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Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

I recently replaced my old Billion 7300G wireless modem-router with a new Zyxel P660HW.
Since switching to the Zyxel I can't connect to some websites using my Vista laptop wirelessly (for example google.com is always good but flickr.com always eventually times out) but disabling wireless and connecting a wire from the laptop to the Zyxel allows me to connect to all the sites. However, I also have an XP PC that is completely happy with the wireless connection and can connect to the sites that the laptop can't.
I'm totally baffled as to what might be causing the problem: Vista? The Zyxel? The combination of the two? Some stupid configuration mistake I've made on one or the other?  Why does wireless work fine for XP but has selective website-loss for Vista?
Does anyone have any clues as to what it could possibly be?
13 REPLIES 13
samuria
Grafter
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Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

When you use the Vista laptop do you get the problem straight away or after you have left it idle for a while.
When it happens again see if you can ping the Vista laptop from the other pc or connect to a share on it.
On the Vista laptop ping the router ie ping router ip
Let us know the results are you using WEP
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

The problem with the Vista laptop happens immediately (and, thus far, it's always the same sites that are accessible and the same sites that are inaccesible).
The laptop can ping the router.
The PC can ping the laptop and connect to a share on it (and vice versa).
I'm not using WEP (I am using WPA2 TKIP).
Hopefully that info. helps someone point me in the direction of a solution.
paulby
Grafter
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Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Are you running any firewalls on the Vista machine?
If you are, have you tried disabling them temporarily to see if that's the problem (including the Windows firewall).
If you're running a third party firewall (Zone Alarm, Norton etc.) make sure that the Windows firewall is disabled.
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

I'm using the Windows Firewall on the Vista laptop but disabling makes no difference to my problem.
samuria
Grafter
Posts: 1,581
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

If the laptop can see the router and the other pc can see it then its safe to assume that the router is ok and conductivity is ok on the laptop.
There is a couple of thing that maybe wrong on the Vista pc do a ipconfig /all and post the results
Do a ping www.plus.net ; then
ping www.u-net.com
If you get a reply from them then DNS is ok if you get host not found or similar then there is a problem with your DNS settings and plusnet DNS servers manually to the wireless network.
If its not that it could be something to do with javascript/java/asp. If you can reach normal sites that only use html ie the webpage address often ends in htm or html but cant reach others then they may contain javascript.
AV and IE can both block javascript as it can be dangerous check the setting in AV and IE or try disabling AV temporary.
If you can give some examples of sites you cant reach we may have a better idea.
The final thing is Vista as the silly home and public network setting try switching it to the other one and see if that works as sometimes it get confused
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Thanks for the ideas.
Turning the AV (AVG) off makes no difference.
Switching between public and private networks (and back again) makes no difference.
Also note that Firefox and IE behave the same which means that it's nothing to do with IE settings at least.
DNS is fine - I can quite happily ping anything: including sites I can't access web pages for (such as www.flickr.com and, oddly enough, www.plus.net).
The output ipconfig /all might be significant though. Comparing the results from a wired and wireless connection I see that Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface has an IPv6 Address and Link-local IPv6 Address on the wireless connection but not on the wired. However, disabling the Teredo device doesn't make any difference. Other than that (and the expected difference in local IP address) I don't see any meaningful difference between the two.
So, the wireless iponfig /all reports:
Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : thelaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-4B-8C-F3-DC
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11a/b/g WLAN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-73-E1-18-D1
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::41e2:8fef:6980:fc88%11(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 11 March 2009 11:54:48
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 15 March 2009 18:17:09
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-37-63-D9-CC
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:d5c7:a2d6:34e9:bbf:3f57:fedd(Preferred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::34e9:bbf:3f57:fedd%8(Preferred)
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{D903A1CE-27EE-4479-8CE3-DA036E431162}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 10:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{BA79C0A7-3DE3-4A15-AAD0-72FE7E05564D}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

And, for comparison, the wired (which works for all websites) ipconfig /all reports

Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : thelaptop
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562GT 10/100 Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-4B-8C-F3-DC
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::649d:601a:5412:26ad%12(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.33(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 12 March 2009 14:59:41
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 15 March 2009 18:19:13
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11a/b/g WLAN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-73-E1-18-D1
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{D903A1CE-27EE-4479-8CE3-DA036E431162}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:
   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{BA79C0A7-3DE3-4A15-AAD0-72FE7E05564D}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
paulby
Grafter
Posts: 1,619
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Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Have you tried turning off IPV6 addressing in Vista?
Go to Control Panel and (in classic view) > Network and Sharing Center  (in standard view it's Control Panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Center)
In the Network and Sharing Center click on Manage Network Connections in the menu on the left.
Right Click on the wireless connection and click Properties.
Under the Networking tab untick the box against Internet Protocol Version 6 in the box labelled " The connection uses the following items" then click on OK at the bottom.  (See screenshot )
You can repeat this for the wired connection.
Are you actually using the IPV6 capability of the Toredo tunnelling?
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

No, I'm not using IPv6 (well, not on purpose anyway..) and previously disabled it via the device manager - which didn't help.
Following those instructions to disable IPv6 didn't seem to have any effect on my problem either sadly.
paulby
Grafter
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Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

One more thing to try.
Go back to the screen where you unticked IPV6 and then highlight the line for IPV4. Once that's highlighted select Properties.
On the next screen Select "Use the following DNS servers" and enter PN's servers into the boxes (Preferred 212.159.13.49 Alternate 212.159.13.50) - see screenshot - then click on OK.
It's then worth flushing the local DNS cache.
To do this you'll need to open a command prompt as administrator.
Go to Start>All Programs>Accessories and right click on Command Prompt and select "Run as Administrator"  (You'll then need to OK the approval box)
At the command prompt type ipconfig /flushdns
Retry your connection.
(It's often worth trying setting DNS manually rather than use the router's DNS proxy.)
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

I tried setting PlusNet's DNS server's directly and flushing the DNS and, sad to say, no change to anything. (ipconfig confirms that the DNS servers are set to PlusNet's).
Interestingly (maybe) I've just noticed that i can quite happily complete a tracert to www.flickr.com (all the IP addresses listed resolve).And the tracert on the Vista wireless connection looks pretty much the same as the same on as on the wireless XP PC. But yet one works and one doesn't.... Shocked

paulby
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Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Clutching at straws now!
Try changing the MTU for the wireless adapter to 1430 - you'll need to follow the instructions on this page and see if that makes a difference.
(The symptoms you describe - being able to tracert to but not view the site - are sometimes indicative of MTU issues.)
Edit:  You could also try a value of 1400 if 1430 makes no difference.  Some routers have an MTU of 1400 set rather than the more normal 1500.  The MTU on the PCs must be the same as or smaller than that on the router.
username842
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎20-10-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Well that was certainly unexpected...setting the MTU to 1430 solved the problem completely!  Smiley
Cheers Paul03 (and thanks to everyone else who threw in an idea).
I don't know why I'm getting away with an MTU of 1500 on the wired connection but need a lower MTU on the wireless but that's a mystery that's not causing me a problem right now so I can look into that at my leisure.
Thanks again.
paulby
Grafter
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Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Wireless not quite right on Vista (wired fine, XP wireless fine)

Glad you got it sorted!!