Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of XP

The problem is with an Acer Aspire One (Model ZG5) Netbook with Windows XP SP3.

I have a modem/wireless router/gateway which connects fine to every other device in my house, including my desktop and 2 laptops.

I just reinstalled Windows XP on the netbook and copied over all the latest drivers from this computer (since the netbook cannot access the internet) and updated everything, but I am still getting the same problem: The netbook's wireless connection gets hung up after me typing in my security key, once it starts to connect, at "Aquiring network address," it goes nowhere. I have no anti-virus on it yet, that will come after I am connected to the internet; and disabling my firewall did not help. I have tried several solutions in other forums, with no luck...

However, one possible solution lead me to the command prompt, where I was able to get the following message: "An error occured while renewing interface Wireless Network Connection: unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out." (I ran ipconfig /renew)

I have tried Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector, but that was of no use I found.

Can it be hardware problem on my netbook? Maybe my network adapter is malfunctioning? I bought this over three years ago now...

So like I said, I've tried all solutions on the internet so far, but they didn't help. Now I am back here and posted this myself to see if I can get some help... So if anyone has any ideas, PLEASE...

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Try powering down entire network - comps, router and modem and power back up in sequence - modem, router and comp letting each establish a connection before starting the next.
Just power up the one netbook for now to see if it gets a connection.
Does it happen to have an ethernet connector? Could try hooking up by cable first to see if the TCP/IP protocols are working.

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

It connects through a wired connection, just not the wireless. Same modem/router/gateway (as AT&T calls it) too. I disconnected everything else from the wireless network, but it still would not connect...

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Long shot but worth a try ,

Reboot>Tap F8>Advanced user mode>Scroll down to>Safe Mode with Networking.

See what happens then, if everything is fine then it could be one of your addons.


If so reboot and then start your browser with all addons disabled ,then reapply one by one to find which one is causing the problem !

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

@plodr Wow I feel like I'm being treated like an amateur... I already have the drivers, I'm sorry, but even after stating that in my original post, people still insist on giving me that link (happened in another forum too)... Yes I have a switch for the wireless (which did not work until I installed the driver) and it is on... That is not the problem, but thanks for the attempt...

@rustyjack As for Safe Mode, that was pointless. Still same issue, before I even opened a browser... Thanks though, at least you guys are trying...

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

I dont know if you have tried this or not but just a thought. this is trouble shooting for win xp sp2. but it might work for sp3 also.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870702
just another shot in the dark... have you tried lowering your security on the modem/router from wpa2 to wep to see if it will work with that?

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

I apologize. I just got the same question though on another forum an I thought it was because I just joined...:-o

So my drivers are up to date. I restarted as well (several times now). Ever since re-installing Windows XP SP 3 yesterday morning, which was not Acer's backup or reinstallation disc, I have not installed any third party software with the exception of Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector, which was of no use to me, and I no longer have it running. I am not using another program to manage my wireless; I left the settings in the Wireless Network Connection Properties as they were; therefore, "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" is checked off.

After the initial reinstall of Windows XP yesterday, I had a few things in the Device Manager that still needed drivers. So I went to Acer's web site, and downloaded all the drivers that I could possibly need. They were then transferred via my USB Flash Drive to the netbook from this desktop and all installed; that list includes:

Audio_Realtek_5.10.0.6010_XPx86_A
CardRdr_Jmicron_1.00.16.01_XPx86_A
Chipset_Intel_8.3.0.1018_XPx86_A
Lan_Realtek_5.698.701.2008_XPx86_A
Touchpad_Synaptics_11.1.4_XPx86_A
VGA_Intel_6.14.10.4926_XPx86_A
WLAN_Atheros_7.6.0.224_XPx86_A

Currently, there are no devices with any issues in the Device Manager. NO Yellow "?'s" and NO Red "X's" so it looks like what I did yesterday was correct! So now what could be the cause of this issue? It's not signal strength- I am right next to the router with 100% signal. And like I said, all my other devices/computers connect. I am still open for new ideas... :confused

Thanks.

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

I am going to remove the security entirely from the modem/router (gateway as AT&T calls it) and see if that works; that was also I recommendation from another user on another forum. I will let you know...

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Done a bit of searching and found this, where someone else ran into the same problem, hope it helps you out,

I recently ran into a problem with a wireless network card getting stuck while acquiring a network address. I would get constant messages like “Acquiring Network Address” or “Renewing Your IP Address”. But it would seem to get continually search for, but never acquire a network address or renew the IP address.
I did all the basic stuff like updating the wireless card driver, unplugging and plugging stuff back in, right clicking and selecting Repair in Windows XP and click Diagnose and Repair in Vista. But until I performed the steps below nothing worked.
Here’s the procedure that finally fixed it for me.

