Wireless networking bombs after latest automatic XP upgrade

[Pete spotts]

Folks,

After the last XP security upgrade, my MS wireless network
seems to have flown south. Essentially, the MN-520 PCMCIA
card recognizes the signal from the wireless hub (also MS),
but the browser and other elements fail to connect. The
little icon in the system tray shows an "excellent" signal.
I have tried reinstalling the MN-520's software on my
Toshiba 1905-S303 laptop (Windows XP - Home) with all
software shut down and my firewall and antivirus software
off. All goes well until I'm asked for the security key
(after selecting the wireless network I want to use). I
enter the key (double-checked against the base station
manager on another PC). When I click on "next," the setup
software kicks me back to the previous screen and asks what
network I'd like to use. Again, the security-key entries
are properly made with due attention paid to case, etc. I
select the network again, enter the key, and I get kicked
back to selec a network yet again. I can't seem to get
beyond the step asking me to select a network.

Any suggestions?

Best regards,

Pete

 

[Pete Spotts]

Thanks, Barb. Still no luck, although I feel ever so much
closer to a solution -- when I entered the security key,
the installation program didn't kick me directly back to
select network. Instead, it gave me the "I'm trying to
connect" animation, then gave me an error message saying
that I'd entered the wrong key (although I hadn't). So I
guess I can count that as progress ;-)

I uninstalled 815485, and it warned me that a bunch of
software, including previous service-pack updates, might
not work. And there was one update that followed 815485,
which I uninstalled as well. It was one of the "this might
not work" victims.

So the problem seems to lie in getting the software to
accept or transmit or something the security key that the
hub wants. (At the risk of becoming personna non grata
here, I have half my hard drive set up for Linux, and the
wireless works perfectly there, using the security key I've
been trying to enter on the Windows side. And both sides of
the box were playing nicely with the hub until the last Win
update.)

Anyway, thanks for your suggestion (he says, while ducking
the flying bricks).

Best regards,

Pete

 

[Barb Bowman [MVP-Windows]]

Please don't delete portions of the thread. All you needed to uninstall was
815485. I'd reinstall any other updates you uninstalled. After you do all of
that, reboot.

You don't need to use the wizard or the Broadband Networking Utility to set
up the connection. (And it's possibly in a strange state now). Just set it
up using Windows XP's built in wireless zero configuration.

Thanks, Barb. Still no luck, although I feel ever so much
closer to a solution -- when I entered the security key,
the installation program didn't kick me directly back to
select network. Instead, it gave me the "I'm trying to
connect" animation, then gave me an error message saying
that I'd entered the wrong key (although I hadn't). So I
guess I can count that as progress ;-)

I uninstalled 815485, and it warned me that a bunch of
software, including previous service-pack updates, might
not work. And there was one update that followed 815485,
which I uninstalled as well. It was one of the "this might
not work" victims.

So the problem seems to lie in getting the software to
accept or transmit or something the security key that the
hub wants. (At the risk of becoming personna non grata
here, I have half my hard drive set up for Linux, and the
wireless works perfectly there, using the security key I've
been trying to enter on the Windows side. And both sides of
the box were playing nicely with the hub until the last Win
update.)

Anyway, thanks for your suggestion (he says, while ducking
the flying bricks).

Best regards,

Pete

After the last XP security upgrade, my MS wireless network
seems to have flown south. Essentially, the MN-520 PCMCIA
card recognizes the signal from the wireless hub (also MS),
but the browser and other elements fail to connect. The
little icon in the system tray shows an "excellent" signal.
I have tried reinstalling the MN-520's software on my
Toshiba 1905-S303 laptop (Windows XP - Home) with all
software shut down and my firewall and antivirus software
off. All goes well until I'm asked for the security key
(after selecting the wireless network I want to use). I
enter the key (double-checked against the base station
manager on another PC). When I click on "next," the setup
software kicks me back to the previous screen and asks what
network I'd like to use. Again, the security-key entries
are properly made with due attention paid to case, etc. I
select the network again, enter the key, and I get kicked
back to selec a network yet again. I can't seem to get
beyond the step asking me to select a network.