Cannot acquire network address

Topic

New Reply

I am trying to help a friend get an older XP (SP3) laptop connected to his wireless network. The SSID shows up fine, the password seems to take fine, but it sits at acquiring network address forever. When I use my laptop or my android phone I connect and get an address with no problems and with normal speed, but his laptop is driving me crazy. I need some suggestions to try. I have deleted the connection and tried again, I have changed the password on the router and tried again, but no luck. I’ve thought about searching the registry for this particular wireless connection SSID and deleting everything I can find, but don’t know if that will help. The next time I go to his house I will also take a USB wireless adapter to install and see if that makes any difference. All security is WPA, but I have tried it with security turned off and with the laptop sitting about 3ft from the router with no success as well.

Suggestions on what to do next appreciated.

Thanks
Jim Nealand

edit – The laptop works fine if I bring it to my house and connect to my own wireless network so the basic wireless is working ok.
Kennesaw, GA

Reply | Quote

Replies

Jim,

[*]Has this computer ever connected to this router wirelessly?
[*]What type of encryption is the router using: WEP, WPA, WPA2, etc.?
[*]Does the wireless network adapter in the computer support the encryption type the router is using?
[*]Have you checked with the adapter’s manufacturer for new drivers?
[*]Have you tried repairing the TCPIP stack?. Here’s a tool.

Keep us posted on your progress. :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

Reply | Quote

I know that this laptop has connected wirelessly at this home before, but I think they had a different router before. I believe that the modem and router were swapped out following an ISP upgrade At my house it connects fine to my WPA2 wireless N router so I do not suspect an encryption issue. The home router is set for WPA, but since I can connect to a WPA2 that should not be the issue. Maybe I will take a spare wireless router with me when I go back to see if that makes a difference. I’m also planning to take a USB wireless N adapter to see if that makes a difference. I won;t be back there for about 10 days although I have the laptop with me. We are re-purposing the system to work in the basement with the owners model railroad, but still want to be able to get on the internet from the basement. Also remember as I originally stated it does not even connect with security/encryption turned off. Other systems connect fine to the existing wireless router, both laptops and phones.

Reply | Quote

The most common cause of lack of IP on wireless is the password is wrong. Check with another computer if you have one and always cut and paste the password – preferably from your password manager.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Well if the password was the problem why would it not work with no password required and a wide open connection?

Reply | Quote

I had a similar problem with a Toshiba Netbook. It would connect to most networks, most of the time, but not all.

One night in a hotel when my Thinkpad and Android phone connected, and the Netbook would not, I decided to fix it once and for all. I don’t remember the troubleshooting path that led me to the solution, however, the problem was that the Netbook had a blank Mac ID.

In Device Manager, adapter properties, advanced, I added a MAC ID I believe it was labeled ‘Physical Address’ and have had no problem since. This property is not available for editing with all adapters, but it is worth checking.

Graham

Reply | Quote

While this is a bit of a kludge, you could set a static address that is outside of the range of the DHCP the router is using.
I had a system that had similar behavior and after a few shots at it, just set a static address and it works fine.
The only thing he will need to remember is that he will have to go back to DHCP in the network settings if he wants to use the computer on a different network.

Reply | Quote

Have you checked to see that the router you can not connect to has MAC filtering enabled? That would prevent you from getting an IP address even if you have the security and password correct.

Win7Pro, I5 CPU, 8Gb RAM, SSD boot drive, external 4Tb SSD storage

Reply | Quote