wireless network connection problem

longtimelurker54

Hi,

I hope someone can help. I've had a problem using portable hotspot on my android phone with my Dell laptop (see other posts).

I've come to the conclusion that the problem might be with the way my Dell laptop tries to wirelessly connect. It uses something called "Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG".

I bought an ordinary wireless adapter and used this in an old desktop and it works fine with my android phone.

Tried to use it in the laptop but the laptop doesn't allow me to use it - it keeps selecting the Intel(R) thing.

I also have a WIndows wireless option but it says I can't use it if I have enabled another programme to manage wireless connection.

Is there a way I can stop the Intel(R) thing from working so I can try either the Windows wireless network connection or my plug-in wireless adapter?

If I'm able to do this I'm hoping this might solve the problem with being unable to link my phone to the laptop. Many thx in advance.

The Dell laptop is old, around 4-5 years - it is an Inspiron.

GunJack

that intel "thing" is the wireless card in the laptop !! In order to use the wifi dongle you've bought, you'd have to disable the internal wifi card in the lappy first...but I'm still not sure what you're trying to do - use the phone as a router ??? If so, you'd have to search for the network created by the phone and connect to that.

longtimelurker54

Hi Gun Jack,

Thank for your reply.

What I'm trying to do is to use my phone as a portable hotspot so I can connect to the internet on my laptop using the phone's signal.

I've had no end of trouble trying to get this set up. With the wireless adapter I bought (a plug in USB one) it works fine on my desktop computer but will not connect on my laptop at all.

At first it PRO Intel Wireless thing on the laptop would tell me it was connected but it would not in fact allow me to get on to any web pages. Have tried rebooting phone and PC but simply won't work.

So I thought I'd try the USB wireless adapter in the laptop and see if it would work with that instead just in case the problem is with the PRO Intel Wireless programme/settings.

One message I get from Windows says:

Windows cannot configure this wireess connection. If you have enabled another programme to manage the wireless connection use that software.

If you want to configure this wireless connection, start the Wireless Zero Configuration service. For info abouyt starting the WZC service, see article 871122 in the MIcrosoft Knowledge base on microsoft.com website.

Any help on this would be appreciated. Just can't understand why this laptop won't allow me to connect to the phone.

Have tried phoning Dell but they couldn't be more unhelpful.

GunJack

to start WZC, go to control panel > Administrative tools > Services, and scroll down the list to Wireless Zero Config. Right-click on it and select Properties. Click to start the service, and change the startup type to Automatic

longtimelurker54

Hi Gun Jack,

Thanks for your last post. I've followed your advice but even though it's showing as "automatic" I'm still getting the same error message - bizarre!

I can now only manage to connect the phone (Samsung Galaxy X2) to my laptop using portable hotspot if I leave the hotspot on the phone in "unsecured" mode (i.e. without a WPA2 password). As soon as I apply the password the laptop refuses to connect.

So it seems it has something to do with the application of the password. Pls does anyone have any suggestions for resolving this?

Have checked my desktop and laptop and both are running the same, Windows XP service pack 2, 2002, so I can't understand how/why it will work on the desktop but not on the laptop.

Is there anything else I can check/change on the laptop to get it to work?

Many thx in advance.

Inner_Zone

Don't understand why it works one and not the other but see this article. Also puzzled why you are not running XP SP3 as it has been out for three years now.

longtimelurker54

Thanks Inner Zone, that article is helpful.

The bit where it says to "verify that your wireless network adapter supports WPA and obtain a device driver upgrade".

I googled around that and found the following on one forum re the network adapter in my laptop which is "Inter(R) PRO Wireless 3945ABG":

"The wifi card 3945ABG itself does not support 802.11 n. Please check with Sony if they have any compatible 802.11 n wifi card for your notebook."

I'm really baffled by all this, but do I need 802.11n in order for the phone to work and is that why the laptop won't connect? So that the answer is I need to get this internal adapter taken out and replaced (how? can I do this myself?).

Even if the above is correct, it still baffles me why the plug in usb adapter I've bought will work on the desktop with the phone but not on the laptop because presumably whet I plug it into the laptop it should be using itself and not the internal network adapter to try to connect. This is driving me nuts! Pls can anyone help me any further to understand why it isn't working and how to fix it?

GunJack

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

Thanks Inner Zone, that article is helpful.

The bit where it says to "verify that your wireless network adapter supports WPA and obtain a device driver upgrade".

I googled around that and found the following on one forum re the network adapter in my laptop which is "Inter(R) PRO Wireless 3945ABG":

"The wifi card 3945ABG itself does not support 802.11 n. Please check with Sony if they have any compatible 802.11 n wifi card for your notebook."

I'm really baffled by all this, but do I need 802.11n in order for the phone to work and is that why the laptop won't connect? So that the answer is I need to get this internal adapter taken out and replaced (how? can I do this myself?).

You don't need N to connect, this is a red herring. Unless, of course, your phone only uses N wifi (which I doubt very much) That wifi adapter does 802.11a, b and g hence it's name. It may well need a driver update, as does your windows installation


Even if the above is correct, it still baffles me why the plug in usb adapter I've bought will work on the desktop with the phone but not on the laptop because presumably whet I plug it into the laptop it should be using itself and not the internal network adapter to try to connect. This is driving me nuts! Pls can anyone help me any further to understand why it isn't working and how to fix it?

It sounds like there is more than just a driver installed on the laptop, i.e. some other dell or intel wifi controller software, which may be causing your problems. That sw needs to be uninstalled, allowing WZC to manage the connection undisturbed. This may well be enough to sort you out

The other thing is that you could use the plug-in wifi dongle on the laptop BUT YOU'LL NEED TO EITHER DISABLE OR UNINSTALL THE INTERNAL WIFI CARD FIRST. This can be done in the Device Manager. Probably best to disable it for now, then try the dongle. Two wifi devices in one pc will conflict with each other and probably neither will work correctly anyway in these circumstances.

for the wifi card driver, go to intel's site and use their system scanner to check for updated drivers for your wifi card. The card supports WPA and WPA2 encryption, so no probs there.

robmar0se

I've only just come into this, so apologies if I am missing something

The laptop will automatically use the strongest wireless signal, to force the use of the new adapter, you may need to disable the internal 3945 (this wireless nic is/was a very good piece of kit providing strong wireless connectivity). You can do this in XP by going to control panel\network connections right clicking on the 3945 and then disable - alternatively there is usually a switch on the laptop or a Fn key where you can turn the 3945 off.

Another example, if you have a cable and wireless connection, as the cable is stronger, this will override the wireless - suspect the same is happening in yr case with the wireless connections.

Hope it helps...........