6) Troubleshooting tips
General tips
- Check your connections
Your first port of call should be all the wired connections: the connection to your modem or Access Point. A loose wire may be the cause of your problems. Check your internet connection —look for the lights on your DSL modem or plug your computer into your modem to see if you can access the internet with a wired connection. If you can't then you will need to check your connection settings. Also, check that your line has been activated for ADSL if you are using this method to connect. If you are using your telephone and modem through the same socket use good quality micro-filters.
- Disable security measures
If your internet connection is fine then try disabling WEP, firewall and your other security measures to see if these are denying you access to the internet. Be sure to enable them once you've located and rectified the connection problem.
- Avoiding interference
Wi-Fi works in the 2.4GHz range and may receive interference from cordless digital phones and microwave ovens so ensure that your AP is situated away from these devices. If you still encounter problems then try switching the channel used by your network. You can also increase the number of AP or add an antenna to improve the signal reception. Wireless range is approximately 50m indoors and 250m outdoors so be sure to place your AP where it will cover the area you will be using. Radio coverage extends through two or three wooden floors, or one concrete floor.
- Make sure you only have one DHCP server running
Having more than one DHCP server for allocating IP addresses causes problems as the systems interfere with each other. Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) uses the same range for IP addresses so be sure to limit the DHCP functionality to a single device by disabling the service on either you AP or NAT router. If you're using ICS the DHCP component cannot be disabled so consider disabling DHCP on the AP.
- Workgroup name
On each PC that you have installed a Wi-Fi card in go to Control Panel > System > Computer Name, and note the Workgroup. This should be the same on every PC where you want to share files; if it isn't, click on Change and modify the Workgroup name accordingly.
-
Unhelpful XP
Some wireless adapters (or perhaps some installations of Windows XP) may cause set-up problems. In particular, when you double-click on the System Tray Wireless icon, you may see this dialog. It asks you to click on the Advanced button to help define your network details, but you can't because it's greyed out. It looks like it could be the end of the line, but there is a way around the problem. Click on Cancel to try it out. The dialog behind that Advanced button is vital to progress, because we must be able to set the Network ID and Ad Hoc setting.
We can't get there if the button is greyed out, but there's usually another way to set the same information. To access it, select Start > Control Panel > Network Connections. Find your Wireless Network Connection icon, then right-click on it and select Properties.
The Connection Properties dialog displays all kinds of networking info, but we're not interested in any of that. Choose Configure > Advanced to access the adapter properties. Exactly what's displayed here depends on the driver, so browse carefully through the settings. For this adapter we must select Desired BSS Type to choose the Ad Hoc network type, and Desired SSID to assign the network name.
- View workgroup computers and testing the firewall
Now to test the network: start at the computer you set up first, then open My Network Places (if there's no desktop icon, run Explorer, right-click on My Network Places and select Open). Click on 'View workgroup computers' and a list of every wireless-enabled PC within range should appear. Be prepared to wait (networking can be a slow business, even with fast PCs).
Nothing appeared at all? Not a sausage? If you have a firewall installed, it may just be doing its job properly. Disable your firewall for the moment, then retry step 11 again. Still no change? Leave the firewall off anyway, just for the moment. When everything is working, add the IP addresses of your networked PCs to the firewall's Trusted Zone (Workgroup Networking in Norton Internet Security, for example), and it should allow them access. - Finding faults
So what else could go wrong? Start by checking the hardware. Some wireless adapters feature LEDs that tell you whether they're connected, or if there's an error of some kind – go back and consult your manual for advice. Go back over our previous instructions, too, and then check that you've carried them out as described. In particular, it's vital that every Workgroup name is identical, so examine them closely again (it could be you may have missed a typo). - Check the wireless status
Double-click on the System Tray Wireless icon to find out more. 'Status' should be connected, and most (if not all) of the Signal Strength bars should be green. If not, perhaps the card isn't receiving a signal – is it out of range? A 'Received packets' count of zero confirms there's no communication at all. And if you click on Support, and IP Address shows 0.0.0.0, it's not been allocated for some reason. - Find TCP/IP properties
If the last step showed that your connection didn't have an IP address, there's no way communications will ever work. One way to bypass this problem is to set the IP address manually. Open the Network Connections dialog, right-click on your Wireless Connection icon, then click on Properties. Find and click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the list, then select Properties. - Setting a static IP
Because your network adapter isn't being allocated an IP address, you can give it one yourself in the TCP/IP Properties page. Choose 'Use the following IP address', and enter the value 192.168.0.1. As you enter the '1', Windows XP should automatically assign the Subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Repeat this step for every other computer in your network, except increase the address each time (192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3, and so on). - Share a folder
If you can now see the other networked systems, let's try sharing some files. Open Explorer, and choose a folder you want to be accessed from elsewhere. Right-click on the folder, select Properties > Sharing, and check 'Share this folder on the network' and 'Allow network users to change my files'. Repeat step 11 on another computer, double-click on this PC, and you should now be able to see the shared folder.
-
Forgot your password?
If you've forgotten your password for your base station press and hold the reset button using a compass point or straightened paper clip for about one second. This will reset the AirPort and network to 'public'. -
Reset the base station
If all else fails try re-setting your base station. Start by unplugging the base station and plugging it back in. If that doesn't help then try a full reset by pressing the reset button and holding it for five seconds. This will erase any settings you have already configured so you may want to make a note of your settings before performing a full reset.
Continue to...
Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Configure your network
Page 3 - Make your network secure
Page 4 - Troubleshooting tips