Vista requires line of sight for wireless

I have a brand new vista laptop, fully patched etc.. When trying to
connect it to my wireless network, that has worked fine for several
years with WindowsXP i've found that windows vista refuses to work
unless it has un-obstructed line of sight to my wireless access point.
It will connect and work perfectly, speed tests show download speeds up
to 6mbps as long as I maintain line of sight. As soon as I move the
laptop and put anything between the access point and it Vista thinks it
can't get anywhere. The entire time the system maintains a good to
excellent signal strength but vista simply refuses to work, pings to the
router or access point either time out or respond with a destination
un-reachable message.

I've read a lot of the messages here and none seemed to help at all.
Any ideas?


--
lofar

I'm tempted to suspect the wireless hardware in your laptop, rather than
Vista. If you're using the built-in wireless hardware, see if you can borrow
a card from a computer repair place and try that. If you're already using a
wireless card, try a different one.

Tom Dacon
Dacon Software Consulting

"lofar" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:68a2408618387cc40f1e2457bb3407e2@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I have a brand new vista laptop, fully patched etc.. When trying to
> connect it to my wireless network, that has worked fine for several
> years with WindowsXP i've found that windows vista refuses to work
> unless it has un-obstructed line of sight to my wireless access point.
> It will connect and work perfectly, speed tests show download speeds up
> to 6mbps as long as I maintain line of sight. As soon as I move the
> laptop and put anything between the access point and it Vista thinks it
> can't get anywhere. The entire time the system maintains a good to
> excellent signal strength but vista simply refuses to work, pings to the
> router or access point either time out or respond with a destination
> un-reachable message.
>
> I've read a lot of the messages here and none seemed to help at all.
> Any ideas?
>
>
> --
> lofar

Good idea there.. I plugged in an ancient 802.11b pcmcia card that i
have laying around, vista installed the drivers and it works perfectly
(at 11mbps) but i certainly get a lot more range and reliability out of
it.

off to call dell.. Thanks. I guess i was just too quick to blame vista.


--
lofar

Hi
Check Dells support for the Wireless and make sure that you have the most
recent Vista drivers.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

"lofar" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:68a2408618387cc40f1e2457bb3407e2@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I have a brand new vista laptop, fully patched etc.. When trying to
> connect it to my wireless network, that has worked fine for several
> years with WindowsXP i've found that windows vista refuses to work
> unless it has un-obstructed line of sight to my wireless access point.
> It will connect and work perfectly, speed tests show download speeds up
> to 6mbps as long as I maintain line of sight. As soon as I move the
> laptop and put anything between the access point and it Vista thinks it
> can't get anywhere. The entire time the system maintains a good to
> excellent signal strength but vista simply refuses to work, pings to the
> router or access point either time out or respond with a destination
> un-reachable message.
>
> I've read a lot of the messages here and none seemed to help at all.
> Any ideas?
>
>
> --
> lofar

All too often this is a common occurrence. Goes to prove the point, that
perception becomes reality. Vista does not deserve the reputation it has
received. Most the negatives I've found are directly attributable to
peripheral manufacturers and their "relaxed" approach to providing needed
drivers and working with UAC...despite years of warning and lead time.

It wouldn't be that they saw an opportunity to force consumers to purchase
more product, while transferring the bulk of blame to Microsoft?

"lofar" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:92dd7b490efb87fe3469bff1042b192f@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> Good idea there.. I plugged in an ancient 802.11b pcmcia card that i
> have laying around, vista installed the drivers and it works perfectly
> (at 11mbps) but i certainly get a lot more range and reliability out of
> it.
>
> off to call dell.. Thanks. I guess i was just too quick to blame vista.
>
>
> --
> lofar