Broadband Tech > Wireless Networking > Wireless Zero Configuration Problems

Wireless Zero Configuration Problems

Does this only happen with WZC or does it happen with the Linksys utilities as well? Also did this occure before the Wireless Rollup was installed? I would try to uninstall the Wireless Rollup hotfix see what happens... I think this is the hotfix. (SP2)Q815485

I have another problem right now that prevents me from installing the linksys utility. Every time I try to run the setup, it flashes and then disappears. After that, the utility is on the start menu, but if I try to launch it, it says something along the lines of "wlan.ini" missing.

I installed all the updates immediately after installing the OS, so I do not know if it was happening before.

I do have the same updates on several other computers, so I don't think there is an issue there, unless it is some sort of specific conflict with my adapter.

I am going to try a DLink USB adapter tonight and see if I have the same problem. My gut feeling though is that it is independent of the adapter.

reply to Malvagia
I uninstalled all of the windows hotfixes one at a time last night, with no change to the problem.

I didn't get a chance to try it with a different adapter.

Later today I will try that. If it doesn't work, I will reinstall the OS and then reinstall the hotfixes one at a time, testing to see if the problem occurs after each install.

From what I read on other forums and in the microsoft kbase, the only known issue that sounds similar is caused by installing the hotfix to add WPA support, and then not using any encryption on the network. I am still a little skeptical about this though, because I do have that hotfix installed on other computers that are also not running any encryption.

If anyone has any other suggestions before I nuke the OS, please let me know.

I had a similar issue with one of my WUSB11s. I bought two at the same time & place. I installed the one with out any issues. The 2nd one acted as you are describing. I pulled my hair out trying everything to get it to work. I was ready to take it back when I decided to uninstall it and use the Cd from the other WUSB11. It worked. Who would have known. I don't know whether this will help you, but good luck! Also, eliminate the router firmware issue by flashing back to 1.45.7
--
Never wrestle a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

reply to Malvagia
I tried the D-Link USB adapter last night and had the same problem, so I have now pretty much eliminated the adapter as the cause of the problem.

I reformatted and reinstalled XP Pro and then immediately installed the adapter. Everything was working fine. I then installed SP1, the critical updates, and the wireless rollup package. I installed them all one at a time, rebooting after each install. No problems. I disabled raw sockets, messenger service, UPnP service, and DCOM. I rebooted again and then it failed to connect.

I re-enabled the four services, and rebooted again, no problems. So, I figured I had narrowed it down to a problem with disabling one of those services, perhaps when done in conjunction with one of the updates I had installed. However, after disabling each service again, this time one at a time, I was able to reboot each time with no problems.

Then I tried shutting down the computer completely, and rebooting. Wireless failed to connect. Restarted and it worked.

After several iterations of this, I have determined that the nature of the problem seems to have changed from earlier. Now the problem only occurs if I completely shut down the computer. If I simply restart, it works fine, but if I shut down then the wireless connection fails to connect on startup. I have to manually restart the WZC service to get it going.

This is starting to get very maddening. I will experiment further tonight.

reply to Malvagia
According to the WindowsXP setup guide »ftp://ftp.linksys.com/qinstalls/wusb11···i_xp.pdf you're supposed to use the Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration Utility - not the Linksys one.

Some ideas in this post might help »Temporary Signal Loss w/ Linksys WUSB11 and XP

Actually, I am using the XP Wireless Utility. I have not been able to get the Linksys Utility to work on XP.

I got it to work once by manually copying over the wlan.ini file. However, after rebooting, it will only try to connect to an ad-hoc network.

This is really a whole other issue, that I am not worrying about too much for now.

I have read the post you referred to already. I do not seem to be experiencing any intermittent signal loss. My connection either works on bootup, or it doesn't. Once I manually restart the WZC service, the wireless connection works great, until I shut down again.

Also, in reply to the post from Johkal, I did try another Linksys CD, and I also tried downloading the utility and drivers from the website. Neither of these things made a difference. I will consider downgrading the firmware of the router, but I am holding off for now because none of my other computers have any problems with it, wired or wireless.

reply to Malvagia
This is probably a silly thought, but one of the key differences between a power-up boot and a software reboot is that all devices get a hardware reset signal for power-up. In my configuration at home it is essential that my cable box start first and settle down, then my Linksys BEFW11S4 wireless router needs to start and settle down, and THEN I can start the computer. Is it possible that your USB wireless adapter needs more time to powerup before the operating system tries to connect? Maybe you could slow down the boot process a bit by increasing the timeouts at the start? Just a thought...

Funny that you posted this tonight. I had not had any time to work on this problem until this evening.

It had been so long since I last looked at it, that I forgot where I was in the troubleshooting, so I nuked the box again and reinstalled everything.

It is working fine so far. I have installed XP and all of the Critical Updates. I have not yet installed the Wireless Rollup or any of the Recommended Updates.

I'm not sure if I'll get to those tonight, but I'll post back with my results as soon as I get a chance.

You make an interesting point. I had never though of anything like that. If the problem reoccurs, I will look into that.

Well, I finally narrowed the problem down.

I installed the XP Wireless Rollup Package, and then the problem started occuring. I Uninstalled it, and the problem went away. Reinstalled it; problem came back. Uninstalled it again; problem went away.

I have the Wireless Rollup installed on several other computers with no issues. I am not sure why it is causing a problem on this one.

reply to Malvagia
I also have the same problem that you describe. The connection seem to get loss every other time after booting up. I think the router is the problem here. I have the same router as you and recently flashed the firmware.
The problem still persist and the only way to get the connection back without turning off the computers (I've 4 computers connected to this router) is to power off router. This is extremely annoying and I hope LinkSys address this problem soon!

My problem is actually not with the router.

I have eliminated the problem by uninstalling the XP Wireless Rollup Package.

I have not yet had time to figure out exactly what within the package is causing the problem.

I am curious to try it with a PCI card instead of a USB adapter. I have access to a couple different brands of PCI cards at work, and will test this out as soon as I have some spare time.

Your issue might be a little different than mine, if it is related to the router. I have yet to have any problems with the BEFW11S4 v4.

reply to Malvagia
I've found installing the driver for the Linksys Wireless-B USB Network Adapter v2.8. (which works for the wusb 2.6) and stopping the wireless config service and configuring my wireless connection through the driver cleared up a lot of problems. Especially with wireless gaming. Seems that the zero config service caused connection interrupts every 60 seconds. Now I rarely have problems now with online gaming.

I am having the same lose of connection problems. Having emailed Linksys UK support 5 days ago, I am still awaiting a reply.

lost wireless connection: check card power setting

Doh!! Lost the bloody connection again

reply to Malvagia

Re: Wireless Zero Configuration Problems

reply to Malvagia
same problem here.
to resolve this problem temporarily, i have set the zero-config to MANUAL since this is obviously a flaw within microsoft itself (the OS).
in order to make this work correctly without having to turn off zero-config, i must remove the card and re-insert it.

I agree with disabling WZC. My Belkin 54G card even came with a utility to turn the service off. I no disconnect issues now.