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[R Finger]

I have an older desktop running windows XP SP3. It has suddenly stopped connecting to the internet. I have a Cisco router and the desktop had a linksys wireless adapter that had been working fine until about a week ago. I uninstalled and then reinstalled the adapter, but while it seems to be connected to the router, it does not connect to the internet. I tried a different adapter (borrowed) with the same results. The installed a USB adapter. Same issue. Also tried restoring to an earlier setting (prior to the problem), but still have the same problem. I have two other computers (one XP and one Windows 7) which have no problem. The device manager says the adapter is working properly. I have configured the wireless setup and, as stated previously, it indicates that it is connected to my router with a good signal, but can't find the internet. Any suggestions?

[davidgw]

Is MAC Address filtering set on the router? MAC (Media access control) address filtering blocks computers that do not have the same MAC address as devices on the list from connecting to the wireless network as a security measure. Different wireless adapters (as do wired network interfaces) have different MAC Addresses. To view the MAC address, go to the start menu, click on run, enter "CMD" (without the quotes) to pull up the Command Prompt, type "ipconfig /all" and look for the wireless interface. The MAC address will be labeled as Physical Address.

[R Finger]

the MAC address has been enterred into the router. took care of that with each adapter I installed.

[davidgw]

Is Windows managing the wireless connection, or is it managed by a separate set of software produced by the wireless adapter manufacturer?

[R Finger]

I have actually tried both options. Same results with it showing me connected to my router with good connectivity, but with no internet access.

[davidgw]

I have actually tried both options. Same results with it showing me connected to my router with good connectivity, but with no internet access.

I'm thinking that they might be conflicting. Have you tried uninstalling the one from the adapter manufacturer?

[R Finger]

I tried that too. Took me a while to reconfigure the setup using the windows utility, but finally got it configured. Got the same result with the wifi icon in the task bar showing a wifi connection with good signal strength, but, for example when I try to update McAfee, it goes through the process, then indicates no internet connection. When I open IE, I get an unable to connect (or something like that). Everything looks "good" until i try to access the internet. As indicated initially, this problem cropped up suddenly. My initial assumption was that it was an issue with the wireless adapter, but replacing it did not resolve the problem.

[davidgw]

Hmm, can you contact the other computers on your network, via ping for example? You might also try tracert to Google or another site on the internet.

[R Finger]

I can try that, but have tried other options such as opening my email (outlook express) and doing a send/receive. Get an unable to connect error. I also tried entering the internet address for my router on explorer. Again got an unable to connect screen. I acn access the router from my other two computers (as well as the internet) via my home network. One thing I am going to try a t some point is to drag my desktop down to the router and connect directly to it via an ethernet cable. Not sure what, if anything, that would prove, but it would bypass the wifi route.

[davidgw]

I can try that, but have tried other options such as opening my email (outlook express) and doing a send/receive. Get an unable to connect error. I also tried entering the internet address for my router on explorer. Again got an unable to connect screen. I acn access the router from my other two computers (as well as the internet) via my home network. One thing I am going to try a t some point is to drag my desktop down to the router and connect directly to it via an ethernet cable. Not sure what, if anything, that would prove, but it would bypass the wifi route.

If you run the IPconfig command, does it show that the wireless interface is connected?