Lost Connection

P

PVR

I have three PCs on a home wireless network (Linksys). Two are XP/3
and one is Vista. The Vista and one of the XPs are laptops. The
remaining PC is a Tower connected to the wireless router via wire.
Until very recently connection to the Internet was available on all
three PCs. Connection was "Automatic."

Now the two laptops cannot connect to the 'Net via my home wireless
network. I can connect the two laptops to the 'Net via another
available unsecured network.

What should I do to re-establish connection to the 'Net of my two
laptops using my home wireless network?

Many thanks,

Peter.
 
J

Jack [MVP-Networking]

Hi
Log to your Router's menus disable the Wireless security and try to connect.
If you can connect with No security, enable again the Router's Wireless
security and configure the Laptops accordingly.
In general.
My 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
From the weakest to the strongest, Wireless security capacity is.
No Security
Switching Off SSID (same has No Security. SSID can be easily sniffed even if
it is Off)
MAC Filtering______(Band Aid if nothing else is available, MAC number can be
easily Spoofed).
WEP64____(Easy, to "Break" by knowledgeable people).
WEP128___(A little Harder, but "Hackable" too).
-------------------
The three above are Not considered safe.
Safe Starts here at WPA.
-------------------
WPA-PSK__(Very Hard to Break).
WPA-AES__(Not functionally Breakable)
WPA2____ (Not functionally Breakable).
Note 1: WPA-AES the the current entry level rendition of WPA2.
Note 2: If you use WinXP bellow SP3 and did not updated it, you would have
to download the WPA2 patch from Microsoft.
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357>
The documentation of your Wireless devices (Wireless Router, and Wireless
Computer's Card) should state the type of security that is available with
your Wireless hardware.
All devices MUST be set to the same security level using the same pass
phrase.
Therefore the security must be set according what ever is the best possible
of one of the Wireless devices.
I.e. even if most of your system might be capable to be configured to the
max. with WPA2, but one device is only capable to be configured to max . of
WEP, to whole system must be configured to WEP.
If you need more good security and one device (like a Wireless card that can
do WEP only) is holding better security for the whole Network, replace the
device with a better one.
Jack (MVP-Networking).
 
P

PVR

Jack, many thanks for your help. Following your suggestions I solved
my
problem.

Peter.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top