Linksys network problem

I have a 2 comp network at home. Both machines a Dell. Desktop is a dimension 4600 and the laptop is a Inspiron 4000. The network hardware consisits of all wireless G Linksys products, Linksys broadband router, Linksys PCI adapter in the desktop and Linksys PCMIA card for the laptop. Both comps work fine when using the wired portion of the network thru the router. The problem is in the wireless side of the network. Everything is setup to work on wireless G only. The laptop finds the router and the wireless network (and all the other neighborhood networks) without a problem. It connects w/o problem. The problem is with the Desktop PCI adapter. The adapter has been checked out and is working. Device manager says it working. It's been un-installed and re-installed 3 X along with the driver the same. The router is in the same room as the desktop and they have line of sight. The network settings are the same on the desktop and laptop. Both comps OS is winXP-SP2.

The problem: The desktop fails to recognize the router.

 

If your router is too close to your wireless NIC, it can cause the signal to bounce back, resulting in the computer not being able to see or connect to the wireless network. Be sure that this is not the cause by moving your router a minimum of 5 feet away from your wireless NIC.

Try changing the channel on the router to 1 or 11, then refresh your network list and check to see if you see your network.
Put any cordless phones on the base when testing this. If your phone (or even your neighbour's) runs at 2.4GHz, it can interfere with the wireless network. Even if the phone is not turned on, it will be sending a signal to the base station, which will cause interference.

Check with Linksys to see if you are using the most updated driver for the PCI NIC. Uninstall all Linksys software, and install ONLY the driver. Use the Windows XP wireless configuration utility to attempt to connect to the router. If this doesn't work, disable the Windows wireless cconfiguration utility, and try a different one. One I would recommend is called Boingo, and can be found at http://www.boingo.com.

I hope I understood correctly when you said that it "fails to recognize the router". I took this as it can't even see the wireless network, not 'it can see if, but cannot connect'.

When you say that "everything is setup to work on wireless G only", do you mean that you've disable mixed mode (or whatever it's called) in your router? This will cause an 802.11b card not to cannot or see it. If so, change it back to mixed mode, as changing it to 802.11g only will offer no benefits.

 

a gr8 many thx bubbles...
the desktop NIC is definetly closer than 5'. and yes you surmised correctly, the PCI card does not recognize/see any wireless network.
I used windows to configure when I had nothing but problems with Linksys configuration, and yes thx, all drivers are the most current availalble from Linksys.
So my project now will be to relocate the router and try that out...again many thx for the advice. I'll advise of results when it happens.

 

I forgot to mention something. Make sure that any speed enhancing modes have been disabled on your router. If it is advertised to go at speeds other than 11MBps (802.11b) or 54MBps (802.11g), it has some sort of speed enhancment mode. Check with your router manufacturer on how to turn this off.

 

Bubbles...ur the gr8est. Moving the router didn't do anything but going back into the properties of the NIC, I was able to reconficure some things as well as change channels which I did...now I'm connected thx 2 u and many many mahalos (Hawaiian for thank-u)