address from my
DSL router? My DSL router is a Zyxel Prestige 652-R11. That has DHCP running
on it, and DHCP is turned off in the access point so the two don't conflict.

If your access point is simply a repeater, or hub, it is transparent to
the DHCP process (unless it fails to forward the DHCP broadcasts). Plug
your laptop directly into the router, bypassing wireless, to see if it
can get a DHCP address from the router.

Fortunately I have no neighbours using wi-fi. I use mac address filtering.

I have noticed the 'yellow balls' - i'm wondering if sometimes my access
point isn't quite fast enough to sort out the DHCP address. Is there a way
to make Windows wait a little longer before giving up? Perhaps a registry
change?

There might be a registry setting to lengthen the amount of time, but
AFAIK, Windows continues to look for a DHCP server after it "gives up"
and creates the limited connectivity address (169.254.). You can
"repair" the connection and refresh the address if the DHCP server is
slow, but it really shouldn't be.

If the problem happens again, i'll reset the windows firewall and/or turn it
off. I have a feeling it may not be the firewall though, as my wi-fi access
through 802.11a with wpa is working.

The firewall was just a guess.