Wireless access point / DNS suffix

T

theDot

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Jun 7, 2004
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I was doing some work for a friends family business today, and came across this problem:

Cable modem --> router --> wireless access point
Windows Server 2003
All networking equipment Linksys

I could not make a certain desktop (WinXP Pro) using a wireless USB network adapter consistently connect to the internet. It could always connect to the access point, but unless the IP address was in a certain range (it obtained IP automatically) and obtained the DNS suffix for the network, I could not access the WWW or the local network. Then everything was fine... I could access the WWW and obtain files from other computers on the network.

However, I could never consistantly make it connect... each time I restarted, it was hit or miss as to whether it would obtain the "right" IP address. It would not work when I manually defined the IP address either.

This question is purely for my own knowledge, since I ended up hardwiring the box (and it works perfectly fine), since it was faster and more secure for the data that they would be transferring over. This is really my first time toying with any wireless networking, Server 2003, and I don't have a whole lot of networking experience to begin with.

Just curious... and perhaps any advice you guys might have for the future.
 
Maybe you were having problems with the router handing out DHCP addresses? When it wouldn't get a "good IP" what was the IP address in the end? Windows will default to some odd address if it can't get a good one from anywhere.
 
Could be interference. Could be an encryption or other security mechanism going afoul. I would have played around with the frequencies. Actually I would have gotten netstumbler to see what other wireless hardware, if any, is in your space, then adjusted your channel frequency accordingly. I might also have defaulted the AP settings and started over from scratch as well as flashing the firmware, especially if it is out of date but even if it is current, this can sometimes cure ills. And of course make sure you have the latest driver on your client devices.

Oh, a wireless NIC doesn't care about DNS suffix really. Not for Internet name resolution anyway. It does want correct DNS IP's and if your on a domain then it should get the DNS suffix when you add it to the domain.
 
From what I could tell (and I checked on 2 other computers with wireless), there were no other wireless signals near us. There were at least 4 other computers already connecting through the WAP in the office, and none of them had the same problem as this one.
 
sandmanx said:
There wasn't a microwave or 2.4GHz cordless phone nearby was there?
Click to expand...

Ahh... :rolleyes: duh. Yes, there was a multitude of such phones. Why would that effect just the one computer, while the others were fine? Perhaps the USB wireless adapter?

The other laptops using the wireless were Apples...
 
theDot said:
Ahh... :rolleyes: duh. Yes, there was a multitude of such phones. Why would that effect just the one computer, while the others were fine? Perhaps the USB wireless adapter?

The other laptops using the wireless were Apples...
Click to expand...

Could be the USB adapter had lower power output and/or a shitty antenna. It also could have been in a place where the interference was worse for whatever reason. I've never used a USB wifi adapter myself, so I can't say for sure what would cause that.
 
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