Wireless connection

[Canary]

I have a Dell laptop and a Medion wireless router for my internet connection.

 

Both work fine, but there is a bit of a laborious procedure I have to go through whenever I want to connect.

 

I have to click on the little wireless icon in the System Tray;

When the "Wireless" box comes up, I have to click on "Change the order of preferred networks";

I have to tick the box that says "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings";

And then I hit "OK".

 

After a few seconds, the wireless connection is made and everything works fine.

 

I have spoken to both Dell and Medion, and they have told me that these settings should then be stored, so that as soon as I plug in the "dongle" at the back of the laptop, I should get a wireless connection. But every time I log on and want to connect, I have to go through the same process.

 

Any ideas?

[oli]

is there another program that is running on startup to manage the connection. or if u type services.msc is the wireless configuration service set to automatic?

[Canary]

I suppose that's a possibility - thanks. Can you tell me where I go to find that out?

[oli]

to check if the wireless config service is on auto. go start - run - type services.msc then scroll to the bottom and see if it is set on auto. if that doesnt work i dont know. just rereading your post i doubt there is a program managing the connection as I guess the wireless reciever is built into the computer.

[Canary]

Hi.

 

I've done that, and it says it is set on Automatic. Is that what it should say?

[oli]

yes, another thought when you start your comp does it actually say started next to it when you begin your pc before you have a wireless connection going?? also are there more than one wireless networks available for the pc to chose?

[Canary]

I've just rebooted and went into services.msc before connecting to the internet - and it said "Started".

 

Also, the only available network is the Medion network.

 

I don't know if this sheds any light on it, but once I'm logged on, I can go in and out of the internet, I can unplug the "dongle", and I can go into Standby mode before turning the machine back on, and every time the internet connection is still there.

 

It's just when I turn the computer off and then on again that I have to go through the process. In other words, it IS saving my preferences to some extent - just not when I have rebooted.

[oli]

if you right click when you have it running on the connection thing in the corner and the view available networks. if there is one there click on change advanced settings and click on the wireless network tab is the medion network one of the prefered networks??

[Canary]

Yes - it's the only one there.

[oli]

does it say automatic in brackets next to it??

[Canary]

Yes - it says "Medion (Automatic)".

 

The funny thng is, when I first turn on the computer, it says it is connected to the internet for about 15 seconds. Then a little red "x" appears on the icon in the System Tray.

[oli]

well i cant really see what could be wrong, i suppose you could try and updgrade the firmware on the router

[Canary]

Medion say the router should already enable the connection to be automatic.

[hazelnut]

Canary, just wondering if either of these articles can shed any light on your problem.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=870702

 

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;313242

 

The second link mentions what to do if you have a red x over the icon in the network connections folder

[Canary]

Thanks for your help, hazelnut. I appreciate it.

 

My problem is not that I don't know how to get rid of the red x - it's just that I have to go through the wretched process every time I log on!

[hazelnut]

How about this page?

 

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...e.mspx?mfr=true

 

does paragraph 6 mean anything to your situation?

[Canary]

That's interesting.

 

Paragraph 6 is not relevant because I only have one network listed, so I can't move it up or down.

 

But paragraph 3 caught my eye - and seems to be at the crux of the problem. It says: "This check box is selected by default". But that's not the case with my computer - I have to manually check the box each time I want to connect, and I can't get it to save the changes.

 

So I guess the question is: How do I get that box to stay checked?

[hazelnut]

Clutching at straws now, what about number 7 here?

 

http://www.laptop.uwaterloo.ca/help/users_...shoot_list.html

[Canary]

hazlenut - you're a star. Thanks for your help.

 

But unfortunately, I've just done that process and all the right boxes are already checked.

 

It's a weird one this - everything seems to be in order except for the one basic point that the "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" box doesn't stay ticked by default. Once I have ticked it, it works fine. But I have to do it every time.

 

But thanks for your help anyway - I really appreciate it!

[Canary]

Hey - your last couple of posts got me thinking and looking around on the Microsoft help pages.

 

Someone else with a Dell had the same problem, and he sorted it by going into Run/msconfig/ and unticking the box next to his wireless connection.

 

I've just tried the same thing, and it worked!

 

What apparently was happening was the changes to Windows WERE being saved, but every time I rebooted, the wireless application would over-ride the Windows setting. Now I've stopped the wireless application inititalising every time I start the computer, and my year-long headache is over!

 

Thanks again for your help.

[oli]

lol i didnt think there was a program as ut was built into your comp