• Unplug the cable/DSL modem.
• Unplug the wireless router.
• Wait 60 seconds, then plug in the modem.
• When the modem is completely online, plug in the wireless router.
• On the PC, open a command prompt.
  1. On Windows Vista, click the Windows Orb, type “cmd.exe”. When “cmd.exe” appears under Programs, right click it and select “Run as administrator”.
  2. On Windows XP, click Start, Run, type cmd, click Ok.
• Once you have a command prompt, first type “ipconfig /flushdns”.
• Next, type “ipconfig /release”.
• Then, type “ipconfig /renew”.

Now I can connect to my secure wireless network with no problems. No more “Acquiring Network Address” or “Renewing Your IP Address” for me.


As i said, hope this helps, good luck !!

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

No Luck... :cry

I turned off the gateway, after turning the wireless security off. Then I turned it back on, and tried to connect the netbook through the wireless, but same problem, only this time it said "limited connectivity," but regardless, I could not access the internet or network until I plug in the CAT 5 cable to the router to reset the settings back to a secured network. So again, the LAN works, the WAN does not. This is with and without security. And if you read my other posts, you will see the error messages I have received previously...

:banghead

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Oh, and I am currently running Tweaking.com's Windows Repair v1.9.0, but I am doubtful... rolleyes

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Nothing is working... Tried different drivers, ran some ipconfig commands, and ran some programs, but still no luck....

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Have you tried setting a static IP in your wireless connection?

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Have you considered that maybe your wireless card is bad? That happened to me once. Same symptoms as you.

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

My original post suggested this...

I am going to try it on a different network first, maybe setup a hotspot on my phone, then go from there...

@Ibmest - Can you quickly walk me through the static IP setup? Is that possible, to walk me through it quickly that is???

Thank you all for your advice thus far... :highfive

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Since your Aspire works by wire go ahead and hook it up and do the following to get IP address information -
Go to Start > Run > type cmd and Enter
Type ipconfig /all and Enter
Information should be displayed for the following under the wired connection properties -
IP Address
Subnet Mask
Default Gateway

Copy these values down, (All 3 should be in a format of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, either 192.168.xxx.xxx or 10.0.xxx.xxx)
You will want to use the exact same values for Subnet Mask and Default Gateway for your static IP address.
Close out command line.
Unhook your cable and reboot.

Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Right click Wireless Network Connection and Choose Properties
On the General Tab click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the box
Click on Properties button underneath box
Now click on radio button for Use the following IP address instead of Obtain IP adress automatically.
You can use all 3 copied values except for the first (IP Address) - add 1 to the value of the 4th xxx in the series.
You can leave DNS to automatic. Close out and see what happens with your connection.
May want to reboot.
This is just a double check to see if the wireless is actually working or not.
If no connection is forthcoming, I'd say your wireless is toast as evidenced by all the other avenues you have explored.

Link for screenshots if needed - http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/19249/how-to-assign-a-static-ip-address-in-xp-vista-or-windows-7/

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

@Ibmest - Thanks! I will give that a shot now...

@plodr - No luck with the hotspot...

To all - I just found an "Ultra-Mini Wireless N USB Adapter" on eBay for $5. Do you think that would be easier than all this other stuff? Regarding the time it has taken thus far, I would have spent that $5 at the start of this. Also, I could install another copy of Windows with just SP2 on it; that may take less time then this thread has, if you all agree that it is an issue with SP3, like others have in other forums...

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

I installed XP SP2, then the drivers, and I still have the same problem... So now I am just going to order that $5 "Ultra-Mini Wireless N USB Adapter" from eBay. Thanks to all for the help. I learned a lot from this experience. :major

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

I am done. I tried with all the software possibilities, but still no luck, so it must be the hardware. If I had just spent that $5 at the beginning, I would have saved myself a lot of time. However I learned some new things, so thank you again all!

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

Hello everyone im new here so i would like to try and help. i know this issue was old and maybe by this time someone had already resolved this problem but still i would like to add a solution that might work cos i have encountered this problem before. this is what i did:

the problem is on the acer aspire one netbook or laptop, some older aspire 1 has this problem connecting to wireless routers and for some routers it connects. the problem is in the atheros wireless driver, the driver was too old and acer did not made any updates on the aspire one drivers. so heres the solution i did...

1. remove the older version of your wireless card which is the atheros ver 7.6.0.224

2 look for the newer driver version which i got from a lenovo laptop which has same wireless adaptor but with diffirent version. (atheros ver. 7.7.0.456)
this is the site wer i got it : http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS012674

3. after removal and download of the newer version restart your computer

4. install the new driver then restart

5. optional (PRAY THAT THIS WORKS!) hahahahaha! cos i did

5. then your done

6. try connecting to a wireless network, it should connect by now.

i hope this helped ^_^ gudluck! and god bless

 

Re: Wireless Connection Stuck on "Aquiring network address" - even after reinstall of

WOW!!!

After all this time... my wifi finally works!

Many thanks to "PePSi23" for solution!
I didn't consider looking for a newer driver elsewhere. I just kept trying the automated solution. Shame on Acer. rolleyes

I know this is an old thread. But I just had to thanks PePSi23...

THANKS!!!