Wireless connection problem

I just bought an Aspire One AOA110 with Windows XP for my son. Although it sees my 2Wire wireless network, for some reason, it won't assign an IP address. It just hangs on the "Acquiring IP address" and then tells me there is limited connectivity. The signal strength ranges from good to very good and our other home computers (using XP) are all connecting to the network just fine.

I contacted Acer's tech support but they were less than helpful.

So far I have...
1) Made sure the wireless switch is turned on.
1) Restarted the computer.
2) Restarted the router.
3) Installed the latest wireless driver.
4) Followed Acer's instructions on completely uninstalling the previous wireless driver and installing the latest wireless driver.

From what I have read on the forum so far, should I flash the Bios next? Or is there something else I should do first?

This is very frustrating, as I have have added various computers to my wireless network, from a variety of computer makers over the last few years and never had this problem. Asus, Dell, Compaq, Sony, Lenovo, all connected without a hiccup.

 

What I can think of is DHCP or static IP address assignment in router. Can you check what you have on other computer: static or DHCP??

 

I believe they are DHCP. I forgot to mention it, but I went in to my router controls this morning via my Asus EEE and the page actually showed that it had assigned an IP address to the Acer, but the Acer was still in its "acquiring IP address" mode.

 

OK. In that case can you remove all SSID settings for that router/network in Network Connection/WLAN Properties... This will force your PC to set-up the network again with IP address etc...

 

I basically have the same problem as jrclarkiii. I have changed over from Linux to Windows XP and all is fine except that I cannot get onto the web using my wifi connection. I have downloaded and installed wireless_atheros_v.7.6.0.264 and confirmed it is up and working. Nonetheless my wifi light keeps flashing and I get the 'limited or no connection' message, click on this and 'repair' and the 'renewing your IP address' appears however the problem remains.

I have followed as far as possible the Help and Support advice but that gets me nowhere.

The problem is made worse because I only have limited time left to register my Windows after which I presume it will stop working.

Help would be much appreciated.
Ianoutram

 

Sounds like windows either has the wrong security setting or WiFi password.
Open network connections/ right click on wireless networks/ properties/ wireless networks and remove whatever you have. Start over and make sure you get the password right.
Unfortunately there isn't good messaging when you have a combo of bad password and or wrong security setting.

 

Well, after running the Aspire One over to a friend who is a professional computer guru, he couldn't get it to work either on his home wireless network. When we plugged in the Ethernet cable, it immediately assigned an IP address and everything worked well.

We tried various combinations of drivers (from the Acer and Atheros sites) and the newest Bios, and even the Atheros wifi utility that was recommended on another board, completely circumventing the Windows wireless connection program. Nothing worked.

Just to reiterate. The problem I was having:

1) The wireless was on and it found all the wireless routers in my neighborhood, including mine.
2) After entering my router password, it would show a good or very good connection but it would hang on the "Acquiring IP address" portion of the process and then eventually time out, showing limited or no Internet availability.
3) I could go in through my router and see that the netbook had, in fact been assigned an IP address.
4) I could not get the netbook to recognize that IP address even when I entered the information manually.
5) Meanwhile, every other computer in my house was working on the wireless network just fine.
6) I have never had this sort of problem with any other machine I have added to my wireless network.

My computer guru friend concluded, and I concur, that the simplest answer was that I got a bad wireless card. I am going to pick up an Intel card on Friday and plug it in, to see what happens. The good news is that opening up the case and accessing the card was pretty easy. The bad news is that it is pretty crowded in there and I assume I have voided my warranty. The good news is that with a netbook as cheap as this one was, I'm not too worried about voiding the warranty.

As a side note, a coworker bought an Aspire One from the same TigerDirect sale as I did, and his worked flawlessly out of the box. Just like it was supposed to.

 

We installed an Intel 4965AGN card this evening. After the installation of the appropriate Intel drivers, it worked exactly as it should, i.e. it connected with no problems to my friend's home wireless network and to my home network.

I would highly recommend the change to anyone having problems with the stock Atheros card. It seems clear that a bad card was the source of my wireless connection problems.

 

Go onto Microsoft Windows Update and install the new driver --- you can PLUG directly into the back of the 2 Wire router if you have the proper cable-- ethernet.

Update the Atheros driver-- reboot the machine-- you will also see a Realtex driver for Ethernet -- update-- install that also. DO NOT INSTALL the HIND driver if you see it listed!!!!!

Then TURN OFF QOS quality of service-- and turn off power saving as noted within this topic.

I am running BIOS 3505 and driver ver 160 with no issues.,,,,,,,,,,,, and a 2 wire router from ATT Uverse.