# Solved: Dell Latitude D620 does not connect to my wireless router



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

I have a Dell Latitude D620 (1490 WLAN mini-card) running Windows XP SP2 that refuses to connect to my Westell (Verizon DSL/Wireless router combo) router. 

Some details:
1. My network is secured by WEP 128bit and both SSID hide and MAC address filtering is turned ON. HOWEVER, when I did turn off all filtering and WEP, the Dell found the network and listed it in Wireless connections but still did not connect when I tried connecting to the unsecured network. (The HP connects in the unsecured case as well). 
2. I have another HP Pavilion laptop that I am able to connect to this network. I compared all wireless network settings and couldn't find any differences between them (other than the network cards are different between the two laptops).
3. I did uninstall and reinstall the 1490 from device manager - no effect.
4. I did update the driver for the 1490 router - no effect.
5. I tried turning Windows firewall off - no effect.
6. I do know that the wireless card on the Dell works since it connects to my network at work.


Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
APR


----------



## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Forget disabling SSID broadcast and MAC Address filtering unless you really like making your network harder for you to use. The bad guys know how to defeat those in seconds.

With encryption disabled try to connect and ...

Start, Run, CMD, OK to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

*IPCONFIG /ALL*

Right click in the command window and choose *Select All*, then hit *Enter*.
Paste the results in a message here.

If necessary use a text file and removable media to copy the results to a computer with internet access.


----------



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

Thanks for your reply. I guess the SSID and MAC address filter is just to make it a lil' difficult for amateurs looking for an easy way out but I hear you.

Find below what you requested with host name and Primary DNS modified for privacy

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : apr1
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : foo.corp.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-C5-4A-B5-0A

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1490 Dual Band WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-CF-3C-ED-F8

Ethernet adapter Network Connect Adapter:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Juniper Network Connect Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-E8-A9-D4-86


----------



## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Nobody cares about your Computer Name (no matter how strange it may be) nor Dns Suffix (except that it occasionally gives a clue to a problem). I find it a little strange that a Dns Suffix was even given with unanimous "Media disconnected."

You detected your unsecured network, tried to connect, and got nothing but the ipconfig /all that you partially showed? No acquiring address even?


----------



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

Nope, no acquiring address.

From the UI, all I saw was connecting to the network and then it just goes back to the list of networks.
I tried using the Dell Wireless wizard instead of the Windows wizard and that doesn't help, either. 

In the Network status on the Dell WLAN utility, I get the following

Speed: 11.0Mbps
Channel: 11 (2462 Mhz)
Radio streams: 1
AP MAC address: 6A:A7:AD;3C;B8;BB
Gateway IP address: 
Client IP address: Not available
Client IPv6 address: Not available

On the statistics tab,
I have a connection time - which ticks and is counting up
Packets sent and received are blank.

Not sure if any of this helps...
Thanks
Arvind


----------



## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Is that Speed, Channel and AP MAC address correct for your modem/router?

I'm suspecting a bad wireless adapter.

Can you connect OK via ethernet?


----------



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

Yes, all those are correct.

I am able to connect on my work network with that wireless adapter so not sure if the adapter is faulty unless it's a compat issue with the router.

Thanks
APR


----------



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

Oh and yes, I can connect ok over ethernet.

Also, as mentioned above, my HP laptop can connect with this wireless network fine.


----------



## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

With the adapter working on another network I agree with you that it is not faulty. You don't have the TCP/IP properties set to a static IP address, do you?

I'm running out of ideas here. Not using MAC Address filtering. Encryption temporarily disabled.

You have the latest wireless adapter driver from Dell's web site, right?

Make sure on the router that you are using no 'n', turbo, speedbooster, etc. Just plain vanilla 802.11g and or 'b'.

Delete the profile for your network from WZC's list (or from Dell WLAN's if you are using that now) and try again. You are positive that only one of those utilities is running, right?


----------



## APR (Oct 11, 2007)

Terry,
I searched the web for other instances of this same issue and finally found a related link at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18854276-Dell-Inspiron-wont-connect-to-Westell-VersaLink-Model-327W

One reader on the thread called Verizon and got it fixed. I did the same and the tech guy applied a firmware upgrade to the router and it fixed the issue. The rep mentioned that it was their newest firmware for Vista and that it would work for my XP SP2 machine as well.

Thanks for all your help. This is now fixed.

I will mark the thread SOLVED.


----------



## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Glad you found it, and thanks for reporting the solution. That will no doubt help others here.


----------

