linksys router not connecting to new PC running Windows 7
I have recently purchase a new HP 4510s with Windows 7 32 bit. Everything works good, except for my wireless internet connection. I have a linksys router (BEFW11S4, version 4). The wireless network key has Network Authentication: Open, Date encryption: WEP. I can't get my new laptop PC to connect to my wireless router. Lynksys's instructions tell me that when I click "connect" that I should be promted to enter my security key, but I do not receive this prompt. Instead I receive an pop-up error message which states "Windows was unable to connect to .....(the name of my router)"
February 18th, 2010 4:43pm

Ok the WEP is it 64 or 128 bit (you do not hat WEP is easy to crack and you should use a high level like wpa2 right)if you go down by the clock and open the wi-fi access list do you see your network ??? it should show it without a yellow ! point.I can tell you I have had issue with linksys and wep more than once..
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February 19th, 2010 5:12am

Wep is 64 bit. I was to impatient so I call Linksys Tech Support (800-326-7114) for help. Since my router is old (about 5 yrs old??), Linksys said I can either go to the website and try to figure it out myself or I can pay them $29.99 and they will fix it for sure. I decided to spend the $30 and get it done. When I asked about a refund, they said I could have a refund if they couldn't "fix it for sure", so I figured what is there to lose. Essentially they tried all the things I tried and were unable to connect to the router so they gave me a refund and told me I need to buy a newer router. So I ran out and bought a Linksys WRT610N. Staples price matched Amazon.com (which was nice because the usually don't do that) so instead of paying $199, they matched Amazon's $157, in addition I used a $25 off coupon on purchases over $75 (which I got off of eBay right before I left) so I ended up getting a new kick butt router for $132+tax. I haven't installed it yet so we'll see. I'm glad I bought the new router because the speed alone should be worth the investment...it was time for my old router to go anyway!
February 19th, 2010 9:29am

OK so ALL your wi-fi devices are N devices??? If not then you are still going to be at B / G speeds.Did the support folks turn off WEP and try, if not try and if you can try wpayour router model is support and I know that you can use that model with win 7 using wpadid they update the firmware?
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February 19th, 2010 12:15pm

Chances are your new NIC is an N NIC and possibly an Intel NIC. You need to usesomething other than WEP. Perferably WPA2-AESSee http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/4965agn/sb/cs-025643.htmOn Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:43:44 +0000, Micro Softed wrote:>I have recently purchase a new HP 4510s with Windows 7 32 bit. Everything works good, except for my wireless internet connection. I have a linksys router (BEFW11S4, version 4). The wireless network key has Network Authentication: Open, Date encryption: WEP. I can't get my new laptop PC to connect to my wireless router. Lynksys's instructions tell me that when I click "connect" that I should be promted to enter my security key, but I do not receive this prompt. Instead I receive an pop-up error message which states "Windows was unable to connect to .....(the name of my router)" Barb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
February 19th, 2010 3:03pm

Hi, Please also try the following: 1. Just for a test, please temporarily disable the encryption and check if you can connect to the wireless network. 2. Check if you can access some other wireless networks. In addition, I would like to share the following with you: Troubleshoot problems finding wireless networks Troubleshoot network connection problems Hope this helps. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT
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February 22nd, 2010 5:41am

Nicholas,Please don't tell people to turn off security. At least tell them to only testthis way but make it a point to state that they should turn it back on. Runningwithout security is dangerous. Barb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
February 22nd, 2010 11:19am

I can't get my new laptop PC to connect to my wireless router. Lynksys's instructions tell me that when I click "connect" that I should be promted to enter my security key, but I do not receive this prompt. Instead I receive an pop-up error message which states "Windows was unable to connect to .....(the name of my router)" This paragraph of my post contained an error. It says I do not get prompted to enter my security key; however I do get prompted to enter a security code. But the result is still the same...which is that I get a pop-up error message stating "Windows was unable to connect to .....(the name of my router)"
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February 22nd, 2010 10:00pm

