Help With Setting up a Wireless Network


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Hello people, i was just wondering if any fellow neowins could shed some light on a problem im having with setting up a ad hoc network between my pc and laptop. I just got the network cards today and its not working. they are belkin 54g ones (the laptop card and a desktop one). I am using Windows XP home on both with SP1 and all the latest fixes since then and also all the latest drivers for all my hardware. Anyway heres the problem. I installed the cards. and then after a bit of messing about with IP and subnet mask settings they picked each other up and said they were connected. I used the belkin software with part of it. but the problem is they both cant receive any packets. i have tryed pinging both machines and it times out all the time. i cant do anything at all like share files, printers play games anything network related. theres no interference because i put the pc and laptop right next to each other. i made sure the IP address and Subnet mask settings are correct. Both the PC and laptop say that they have sent packets but both of them have not received packets.A couple of days ago i had a network with wires where i could share drives and printers, i would have thought it would be the same with wires. Both computers are part of the same work group etc so as far as i know there is some sort of connection between the two. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

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Hmmm...make sure they both have the same gateway...Double check that they are in the same workgroup, have the same subnet mask, and are in the same subnet (ex. 192.168.69.xxx)...I would say check XP firewall but since they worked wired that should not be it...Do you have any other software firewall running on the PCs?

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IF its a wireless i'm sure it has built in DHCP, so let it just try doing that first, then if everything goes smoothly switch over to static ip's

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IF its a wireless i'm sure it has built in DHCP, so let it just try doing that first, then if everything goes smoothly switch over to static ip's

wireless cards don't have a built in DHCP Server. Cable/DSL Routers Do.

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Sorry i'm totaly misreading this... didn't pickup on the crossover setup of this.... MY BAD

Thats why i was talking about DHCP, thought he was doing a wireless setup with a access point or router..... i'm not that dumb and think that a NIC has DHCP built in....

But can wireless cards be used as a crossover type connection w/o the help of a middle "man". I guess i'm nto that familiar with it right now til i transfer schools and get on a wireless connection and have to buy a laptop. Same issue he's having i'd also like to know how to do it....

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thanks for all the advice everyone, i have tryed what it said on the link to the microsoft article. no luck though :-(I had zone alarm and norton firewall installed but i have disabled them. still no luck. any other suggestions anyone.

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But can wireless cards be used as a crossover type connection w/o the help of a middle "man".

Yup. That is the point of Ad Hoc mode in wireless devices. ;)

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i looked on the belkin website and i did the network setup guide thing or whatever u call it and it says i need a access point. :-S. i thought setting up this wireless network would be easy like it is with wires and a cross over cable. im acutally looking at this now and im wondering this. if the noise level is higher than the signal level will this result in a very high packet loss or even all the packets been lost along the way. this might be my problem ? any more suggestions i could try to get this working.

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That could be a problem...how far apart are the PCs? Have you tried moving the laptop right by the PC?

So Belkin is claiming that you can not use Ad Hoc mode with their cards?

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What security are you using WEP or WPA? If either of these is mis configured you wont be doing any talking. I see there is an addon to the manual for WPA

I have not had time to look through wether or not these cards even support what your trying - but they should. I'll take a look later, if I get a chance - but I would check your WEP and or WPA settings. And I know there was an update out for XP about WPA

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yeah the laptop and pc are right next to each other. that was one of my first thoughts distance,so yeah they are right next to each other. It was just on one of Belkin Wizards that it said i might need an access point it wasnt from a tech support e mail or anything. but surely they are brand new cards they must support ad hoc mode. belkins utility even has options for it. so im ruling out that i dont need an access point. it must be something else.

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What security are you using WEP or WPA? If either of these is mis configured you wont be doing any talking. I see there is an addon to the manual for WPA

I have not had time to look through wether or not these cards even support what your trying - but they should. I'll take a look later, if I get a chance - but I would check your WEP and or WPA settings. And I know there was an update out for XP about WPA

i have chose not to use any encryption because i live in the middle of nowhere and its only linking 2 computers so im not bothered about encryption. was the update included in sp1 or is it a recent update because nothing is showing on windows update. i have all the latest fixes. surely they are brand new cards they will support ad hoc mode wont they :unsure: :huh:

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I finally give up with the belkin cards and took them back. i got some US robotics ones and guess what, within a cople of mins of tinkering with them. they are working a charm. problem solved. thanks for all the help ppl i guess it was just faulty cards.

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