just this morning i booted up my computer and tried to access the internet through my apartments wireless, but it didn't work. strange since it worked last night. The two things that I installed most recently before rebooting was Mozilla Firefox 1.5 and whatever the latest QuickTime/iTunes is. I don't know if one of those caused the problems.

about the wireless:
- wireless is setup for the entire apartment complex, so i don't control a router
- i have a Netgear WG511v2 54 Mbps PC Card
- when logging on [when working] (1) the wireless connects and aquires the network address (2) i open any web browser and type in my username and password (3) all is good [if that's relevant to the type of something or other]

right now i am logged on to some random persons wireless network, using the same card. so the card is good. my roommate is logged on to the apartment complex wireless as usual, so that is normal.

what i have done to try to correct it:
- run a virusscan (with the latest symantec from the university)
- run a spyware scan (with Microsoft Anti-Spyware)
- system restored my computer to the day before said programs were installed (which didnt work so i undid the system restore)
- did "ipconfig /release" and "ipconfig /renew" from the command prompt a bunch
- did "netsh winsock reset" from the command prompt
- uninstalled Quicktime/iTunes
- uninstalled Mozilla Firefox 1.5
- reinstalled Mozilla Firefox 1.5
- installed the latest firmware for the Netgear WG511v2 Wireless PC Card

i hope that is enough information for anyone that can help. ask me anything else you might need to know to offer a suggestion (besides a hard drive format ). Thanks for your help

12/1/2005 8:25:22 PM

also

- i have windows xp, home edition, sp2
- i can ping my ip address successfully
- i can ping the loopback address successfully
- pinging the default gateway gives a "request timed out." each time

- the wireless card connects to the network (like step 1 from above post), but when i open a web browser it cannot find the server

[Edited on December 1, 2005 at 8:43 PM. Reason : more]

12/1/2005 8:41:41 PM

try using different nameservers. In the section where you can manually enter IP address, enter in this address as the primary DNS:

152.1.1.161
152.1.1.206

those are two that are on campus DNS servers. I don't reccomend using them fulltime but you can always use them in a pinch and it's something to try.

however, the fact that a ping of the default gateway fails is worrying. my guess is the router itself needs to be rebooted.

12/1/2005 9:02:56 PM

I know this sopunds stupid, but did you reset your modem? You will still be able to connect to your wireless network even if you have no connection to the outside world...

12/1/2005 9:09:28 PM

Quote :

"about the wireless: - wireless is setup for the entire apartment complex, so i don't control a router"

that means he doesn't control the modem either

also, he said the roommate was connected and working just fine

12/1/2005 9:14:18 PM

rogueleader:
under the "general" tab, i set the "preferred dns server" and "alternate dns server" to those address from the internet protocol (tcp/ip) properties in the cards properties; and i get the same result. i'm assuming that is what you meant to try.

goalielax:
i don't have a modem to reset. it's not that i have a cable modem hooked up to a wireless router. the apartment complex has several access points set up around the buildings, so i only have control over my computer's settings.

30thanzz:
i knew i said that, thanks for noticing

i'm going to try to compare my settings to my roommates, maybe something got messed up. thanks for the help so far. any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Edited on December 1, 2005 at 9:18 PM. Reason : ]

12/1/2005 9:17:23 PM

bttt

at my parents house now, we have Road Runner hooked up to a netgear wireless router with WEP, everything connects and functions normally.

i'll probably call netgear or post on their forums.
but still, anyone have any thoughts? thanks.

12/3/2005 3:15:51 PM

I would try clearing your cache and cookies when you get back. It sounds like the apt wireless intercepts your first connection going outside similiar to NCSU's nomad system. Since you couldn't authenticate you can't do squat.

Not being able to ping your default gateway is this scenario isn't a bad thing as it would be if you were in control of the local equipment. For the firewall I use, there are only 4 ways to authenticate. FTP, Http, Https, and telnet. You can configure traffic to pass (ie. ICMP) without authenticating, but normally everything is blocked until a user authenticates. Now, trying to ping or http to random web addresses won't help if this is the case in your apt.

I would call the network admin number for your complex to make sure your mac isn't being blacklisted or anything because you were doing something bad.

12/3/2005 8:23:05 PM

thanks for the advice, gephelps. but, guess what, i just got back from my parent's house and it suddenly works.

i wish i knew what the problem was, but i'm glad it works now. thanks for all the help everyone

12/3/2005 9:05:20 PM