Strange Internet Connection Issue

**Kodiak** · May 7th, 2009, 10:31 PM

Any idea why the internet (wireless or wired) will not work at the customers office location but will work fine at her home? I had my laptop in her office and it worked fine and another laptop in the location works fine. To make it even stranger yet I plugged in a belkin usb adapter to her laptop and it worked fine. Ideas? This is on a Toshiba laptop only a few months old with Vista.

**Niclo Iste** · May 8th, 2009, 01:18 AM

This is just a stab in the dark here but have you 1. checked for malware such as smitfraud? 2. Tried a winsock fix? 3. Tried uninstalling the drivers for both devices then reinstall while also removing any of the network configurations such as TCP/IP?

**CCT** · May 8th, 2009, 05:22 AM

I don't mean this to be insulting, I just find it an easy to use guide;

http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-t...ess-connection

**Kodiak** · May 8th, 2009, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Niclo Iste

This is just a stab in the dark here but have you 1. checked for malware such as smitfraud? 2. Tried a winsock fix? 3. Tried uninstalling the drivers for both devices then reinstall while also removing any of the network configurations such as TCP/IP?

It all works just not at this site so I'm not sure any of this would help except maybe checking for spyware but it would seem that if it works one place it should work at another. What do you think.

As for setting up a network CCT (no problem on the insult) I'm very effective with Vista. I have had it since it has been out. It does see the network, it does connect but with limited and only local connection.

Also it does connect with a usb adapter plugged in.

**CCT** · May 8th, 2009, 11:16 AM

OK -we have;

Vista Toshiba NIC hardwired no connection

Vista Toshiba NIC wireless no connection

Vista Belkin USB NIC connection

All using same router

Connections are made elsewhere but not there at office

So the problem is with the Toshiba talking to the router with its' drivers for the NIC's.

Thus, it may be prudent to check for older/newer drivers (including chipset), and before install completely uninstall the present ones.

There is also this (although I don't think it applies it is odd); http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233

**MobilePCPhysician** · May 8th, 2009, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by Kodiak

Any idea why the internet (wireless or wired) will not work at the customers office location but will work fine at her home? I had my laptop in her office and it worked fine and another laptop in the location works fine. To make it even stranger yet I plugged in a belkin usb adapter to her laptop and it worked fine. Ideas? This is on a Toshiba laptop only a few months old with Vista.

Running an an antivirus such as Norton with the home network trusted, but the work one is not?

**Kodiak** · May 8th, 2009, 10:18 PM

It did have McAfee on it which I removed thinking it was blocking the connection but that didn't work.

I will try removing the old drivers for the onboard wireless nic and replacing them and see if it works.

**CCT** · May 9th, 2009, 06:57 AM

A whole batch of 'similar' issues and some solutions here;

http://www.chicagotech.net/vista/vistacompatible.htm

**maced** · May 10th, 2009, 10:43 AM

I have a simialr issue with a client's Toshiba Satellite (model A75-5226) that uses the Atheros chipset utility on Windows XP SP3. The router is a Linksys WRT300N and one of their laptops has Vista and connects with no problem. The Toshiba can see the router but cannot get a connection. The Toshiba has a dual-band (Super-G) wireless NIC and will connect at other locations with no problems. I will try one of the suggestions from CCT's link on setting a manual IP address but that kind of defeats the purpose of the client wanting to connect anywhere but at least it would solve part of the problem.

The router is configured for G operation and not N so I know that is not the problem. I will look more closely at the router settings and will disbale IPV6 on the client system if it is enabled. I was curious about the chipset used by Kodiak's problem Toshiba to see if it is using the same type.

**slgrieb** · May 10th, 2009, 12:39 PM

This is an interesting assortment of problems, but I think that Vista or IPv6 is unlikely to be the culprit in most of them. Microsoft has documented some problems with specific network issues between Vista and older routers, but I've yet to encounter them, and in any event, basic connectivity doesn't seem to be an problem.

Maced has a good example of connectivity problems with XP, and Kodiak found that the Belkin USB NIC he tried worked OK, so I believe these are likely to be issues with hardware, firmware, or drivers.

I don't like to update firmware or BIOS unless there's a specific problem fixed by the update. So, I'm running a Linksys BEFSR4 router with 7 year old firmware, and I have never had a computer fail to connect to it no matter what OS it used. XP, 98, Vista, Linux, OSX, Win7, it hasn't mattered.

I have seen similar problems getting specific applications to work with some print servers, so I'm inclined to go with hardware issues as a cause.

**Kodiak** · May 11th, 2009, 10:23 AM

The strange thing here is it will connect to the wireless router but won't get through the comcast gateway they have in place. She goes home and anyplace else so far and has no problem. This would lead me to believe it is a compatibility issue as I read in what CCT sent me. I have never ran into it though.

**NooNoo** · May 13th, 2009, 06:27 AM

Does she have a gateway address entered in the tcp/ip properties?

**Kodiak** · May 17th, 2009, 03:32 PM

I haven't heard back from them on this so they may just be working it out by using the belkin usb wireless. I will contact them on Monday and see.

**futuretech** · May 24th, 2009, 11:53 AM

When she connects at work does she ever get the UAC prompt to tell it what network to use? I suppose it is possible when she first tried to connect she elected to choose the wrong option and now it wont work.
Have they tried manually configuring the wireless connection specifying all needed info?
Have they looked through the list of wireless networks and deleted the one for work and then let it find it again?