Thank you, Barb! I have just modified my post.Nicholas Li - MSFT
February 22nd, 2010 10:03pm

1. OK so ALL your wi-fi devices are N devices??? If not then you are still going to be at B / G speeds. 2. Did the support folks turn off WEP and try, if not try and if you can try wpa 3. your router model is support and I know that you can use that model with win 7 using wpa 4. did they update the firmware? Please note that my original post contained an error. It says I do not get prompted to enter my security key; however, I do get prompted to enter a security code but it still doesn't connect. I have been busy and haven't taken the new router out of the box yet. Then when I saw your reply and another reply from "technocrate", I figured I'll try to get the old one to work using both your suggestions before I unpackage the new one. But really I'm ok with installing the new router I just bought because I think it will allow better performance/speed for both my laptops. However in a continued effort to give the old router another shot..... 1. I have 2 wi-fi devices which are both laptops. My OLD laptop is a 5 year old eMachine with a WLAN 802.11g Network Adapter which has always worked with the router (BEFW11S4, version 4 which my laptop confirms is running at a speed of 11 mbps) The other laptop is my brand NEW HP 4510s with an Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN (I assume the AGN designation means that it will work with 3 speeds: A, G, & N.) This is the laptop which is not connecting to the old router. 2. Yes, Linksys support tried having me disable WEP, but I only remember that it didn't solve my problem. So I'm doing it now so I can remember the result. Ok...when WEP is disabled, I observe: 1) on my OLD laptop, it immediately disconnects my connection 2) on my NEW laptop, I immediately see the wireless network added to the list of wireless connections available; however it still will not connect whether my Encryption type is set to WEP or None. The Linksys support also had me unsuccessfully try: 1) enabling SSID Broadcast 2) changing the channel from 1 to 6. Also, they also had me run a cable direct from the router to my NEW laptop and I have a connection when I'm wired. 3. I don't have an option named just "wpa"; however I do have an option WPA2-Personal. When I select WPA2-Personal, it asks me to select an Encryption type of either AES or TKIP. I don't know what either of these options are so I'm going to skip this suggestion for now. 4. No, they did NOT have me update the firmware! I just completed that, now let me try...nope, still does not work. What is interesting to me is that the only time I can see my wireless network listed on my NEW laptop is when I disable the WEP setting on the internet interface (192.168.1.1). It doesn't make the connection but at least my NEW laptop shows the wireless network connection on the list of available. At first it shows as "Other Network", then when I click on it, it asked me to input the SSID. I'm using the exact same name as my OLD laptop so the problem is not as simple as I'm entering the wrong name. Thank you very much for your reply...for now I'm going to move on to the post by "technocrate", "Barb Bowman", and "Nicholas Li".
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February 22nd, 2010 11:56pm

Yes, my NEW laptop (HP 4510s) has a built-in wireless connector...an Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN (I assume the AGN designation means that it will work with 3 speeds: A, G, & N.) I looked but couldn't find how to check to see if the radio is disabled. I wouldn't think that it would be disabled brand new out-of-the-box, but heck...what do I know...this is only my second laptop. So far, I've determined the NEW laptop sees the router in 2 situations: 1) When I disable WEP from the Linksys online interface (or whatever you call it). 2) When I delete the manually created network profile that I added when I navigate to: Control Panel/Network and Sharing Center/Manage Wireless Networks. This is the location where I have been going to add the information about the wireless network I'm trying to connect to.
February 23rd, 2010 12:10am

