Wireless PennNet Frequently Asked Questions: Troubleshooting
If you continue to have trouble accessing wireless after using the troubleshooting
techniques described below, please report the problem to your Local Support Provider. Provide as much information as possible. Simply sharing
the time of day you had trouble accessing the service along with the
specifics of your location and the type of wireless device you are using will
allow the support staff to look at service logs that may have recorded
information regarding your connectivity trouble. By sending as much detail
as possible, you are helping improve this service so your access will be
more readily available the next time you want to use it.
I can't seem to connect to Wireless PennNet. What should I
try first?
I can see the "wireless-pennnet" network just fine, but I can't reach websites or e-mail. What's wrong?
I've followed your configuration instructions, tried the troubleshooting steps above, yet I still can't make a connection to Wireless PennNet. What should I do?
My Windows XP computer has both wired and wireless connections, and neither seems to work. How do I fix this?
|
| Q: |
I can't seem to connect to Wireless
PennNet. What should I try first? |
| A: |
- Do you have a valid PennKey?
You cannot use Wireless PennNet in public areas without first authenticating
with your PennKey.
- Have you installed your wireless card according to the manufacturer's
instructions and followed the Wireless PennNet configuration
instructions for your operating system?
- Your wireless device may detect more than one wireless network in your
location. Is your wireless device attempting to connect
to the wireless-pennnet network?
- Make sure that you do not have WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) enabled in your wireless configuration settings.
- For Windows-based configurations, ensure that 'Access point (infrastructure)
networks only' is selected in the Advanced options of the Wireless Network
Connection Properties (see the XP
config page for details).
- Try to get a new DHCP-
assigned network address for your wireless card. To accomplish this using
Windows,
select Run from the Start menu and type cmd. At the cmd
window prompt, type ipconfig /release; then type ipconfig
/renew.
For Mac's OS, turn AirPort off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it on
again.
- Reboot your machine, and then try connecting again.
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|
| Q: |
I can see the "wireless-pennnet" network
just fine, but I can't reach web sites or e-mail. What's wrong? |
| A: |
First make sure you've authenticated properly with your valid PennKey.
Check your network configuration and make sure you are configured to connect
via DHCP, and
fields for DNS are left blank. DNS information, which is responsible for routing
networking
requests to the Internet, is automatically served to you via DHCP when you
connect to Wireless PennNet. For assistance in checking these configurations,
please see your Local Support Provider (view Faculty or Staff LSP
list) or
Information Technology Advisor (view Student
ITA list).
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|
| Q: |
I've followed your configuration instructions, tried the troubleshooting steps above, yet I still can't make a connection to Wireless PennNet. What should I do? |
| A: |
You might try temporarily disabling your wired
ethernet interface while using Wireless PennNet. See the Known
Issues
section for more information.
You could also contact your Local Support Provider (LSP or ITA) and ask for his/her troubleshooting assistance.
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|
| Q: |
My Windows XP computer has both wired and wireless connections, and
neither seems to work. How do I fix this? |
| A: |
You may have your network devices set up improperly.
By default, Windows XP's Network Setup Wizard tries to "bridge"
(connect) multiple network connections together. Bridging network
devices is not appropriate on PennNet, and can cause network disruption
on your computer as well as others on PennNet. See Microsoft's
knowledge base article 823305 for information about how to disable
network bridging.
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Last updated on 02/12/08
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