What is "normal" wirless XP Pro client behavior?

[intrepid_dw]

Hi, all.

This is probably a dense question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Shouldn't an XP Pro box with a wireless NIC be "pingable" on the
network the moment it boots up, just like a traditional "wired" client
would?

I ask this because I have one wireless XP Pro box on a simple, small
home network. When it boots, it is not live on the network until
someone logs in the first time; thereafter, it works normally. When I
say "live," I mean that the machine cannot be pinged until someone logs
in.

It was my assumption (uh oh) that the machine would log into the domain
with its machine account at boot time, and thus be on the network
immediately. That doesn't appear to be the actual behavior.

Either my understanding is screwed up, or the machine is behaving
abormally.

Thanks in advance for your kind help.

David

p.s. I assume that this behavior would be independent of hardware, but
just in case; the client has DLink 54MBps wireless NIC, and the router
is a DLink 604

 

[Chuck]

Hi, all.

This is probably a dense question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Shouldn't an XP Pro box with a wireless NIC be "pingable" on the
network the moment it boots up, just like a traditional "wired" client
would?

I ask this because I have one wireless XP Pro box on a simple, small
home network. When it boots, it is not live on the network until
someone logs in the first time; thereafter, it works normally. When I
say "live," I mean that the machine cannot be pinged until someone logs
in.

It was my assumption (uh oh) that the machine would log into the domain
with its machine account at boot time, and thus be on the network
immediately. That doesn't appear to be the actual behavior.

Either my understanding is screwed up, or the machine is behaving
abormally.

Thanks in advance for your kind help.

David

p.s. I assume that this behavior would be independent of hardware, but
just in case; the client has DLink 54MBps wireless NIC, and the router
is a DLink 604

David,

Your computer can only be pingable when it gets an ip address that gives it
connectivity with the rest of the LAN. In my case, that's only after it starts
the wireless client, which happens after I log in.

I don't know whether you could run the wireless client as a service, which is
what you'll have to do to get an ip address before you log in, like you do with
Ethernet. This is probably a matter for research in a wireless forum, like:
<http://groups.google.com/group/alt.internet.wireless>
<http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.networking.wireless>
<http://www.dslreports.com/forum/wlan>

 

[intrepid_dw]

Hi, Chuck. Thanks for the assist.

I have a hard-coded IP address set up on this box, so the address is
available before anyone logs in. I guess that still wouldn't be helpful
until the wireless client starts. If nothing else, you confirmed what I
suspected.

I guess what I can't help but wonder is why the wireless client
wouldn't start with the system, just like a wired setup does?

-David

 

[Chuck]

Hi, Chuck. Thanks for the assist.

I have a hard-coded IP address set up on this box, so the address is
available before anyone logs in. I guess that still wouldn't be helpful
until the wireless client starts. If nothing else, you confirmed what I
suspected.

I guess what I can't help but wonder is why the wireless client
wouldn't start with the system, just like a wired setup does?

-David

David,

With a wired network, you're stuck with that network. No choice - the wire
that's plugged in to your computer decides what network you connect to, and
accept DHCP settings from (if you do accept DHCP). Connecting to Ethernet,
before you login (thru a service) makes sense.

With WiFi, you have the choice, at any time, which network you wish to associate
with. As long as you're in range of the AP, and have the correct security
clearances, you can associate with the network of your choice. If you want to
be able to choose a network, or change security settings, you have to do that
after you log in. If you made your WiFi client into a service (ie start it
before you log in), there would be no way for you to select, or change, what
network you associate with.

With WiFi, it's supposed to give you a choice. With that in mind, I guess using
the WiFi client as a service would not make any sense. To give you an idea how
services work, try reading this excellent article by Mark Russinovich, the
founder of SysInternals.
<http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/8723/8723.html>

 

[intrepid_dw]

Hi, Chuck.

Services and I are well acquainted; have written a few over the years.
Should have thought of that idea myself.

That said, I have to admit I just wasn't thinking "outside the box" on
the notion of having the flexibility to connect to multiple wireless
networks, and not getting an IP addy until a given network is selected.
Wouldn't, however, that be backwards in a domain environment? That is,
you have to be authenticated to log into a domain, and that presumes a
network connection -- but you don't have a network connection until you
log in! (catch-22?)

For me, it's just a desktop box with a permanent IP in my small,
(mostly) wired home network that just happens to have a wireless
component (mostly to support my laptop). The reason it's a nuisance is
if that box gets rebooted, I can't access any of the files on it from
my laptop until I log into it. That pretty much defeats the convenience
of the wireless setup.

I think I may just get off my lazy bones and just wire up the Ethernet
connect on that desktop box, which will solve the problem.

For what it's worth, I would probably advocate an option that would
enable/force/allow specification of a wireless network at boot-time.

Thanks again, Chuck.

-David