# Connected to wireless network but says "No wireless networks were found in range" !!!



## djstoop_id (Mar 17, 2006)

Hi, I've searched for about an hour and a half around the forums to try and find the answer to this but I didn't. I'd rather not bring my laptop to the store for repairs since I don't know when I'll see it back !!

I have a laptop, about 2 years old. Worked almost flawlessly until recently. It's a toshiba satellite celeron 2.8 I believe with 768 megs of RAM.


I have a problem with my wireless connection. Recently, it started "not finding available networks". It's stupid because the wireless card actually works since I'm connected right now, as I am typing this. My card automatically connects to the last network it was in, so I can only connect to a random network that is around my house, but not my actual one. I cannot change my connection to my own router since it says "No wireless networks found in range". It's not cool because now, at school, I can't get on the network since it can't find it...

The Network stumbler finds 8 connections around my house, but the "wireless network connection" window doesn't.

I reinstalled my drivers, I tried playing in the services and msconfig-boot utilities to see if I had disabled something... nothing.

anybody ever saw something like that ?


thanks a lot in advance.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

No, I never saw that before, and your title seems to be self-contradictory (although I do understand that it does describe what's happening!). 

Sounds like you have both Windows' WZC and the adapter's utility running, and you need to kill one of them.

The adapter's utility probably has a shortcut icon in the Startup Folder; remove it if you want to use WZC.

Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services - scroll to the bottom to find Wireless Zero Configuration. Stop it and make the Startup Type 'disabled' if you want to use the adapter's utility.


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## djstoop_id (Mar 17, 2006)

thank you for the fast answer. I disabled WZC, so it says in the "wireless network connection" window that it is disabled... but I'm still connected to my default network... I don't see any other applications running that could explain that... and I didn't install anything relating to my wireless connection since I bought the computer... why did it start to do that all of a sudden...?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

I haven't yet heard of a wireless adapter connecting on its own, without some wireless utility controlling it. So if WZC is not running, there must be another one. It'll probably, but not necessarily, have "Toshiba" or your adapter's brand as part of its name.

You might want to read through another thread--the person had similar problems and had no other utility running, until he found it: http://forums.techguy.org/networking/507204-solved-strange-wireless-network-problem.html


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## djstoop_id (Mar 17, 2006)

thanks Terrynet, but it doesn't help my cause.

I have checked all processes, there isn't one for another utility, and when I start Net Stumbler, the WZC says there's another utility running, but right now, it doesn't say that so I have to assume that there's nothing else running. I've checked the services, the WZC serv ice is started, anything else that I might have disabled ?

Is there any other utility I might use to connect to a network then ?


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## djstoop_id (Mar 17, 2006)

I solved my problem. I don't know exactly what I did, I just restarted some services that were on "manual" and now I can see the connection. The only problem I see, is that I don't know which service was responsible for this problem. But anyway.


THanks for your time man. I appreciate it.


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## FakerMcFakerson (May 10, 2007)

Here's my experience

~: The Wireless Zero Configuration services was set to Automatic and the service was set to control my wireless connections.
~: I could automatically connect to my wireless router, but could not VIEW any networks via the Wireless Zero Configuration controls.
~: There was no Third Party software installed for managing wireless connections
~: Having "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks" CHECKED within the interface's driver allowed the adapter to connect to my router automatically.


~/~Having the EVENT LOG service Disabled was apparently the culprit in this situation. Having re-enabled it Wireless Zero Configuration can now view all networks that broadcast their SSID.

Hope that helps someone.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

If you have disabled the SSID broadcast, and manually configured the wireless connection, you could have "no wireless networks in range" and still be connected. Why don't you check to see if SSID is disabled on the router?


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## johnbanner (Jan 7, 2007)

I had the same problem on an HP nx7010. It would connect to my network at home and yet when I tried to view available wireless networks it said that there were non available (even though I was connected).

I checked the services and found various ones turned off that were listed as automatic, so i turned them on and then restarted my machine. Amazingly it solved the problem - Unfortunately I do not know which one was the problem, but if you are having problems like this then it would seem that checking the right services are switched on is the way ahead


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## johnbanner (Jan 7, 2007)

should have said thanks to FakerMcFakerson for pointing the way!!!

cheers!


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## itinko (Jul 20, 2008)

FakerMcFakerson - Thanks a bunch for that clue ... the Event Log!! My client is elated her WiFi works again! And she's going to be really mad at her husband for turning all these services off!


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## f1tech (Aug 1, 2008)

Unbelievable, that was it. Now to figure out how the Event Log service became disabled on its own.

Thank you!


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## itinko (Jul 20, 2008)

fitech.. her husband was futzing around with the system trying to make it more secure.. and cleaner... on a previous occasion he disabled her VPN by mistake.


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