Wireless connection not working.

[Willa]

Help or advice please.

I have an Advent laptop,Windows Vista, wireless connection to a Belkin with a BT landline, AOL are the ISP.
When I try to connect to the i/net it takes an age then 'times out' with the usual message of no i/net connection.
I have done the usual checks and the laptop says it is connected (local and internet) with a signal strength excelent. I also have a wirless printer connected to the Belkin, and this prints from the laptop no problem.
I have also re-booted the Belkin, all 4 lights flash intermittingly, hoewever, every now and again all 4 lights seem to freeze.
I have Norton Security insatlled and this updates regularly, though not as often as before.
Sorry for the Gettysburg address, but can someone please help as to why the i/net will not run.

Thanks in advance

 

[opps]

If you are always able to "see" the printer then the problem is not wifi but the WAN side of the network.

Either the broadband is flakey or the router is faulty. It is normally but not always the former.

Belkins have a lifetime warranty.

Log into the router via 192.168.2.1 and see if it says that it is connected to the internet. If not then tell it to reboot.

If that doesn't help look at the SNR margin, if this is low then it might explain the drop outs. You will need to phone AOL. They should be able to run a line test and tell you if the filters might be faulty etc.

If the router says it is connected t the internet but you still have no access then you will need to phone belkin. They will probably start by making reset the router back to default and then try to update the firmware. If it is faulty they will ask you to send it back for a replacement- leaving you with no router. (in this case AOL might send you a freebie)

Either way you will be on the phone for ages.

 

[madder]

You could reset the router yourself. Normally as simple as pushing a pin into the reset button(located on the back of the router) for 10 seconds. It would mean that your connection would no longer be encrypted but you could probably go into your settings and re-encrypt it yourself?

If it's the belkin, they will replace it for free. I had a Belkin USB wireless adapter and it died. Basically I emailed them the serieal number of the unit and the name of the shop I bought it in, and they posted a new one to me, free of chanrge, and without me having to return the faulty one.

The first thing your internet provider will ask is if you shut off the router for 5 minutes and then turned it back on and waited 5 minutes to see what happened.

 

[Willa]

Hi Opps and Madder, thanks for the replies, but has raised more questions..please.

Opps, can I log onto the router if I cannot surf? If I reboot the Belkin will it need to be reconfigured as if from new? And how do I find the SNR margin?


Wadder, if I reset the Belkin how can I re-encrypt it?

Thanks again

 

[opps]

Hi willa

The internet is basically a collection of networks.

The belkin creates a network for you in your home and then interfaces with your isp's network.

In your case the former works but not the latter.

192.168.2.1 (to be typed in the address bar of internet explorer) is a private address that can only be accessed from your side of the router. From the fact that your wireless printer works if is pretty safe to say that your internal network is ok.

Once the page opens you will see various links on the left had side of the screen. You will be asked for the username and password.

The default username and passwords are normally admin and password respectively but can vary from model to model.

There will be a status link or button which will show you how long the belkin has been connected to the internet, the speed and so forth. We are primarily interested in the SNR margin. The further away from the local telephone exchange the weaker the signal on the line (attenuation), there is also an increase in noise (electromagnetic interference from other lines). If the SNR margin is low you will experience drop outs. You can proactively reduce this very slightly but if it remains bad/low then BT will need to look at the line.

Whilst you are in the settings make a note of your isp username and password etc. You will need to re-enter these if you have to do a hard reset.

Other things you could try are

1. Go to the primary BT socket it might look like this

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/images/iplate/bt-master-socket-nte5-and-old2-large.jpg

The one on the right (NT5E)

2. remove the lower cover and plug your router into the socket underneath. This means you are now ruling out extension wiring as a possible cause.

3. If thinks are still bad then try a different micro filter.

4 If still no good phone AOL

The above is a list of things that AOL might make you do as a way of eliminating bad wiring in your home.

You could take your router to a friends and enter their details into it and unplug theirs to see if it is your router that is faulty.

As I said though 9 times out of 10 it is the telephone network that is faulty.

 

[Willa]

Hi Opps.

I called AOL ''help desk'' last night to try and find the cause.
After 1 hour the guy concluded it was the Belkin at fault.

I have rang Belkin and they have a help line similiar to AOL.
They reckon when I get home I call them and they will re-configure the Belkin. Is this wise?

I will also try your advice tonight when I get home. I am on my work PC for now.

Thanks again.

 

[Willa]

Also I do not know how, but the Norton Security still updates itself on a regular basis.

 

[madder]

Hi Willa,

Do let us know how you get on.
I misunderstood earlier. I thought that you were using a Belkin Wireless adapter but I can see now that it must be a Belkin Router.
The reset button could make sure that you get online, but you will have to re-encrypt the connection to make sure that no other parties leech off your connection, or indeed break in and create their own passwords etc.
To re-encrypt you will most likely have to speak to somebody in Belkin, unless you still have the manual and paperwork from when you first got the router?

One other thing though that might be worth trying:

Are you allowing windows to configure your wireless settings or are you allowing the wireless adapter to configure them? Whichever it is, you could try allowing the alternative to do it. That sometimes fixes any problems?

If you have a Belkin Ikon to show your internet wireless connection, right click it and select options. There could be an option there to allow windows to configure the wireless connection, select that and click save and then close it out.
Give the computer a minute for windows to find and configure the wireless connection and that could be the answer.
Of course all of this depends on what type of wireless adapter you're using! So it is guess work!

Good luck.

 

[Willa]

Hi Madder and Opps,

I was about to do as you suggest, and looked for the laptop only to find my youngest happily surfing away. When I asked how she got it working, she said she didn't realise it had not been (working).
I think it had a funny five minutes. One thing I remember now when it would not connect, was that the CPU was running at 80%, with a possible background programme running. The CPU is now at normal rate.
Anyway I suspect this will happen again and I think I will upgrade the router anyway and change to BT.

Many many thanks for your help and taking the time to reply.