Hi Barb, my NEW laptop (HP 4510s) has a built-in wireless connector...it is an Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN (I am assuming the AGN designation means that it will work with 3 speeds: A, G, & N.) I haven't tried using something other than WEP yet. Here are the choices on the drop down list: No authentication (Open) WEP WPA2-Personal WPA-Personal WPA2-Enterprise WPA-Enterprise 802.1x When I select WPA2-Personal, then I'm given 2 selections for Encryption type: AES TKIP I selected, "WPA2-Personal" and "AES", but it was unable to connect. BUT this time at least I get a further description of why it is not connecting which says, "The settings saved on this computer for the network do not match the requirements of the network." I have already purchased a brand new Linksys router model #WRT610N. I got a great deal on it ($132) and even though money is tight, I don't mind spending the money if it will yield very good benefits. Speed on my laptop is very important. I use my laptop to run a small business and often have a lot running on it at the same time. Do you think I should abandon trying to get the old router to work and just go with the new one? Should I try the suggestion(s) given in the subsequent post by "Nicholas Li"? (P.S. I appreciate the head's up about turning the security (encryption) back on after disabling it as suggested by Nicholas Li. I'm thankful for his suggestion. He probably just assumed that I would know to turn it back on, but I don't know if I would have or not. I see Nicholas has already modified his post.)
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February 23rd, 2010 12:37am

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/4965agn/sb/cs-025643.htmYou won't get better than G speeds with WEP. If you can connect at all. And WEPis NOT safe.You really should replace that ancient Linksys router. On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:56:32 +0000, Micro Softed wrote:>The other laptop is my brand NEW HP 4510s with an Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN (I assume the AGN designation means that it will work with 3 speeds: A, G, & N.) This is the laptop which is not connecting to the old router.Barb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
February 23rd, 2010 6:16am

YES! I replied to another of your posts with the facts on the Intel 5100. Usethe new router, set up WPA2-AES, change the SSID name to something other thanthe default but nothing personal, reboot your broadband modem with the newrouter attached and reboot your computers. On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:37:20 +0000, Micro Softed wrote:> Do you think I should abandon trying to get the old router to work and just go with the new one?Barb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
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February 23rd, 2010 6:19am

Well, my solution was to install the new Linksys router. All 3 of my PC’s are now connected to the internet. A huge benefit of buying the new router is getting free technical support with the setup. (I would not have known how to make all the changes listed below without being told.) The Indian man from Linksys that helped me said that WPA2-AES will not work with Windows XP. Since 2 out of 3 of my machines are Windows XP (the third is my new laptop which is running Windows 7), he set me up with WPA instead of WPA2-AES. He said this is still a huge improvement over the WEP that I was currently running. So right now both my wireless laptops are running at speeds of 54 Mbps. What I didn’t realize is that I’d have to redo all my shared network drive settings. Uggg…. As you probably know Linksys doesn’t support this since it is not a direct function of their router. Last time I did this was 5 years ago after I bought my last Linksys router. My neighbor came over and helped me set it up…hopefully he’ll come over and give me a hand even though I moved to the other side of town! Linksys is smart and knows this is a cross-sell opportunity…the router comes preloaded with a short free trial version of a product to handle this named Cisco Network Magic (purenetworks.com) Here are the settings that he had me make to the router. We only changed the settings listed below, the rest were left set to the default settings. Please let me know if you see any flaws or inaccuracies. Changed settings as follows: Password change under Administration > from ADMIN to a new password I selected SPI Firewall Protection under Security > from Enabled to Disabled Wireless Security > setup 2.4GHz (no changes made to 5GHz) >Security Mode from WEP to WPA (not WPA2 because it does not function with my Windows XP machines) Wireless Basic Settings (no changes made to 5GHz) >from Wi-Fi Protected Setup to Manual >Gave a network name >Standard Channel from Auto to 11 – 2.462GHZ THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!
February 23rd, 2010 6:50pm

the Linksys rep said that WPA2-AES will not work with XP? Support has been theresince SP2 and the hotfix below. And if you have SP3 on XP, support should bethere as part of the Service Pack. I think that if you set your router for WPA2-AES and use WPA2-PSK/WPA2-Personalin the XP clients i5 will work, as long as you have the proper drivers for theXP clients. Also, if you are using old vendor utilities to manage the wirelessnetworks as opposed to Windows built in Wireless Zero Confguration, some olderXP utilities may not support WPA2 features. You should not have to re-do your shared network drive settings. Did you even try WPA2 on this new router or did you just believe this guy? Some history on WPA2 and XP:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;893357http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/bowman_wirelesssecurity.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=662bb74d-e7c1-48d6-95ee-1459234f4483&displaylang=enOn Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:50:17 +0000, Micro Softed wrote:>The Indian man from Linksys that helped me said that WPA2-AES will not work with Windows XPBarb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
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February 24th, 2010 6:28am

