"Acquiring network address"

[PKruger]

Hello everyone,

I hope this is the right place to ask. I have a TP-Link MR3220 router which I use to connect my devices as follows:

1. Desktop PC via LAN
2. Dell E6500 via wireless
3. Lenovo S10e via wireless (XP Home SP3)

1 and 2 above works without problems. I am struggling with the Lenovo. It either stops at "Acquiring network address", or "Limited connectivity".

I have the latest drive for the Broadcom adapter installed.

Please help a noob to troubleshoot.

 

[rajharie]

Have you got any mac filters or any other security settings on your router?

 

[PKruger]

On the router, the Wireless Security settings are:

WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK On
Version: Automatic
Encryption: Automatic
PSK Password: *******
Group Key Update Period: 0

Wireless MAC Filtering: Disabled

 

[KenPCD]

The Lenovo adaptor may possibly not support WPA, try connecting with all security off just to see if it works.

 

[PKruger]

It also did not work with all security setting off. I assigned a static IP to the Lenovo, and it connected without a problem

I plugged in a LAN cable from the Lenovo to the router, and it also does not get an IP from the router. It seems as if there is a DHCP problem on the Lenovo

 

[StoneCold]

It also did not work with all security setting off. I assigned a static IP to the Lenovo, and it connected without a problem

I plugged in a LAN cable from the Lenovo to the router, and it also does not get an IP from the router. It seems as if there is a DHCP problem on the Lenovo

Emailed you the file we discussed about that might fix the problem

 

[PKruger]

Thanks StoneCold, but it did not help

With the static IP assignment, and the security settings turned back on, the Lenovo will connect, so I assume I can rule out WEP/WPA issues?

Any other ideas?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Check for an option called 'DHCP passthrough' and see if it's enabled or not.

But first try enabling WPA first and see if you're able to connect then with a static IP.

Also, check that your firewall (on the Lenovo) do pass DHCP requests and traffic through.

Assuming that there is no firewalls active on said router...

 

[PKruger]

I can not find a 'DHCP passthrough' option on the router.

The SPI Firewall (Stateful Packet InspectionI) is enabled on the router.

Also, no matter if WPA is enabled or not, the Lenovo only connects with a static IP (both WiFi and LAN).

 

[PKruger]

Just some feedback: Although the Lenovo connects to the router via the static IP, it does not connect to the internet.

When I ping the router from the Lenovo, it is successful, but when I try to open the router webpage in IE, it can't display (All other pages fail as well)

There seems to be something major wrong on the Lenovo

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Get hold of a live Ubuntu CD, boot from it and see if the problem persists. If the problem goes away, then it's the current windows install on the Lenovo.

If Ubuntu exhibits same issues, then the problem is with the Lenovo.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Just some feedback: Although the Lenovo connects to the router via the static IP, it does not connect to the internet.

When I ping the router from the Lenovo, it is successful, but when I try to open the router webpage in IE, it can't display (All other pages fail as well)

There seems to be something major wrong on the Lenovo

Oh, if you have entered a static IP address, then it must be in the same range as your router.

For example :

router -> 192.168.0.1
wifi -> 192.168.0.2
lenovo -> 192.168.0.3, gateway 192.168.0.1

 

[Anthro]

Have you tried a traceroute ?
Start>Run>CMD
>tracert www.google.com

--post results here
>tracert 192.168.x.x (IP of router)
--post results here
>tracert 192.168.x.x (IP of other machine on network)
--post results here

If all else fails, reset your routes
> route /f
REBOOT (Cause your network will be down)

 

[PKruger]

Nothing wanted to work, so I connected the USB directly to the Lenovo. I was able to connect, but still nothing. Something was blocking all internet access. That got me thinking.

With my anti virus suite, is a firewall as well. I have it installed on the other two machines without any problems. I disabled it on the Lenovo, but still no joy. I saw that the firewall service was stopped and set not to run at all, so I totally uninstalled the anti virus suite.

Yup, you guessed it, everything worked fine (via USB modem and router, DHCP IP). I re-installed the anti virus suite (with firewall), and everything is still working fine.

I can only guess that something must have gone wrong with the firewall. Although it was disable (and not running as far as I could tell), it was still blocking all internet access.

So now I am a happy camper again with all three PCs connecting via the router and DHCP

Thanks everyone for helping!