Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG does not receive ANY traffic?!

Hello.

This is my first post on this forum and it is a sad one too. Hopefully someone will be able to help me because I am out of ideas. I realize that there is a massive thread on my networkcard's problems, but right now I don't have the time to read all 37 pages, so please forgive me.
Well, here is my current setup for wireless networking:

SMC 2804 WBR Router
Desktop PC with SMC2802W wireless network adapter
and a recent addition - HP Compaq nc6120 that has a built-in Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection card.

Here is the situation. Desktop is working nice and fine as a part of the wireless network. Notebook, however, does not.

The Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection seems to send packets to my router but receives nothing from it. I d'loaded new driver for it v9.0.3.9 - still the same. Checked the router settings - al is fine there, no MAC filters enabled or anything like that. Basically I'm out of ideas.

The darn 2200BG sends packets but does not receive them. Had I known tha 2200BG has lots of issues I would have bought a different card.

What should I do? Can anyone help me out here?

 

Well since you can send them, and it doesnt recieve the packets. It is most likely the routers firmware. Try updating that and post back how it goes.

 

Thank you for a suggestion nickspohn.

I upgraded router's firmware and nothing changed. Still, the status window of the wireless network shows packets sent, but no packets received. Really odd.

Is there anything else I can do/try? Otherwise I'm pretty close on giving up on that card.

 

Try shutting down the firewall.

 

Firewall was off, when I did all the testing as it is the first thing that comes to mind when something is wrong. MAC filter on the router is also disabled.

 

Another option would be to take it to another wireless network. If it works, most likely it is the router and if it does not it is most likely the card. Maybe if you downgraded the driver. I think the last version is still on Intel's site. Good Luck.

 

Hmmm. Haven't thought of taking my notebook to a different wireless network. Although I've done a similar thing. My neighbour's HP notebook that has the Intel Pro/Wireless 2100 card didn't even manage to connect to my network. It made me think of a certain incompatibility of Intel PRO/Wireless products and SMC hardware. I understand, however, that the experiment may be inconclusive as my neighbour's card is of the same family as mine.

Perhaps it is an instance of corporate dealmaking: "Oh, your SMC router doesn't work? how bad for you. However, if you buy this nice [insert Intel-compatible router here] router, then everyhitng will be fine". I hope I'm wrong.

 

No, thats not the case, basically if the router is on the same standard has the card (A,B, or G) Then it should work.
For you, i would say try reinstalling the router with no security.

 

are you sure the wifi card is turned on? there should be a hardware switch or software switch that toggles your card off/on.

 

drumfu, yes for all the testing my wireless card was turned on in BIOS and even in the nifty Windows Wireless Assistant thingy. I immediately checked the firewall and then the BIOS to see if it is them causing the problem.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine loaned me a D-link card DWL G630. I figured, it doesn't hurt to try if this card works or not. So, I disabled all network adapters on my notebook (including the Intel PRO/Wireless), properly installed the DWL G630, following the instalation procedure described in the manual. The result: DWL G630 sees my wireless network, connects to it, at least it says that it does, but once again the traffic goes only one way.

Thing is that my SMC 2804 WBR router is set up as DHCP server, and whenever the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG (or now the DWL G630) are trying to connect, the status window says "Receiving IP address", it sits there for a few minutes, then says "Connection limited" or some such thing and spits out a totally different IP 169.blah.blah. After this, the card sends traffic only one way, TO the router. My attempts to manually enforce the proper IP address for the network adapter (instead of obtaining it automatically) basically lead to the same result - the card sends packets to the router but doesn't receive them from it.

Can anyone explain me what in the hell is going on? I begin to suspect that the problem lies within the router, that there may be some obscure setting that blocks my notebook from receiving traffic. But I checked, the firewall is off, the MAC filter on the router is off. Everything now has the latest firmware and drivers. Why does my setup work for the desktop PC but doesn't work for my notebook ??? Could it be because my desktop PC has Windows XP Service Pack 1 and the notebook Service Pack 2?

 

Yes you really need to have SP2 on both computers. That is your best bet and do all the drivers and firmware and disable your security. I would redo the setup and these are all option in the setup.

 

Those SMC routers are really a pain in the butt. I wouldn't blame the Intell 2200 or turn off the security. After wonderful experiences with Netgear routers, I've been sticking with them ever since. I would try installing the netbeui or IPX/SPX/Netbios protocal in the network properties. Same area where you can find your tcp/ip settitngs. The windows operating system doesn't install this by default (only tcp/ip). Most home networks/routers work better with this installed. If that doesnt work, I'd then try turning off the DHCP and set up IP addresses.