Hi Barb, I wasn't expecting any more replies so that's why it has taken me 2 weeks to reply...thanks for the continued follow up. No, I never even tried to get WPA2 to work with Windows XP. I just believed the guy. Now that I think about it, he said that sometimes you can get WPA2 to work with Windows XP, but it is infrequent and unreliable so it is not worth trying. I'm going to read the links you provided and give it try. I'd love to have WPA2 on both my other machines...better security and speed. P.S. One of my machines running Windows XP is a desktop which is hard wired. The other machine is an eMachines laptop which has a wireless modem (WLAN 802.11g Network Adapter). Since the laptop has a "g" type adapter, will that in itself enable me from using WPA2? P.S.S. In your reply you state, "I think that if you set your router for WPA2-AES and use WPA2-PSK/WPA2-Personal in the XP clients i5 will work, as long as you have the proper drivers for the XP clients. Also, if you are using old vendor utilities to manage the wireless networks as opposed to Windows built in Wireless Zero Confguration, some older XP utilities may not support WPA2 features." What and where is "XP clients i5"? I've never heard of that reference. I also am not familiar with Wireless Zero Configuration so I'm not sure where or how to check management of the wireless network to see if my XP utilities support WPA2 features.
March 6th, 2010 1:45pm

I don't know where i5 came from. the forum software here and the NNTP bridgetool I use must have had a bad day. translate that as "in theory".the support rep is incorrect. ignore his advice completelyG cards will work if there is support in the driver.if you are using a third party utility to manage the wireless, it is usuallypretty obvious = they put shortcuts on the desktop and on the menu. wirelesszero configuration is what the built in functionality of Windows is called.look at the picture with two wireless networks in range athttp://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/expert/bowman_wirelesssecurity.mspxwhich shows what you would see with windows.On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 18:45:08 +0000, Micro Softed wrote:>Hi Barb, I wasn't expecting any more replies so that's why it has taken me 2 weeks to reply...thanks for the continued follow up. No, I never even tried to get WPA2 to work with Windows XP. I just believed the guy. Now that I think about it, he said that sometimes you can get WPA2 to work with Windows XP, but it is infrequent and unreliable so it is not worth trying. I'm going to read the links you provided and give it try. I'd love to have WPA2 on both my other machines...better security and speed. P.S. One of my machines running Windows XP is a desktop which is hard wired. The other machine is an eMachines laptop which has a wireless modem (WLAN 802.11g Network Adapter). Since the laptop has a "g" type adapter, will that in itself enable me from using WPA2? P.S.S. In your reply you state, "I think that if you set your router for WPA2-AES and use WPA2-PSK/WPA2-Personal in the XP clients i5 will work, as long as you have the proper drivers for the XP clients. Also, if you are>using old vendor utilities to manage the wireless networks as opposed to Windows built in Wireless Zero Confguration, some older XP utilities may not support WPA2 features." What and where is "XP clients i5"? I've never heard of that reference. I also am not familiar with Wireless Zero Configuration so I'm not sure where or how to check management of the wireless network to see if my XP utilities support WPA2 features. Barb Bowman www.digitalmediaphile.com
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March 7th, 2010 6:19am

my problem is that once i turn off encryption on my cisco/linksys e1200 it automatically breaks the wired connections.
April 1st, 2012 10:00am

you are replying to a dead, three year old thread. you have not stated why you are turning off encryption. what problem are you trying to resolve by turning off encryption? surely you don't want an open network? On Sun, 1 Apr 2012 14:00:32 +0000, dipaola wrote: >my problem is that once i turn off encryption on my cisco/linksys e1200 it automatically breaks the wired connections. Barb Bowman http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
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April 2nd, 2012 4:36am

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