Wifi and WPA. No statement from ACER yet?

:evil: Hi everybody.
I bought my AspireOne with Linux 5 days ago. Since then, I connect to home network with wifi only 1 evry 50 attempts (tried with ethernet and everything's ok). I see in this forum that I'm not the only case. I tried everything I could find in the forums, but with no success.
Is there any Acer statement about what's wrong with wifi in the AspireOne? I really like it, but this gadget without wifi is completely useless. Unless someone helps me to fix it, I'm afraid I'll have to return it to the shop and try a competitor's one.
If at least I could say it never works,... but it did a couple of times and I can't see what was different. This is really getting me mad...
Thxs everybody

 

You don't say whether you're running Linpus or Windows. If Windows, I believe there's a new WLAN driver you can try.

 

I mentioned Linux. You're right, I didn't specify that it's this Linpus that is supplied along with the netbook. All I did was change this desktop parameter that allows to access the menu right-clicking.

 

try changing your router to broadcast its SSID. mine is fine since i did this. make sure you have wpa encryption and mac address level filtering on your router though.

cheers,
rowantree

 

I did it already. No changes. It can't be configuration data, because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
This morning, while I was working witn my home computer, I placed netbook next to it and I was switching it on, waiting to see whether or it connects to wifi, and switching it off after. The result was about 40% of cases it did connect, 60% not, till about noon, (Barcelona time), when it ceased to connect.

 

Oh well. Worth a shot. I had found mine only connected if I switched the router on after the AA1 was up and running, which was very bizarre. Then a pal mentioned switching SSID off and now it's fine so that's why I suggested that. Best of luck with it anyway.

 

Mine connects perfectly every time.....

(512Mb, 120 Gb, Linpus)

 

You Mentioned Barcelona, a wild guess here in assuming you live there. Last time I was there, (last year) there were dozens of active WiFi acces points around the city, and I'll wager that every Linksys router was still using the default channel. Click the blue arcs (connection manager) in the bottom right corner of the screen and see if there are other active WiFi networks around, you may need to change the channel your router works on.

For what it's worth my AA1 connects to my Linksys router (WEP, MAC filtered, default channel, broadcast SSID) first time, every time.

Keith

 

I give up. Sometimes it connects, sometimes not. I just can't waste my time anymore. Tomorrow I'll talk to the guy in the shop, maybe he's already heard about it. If he can solve it, ok. If not, I'll return it and change it for another netbook. 7" screens are too small, but aspireone is not the only one in the 9-10" range.
I can't afford being an acer betatester, and I'm really angry about the silence from the vendor in a topic with that huge amount of posts.

 

i've had the same problem, bought the 120gb linux version, removed that and installed windows with all the drivers from the acer site. Wifi doesn't work correctly with WPA encryption, can't find a solution anywhere and the Atheros website (maker of wifi card) doesn't even offer drivers or support!! Rang acer and they said they didnt know what to do either!!!!!! so now what?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? F*** acer

 

Eh, yes it does. Been using it for nearly 2 weeks now.

Maybe your card is faulty...

 

think you may be right, was yours the linux 120gb version? you have xp on it now?

 

Hi All. I'm a newbie, having bought my Linpus AA1 yesterday. As a Linux novice I'm pleased that I've installed Firefox 3 and the fan control app without blowing it away

I am having a similar problem connecting to WPA wifi. I have two wifi networks running, my main one using WPA, and a second using WEP encryption (for compatibility with some old kit that only works with WEP). I have no problems connecting to the WEP network, and the connection is rock solid, but the AA1 just will not connect to the WPA network. It sees the network, accepts the key, then goes away for about 30 seconds before timing out with a "Disconnected - the network connection has been disconnected" message.

I use several other devices on both networks, and visiting friends have also connected their devices to the WPA network without any problem. Any ideas, or does the AA1 really have a problem with WPA connections?

 

Hi krychamin,

Mine is Linux...

Cheers,
Rowantree

 

On your router switch SSID broadcast ON, and have MAC level filtering and WPA on also and then it should be fine.

 

Thanks for the help. I've sorted it out now, and it turned out to be a compatibility problem between the router and the AA1.

The two routers I have are a BeBox (a Speedtouch ADSL2+ modem router provided by Be, my ISP), which runs the WEP wifi, and a FON router for the WPA, which also provides a FON wifi hotspot. As you may recall, the AA1 would not connect using WPA to the FON router.

I temporarily swapped the encryption on the routers, enabling WPA on the BeBox, and the AA1 connected first time, with a good solid connection. So it seems that for some reason, the AA1 does not like the WPA implementation on the FON router. This is odd, as many other wifi devices have connected to it using WPA without any problem! Ah well...

Today a 1GB stick of RAM arrived, so I've got the disassembly to look forward to. I ordered it yesterday from Crucial UK, £11.74 delivered (less Quidco cashback ), which I thought was very cheap. If you're interested search for part no: CT868497.

 

plunge into it it sounds scary to disassemble the WHOLE netbook....but its quite easy with all the videos

 

Odd, my router is a BeBox, I have a terribly temperamental connection on that. I am borrowing my friends Aspire One tomorrow to try it, I think I have a faulty wireless card.

 

OMFG!

the solution: WPA password is case-sensitive!!!! how the hell does that work? it was intermittently working in lower case, surely it shouldn't work at all?!?!?

anyway, if anyone is having this problem give it a go.

 

Acer TS couldn't help... changing router channel solved it!

Hi; I'm new here: I was having no end of trouble connecting WPA to a Netgear and to an SMC router (both do not support WPA2, just WPA)

In desperation, I think I saw the word "Channel" crop up somewhere.

The channel the Netgear router was configured to was channel 1.

My WPA2 router is set to, erm, well, it's not channel 1.

So I think there may be a problem with the Atheros ar5bxb63 and channel one.

So, no matter what trouble you're having connecting, try changing the channel of the router to be other than channel 1.

That won't work if you're out and about, but I just thought I'd post that in case it helps someone.

Good advice: with WPA it's not a "KEY" or "Password" i.e. not limited to hex (which should be case insensitive)... rather it's a "passphrase": it can be any text you want