[bigbirt]

Hi Guys

Had a problem for some time now where my WLAN will not show my routers SSID therefore will not connect. THe list or wireless signals shows lots of my neighbours including another Tiscali one but not mine. This happens every now and again and does not seem to have any pattern. I have changed ISP terefore changed router and also tried different WLAN USB but the same thing happens. " work laptops connect everytime even when my home PC will not see the SSID of my router. Have been confimred Malware free in the Malware removal forum.

Is now starting to drvie me mad. Can anyone help?

Thanks

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Try changing the SSID to something else, I have found that although not common a computer can get confused when there is two of the same SSID's found.
I hope my reading comp is right in that you said there was another wireless with the same SSID.

[mouse]

Try changing the SSID to something else, I have found that although not common a computer can get confused when there is two of the same SSID's found.
I hope my reading comp is right in that you said there was another wireless with the same SSID.

[bigbirt]

My wirelss ssid is different to any i can see. The other similar one is not always there either.

[Dan]

Hey bigbirt,

Unfortunately, it's very hard to track down intermittent issues -- but we'll give it a go.

mouse's idea of changing the SSID isn't a bad idea, even if you think there aren't any other networks with the same name. Having a unique SSID isn't necessary (since your AP's MAC address will usually differentiate itself), but it can cause issues if your adapter has faulty drivers.

Speaking of drivers, have you updated your adapter's drivers to the latest version?

When your network isn't showing, how do you eventually correct the issue?

Do you use third party software to handle your Wireless connections? Does your laptop?

If necessary, we can enable logging for your wireless connection, as that will hopefully narrow things down.

[EDIT] On the off-chance that you have SSID broadcasting disabled on your router, please enable it. Disabling this offers minimal protection, and can often cause issues.

- Dan

Edited by Dan, 14 February 2009 - 08:11 PM.

[bigbirt]

Hi Dan

Thanks for trying to help me out.

I will change my SSID name and update the drivers today. I am broadcasting SSID

When the fault is happening i tend to just wait for it to fix itself. Sometimes i restart everything sometimes i make a new connection. None of these work everytime though.

I am currently using Windows to configure my wireless adaptor (on laptops too) but have tried a third party software (Belkin) with a different USB but had the same problem.

[Dan]

Are you using encryption on your network? If so, what type?

The next time you can't connect, please try the following:

• Press Start
• Select Run
• Type cmd and press OK
• In the new command prompt window, type net stop wzcsvc
• Once the service stops, type net start wzcsvc
• Refresh the list of available networks; is yours now listed?

I'm hoping that this is just an outdated adapter driver issue, so please let me know if the issue persists once you update your drivers.

- Dan

[bigbirt]

Have updated the drivers and i will see if this works. Connected OK yesterday but that might have been one of its "good days". Ill try again today.

I am using WPA2.

Edited by bigbirt, 16 February 2009 - 10:50 AM.

[Dan]

Many adapters experience connectivity issues with WPA2; this can usually be resolved by updating to the latest driver version. Let's hope that that is the cause of your issue If you experience the issue again, please let me know -- if after a week, you haven't run into the same issue, please let me know as well.

Thanks,
- Dan

[bigbirt]

Thanks Dan, I apppreciate your help. I could only get the driver with the Netgear software so am currently using that. Would it be better to use windows to configure the adaptor?

[Dan]

Would it be better to use windows to configure the adaptor?

Nope, continue to use your Netgear software; it's only an issue if you use both of them at the same time. Please ensure that WZC is disabled whilst you are running your Netgear software -- goto Start --> Run --> type services.msc and press OK --> Scroll down to Wireless Zero Configuration (it'll be at the bottom), right-click and select Properties --> Click Stop -- Change it's Startup type to Disabled and then click OK. You can re-enable the WZC service at any time.

- Dan

Edited by Dan, 26 February 2009 - 05:25 AM.

[bigbirt]

Thanks Dan. I will let you know.

[bigbirt]

Hi Dan

Has connected every time so far. Even when the wife uses it!!

Strange that it caused my adaptor to see other peoples networks but not mine even when they were on WPA2 as well. Seems to be better so if it happens again i will start a new thread. Thanks for your help on this. Much appreciated.

[Dan]

Glad to hear things appear to be working

Not sure if you care, but my theory behind why it wasn't being displayed was this -- when WZC (or third party wireless software) attempts to connect to a network, but fails three times (exact number may be different in third party software), it adds the network to a Blocked List and then stops trying to connect. Understand that three attempts in 'computer time' is very, very fast. By default, any network on a blocked list isn't displayed in the Available Networks list. In Windows Vista, you can change this value; unfortunately you can't in XP. You can remove the network from the blocked list by restarting the WZC service (which is why I asked you to try those commands, although we never got a chance to test that) which, of course, happens when you restart your computer. However, there's no guarantee that your adapter will successfully connect the next time round, leaving you in a bad cycle.

So my basic feeling was that your adapter was having some form of compatibility issue(s), and was therefore failing to connect some times. Hopefully, the updated drivers will correct the issue.

Of course, I could be wrong, and the updating of the drivers simply fixed some other issue and it's all just a nice co-incidence, but either way, a fix is a fix. I hope things continue to work smoothly for you, and if you run into any other issues, please don't hesitate to post

- Dan

[bigbirt]

Hi Dan

Thanks for taking the time to explain.

That does make sense and still seems to be working correctly so i think your theory is good.

Thanks

Iain