Yet another "unidentified network" problem

I finally "upgraded" from win XP to Win 7 Home Premium. It is prettier, but far more trouble than I ever expected.

I have an on board Access Point (Realtek rtl8187), that set up easily and worked flawlessly for the past couple years on XP.

I cannot get it to work in Win 7.

My internet connection is through a USB Pantech UM175 "Air Card". I connect to the internet just fine with it, but cannot get my wireless to work so that I can use my laptop or netbook.

My AP shows public, unidentified network.

All latest available drivers installed: Yes

I removed and re-installed both my Pantech and Realtek drivers.

Researched possible fixes, Yes, for days now, so sick of reading and trying all the "fixes" on several forums that I am wishing I had listened to friends and went to MACs! This after defending Windows for years.

I am reasonably comfortable with PC's, having built, upgraded, and rebuilt several over the years starting with DOS in the early '80's. There have been headaches surely over the decades, but this is the absolute WORST experience ever!

Looks like there is a big networking bug in Win 7, and seemingly Microsoft cares little to none. Why is something that was reasonably straight forward in XP seemingly almost impossible to fix in Win 7? In Home Premium, one would think that setting up a dirt simple home wireless network should be just about automatic. I am positively amazed that there seem to be so many ways to "break" networking in Win 7, and so many (complicated) ways to fix it.

Here is my ipconfig /all:


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : xxxxxxx-HomePC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

PPP adapter Broadband:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadband
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 75.216.123.199(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 66.174.71.33
69.78.96.14
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : PANTECH UM175 WWAN Driver
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 7A-80-20-00-02-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-AF-03-65-5E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:4bc8:a1e5:e:ad15:7120:2d61:2c75(Preferred)
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:4bd8:7bc7:e:ad15:7120:2d61:2c75(Preferred)
Site-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fec0::e:ad15:7120:2d61:2c75%2(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2002:4bc8:a1e5:e:79e7:7883:9614:d951(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2002:4bd8:7bc7:e:ad28:d9dd:eac4:4767(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::ad15:7120:2d61:2c75%14(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.2
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234886575
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-16-6B-2D-B4-00-18-F3-2E-41-5D
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%2
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%2
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%2
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{9295DD1C-8EDA-46EA-A7E3-99B2A7017F88}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{45DF3AD5-35F5-47A5-A047-AC1A3186669F}:

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 6TO4 Adapter:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:4bd8:7bc7::4bd8:7bc7(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 2002:c058:6301::c058:6301
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 66.174.71.33
69.78.96.14
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{5F4702D2-BAF0-451D-AD10-927C6B97C83C}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:43:1412:b427:8438(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::43:1412:b427:8438%13(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled


I will be greatly appreciative if anyone can help me here. I did set a default gateway on the AP, but do not know what to do on my internet connection.

Yes, I did set the AP to static as part of the many things I have tried, to no avail. I set everything back to "optain automatically", no joy.

I have never done anything to the TCP/IP settings, just ran "netsh interface tcp show global"and it shows tuning as "normal".

Here is the top part of ipconfig.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Shealey-HomePC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : PANTECH UM175 WWAN Driver
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 7A-80-20-00-02-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:this is my wireless AP

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8187 Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-AF-03-65-5E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.100.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

PPP adapter Verizon Wireless - VZAccess: This is my internet connection.
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Verizon Wireless - VZAccess
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 75.246.104.183(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 66.174.71.33
69.78.96.14
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

I dont think there is NO ONE on here to really help. Have been trying for weeks. I have the same problem with identifying. NO STOP. UHHHHH. This pc is about to find a home in the wall or the wall will find a nice spot for it. LOL

bizzeb said:

I dont think there is NO ONE on here to really help. Have been trying for weeks. I have the same problem with identifying. NO STOP. UHHHHH. This pc is about to find a home in the wall or the wall will find a nice spot for it. LOL

Microsoft really screwed up networking with Win 7, and they do not care. Look up "unidentified network" on any windows forum, and you see hundreds of people problems. Look it up on the Windows support page, and there is NOTHING!

Something that was simple and worked well on XP is a disaster on Win 7, and seemingly no one can fix some of the issues. There are MANY ways to break networking in Win 7, not all have been fixable. Mine seems to be one of the ways that cannot be helped. I have been reading forums for days, got a severe neckache now.

I think the only way to fix my issue is to abandon my on board Access Point and spend money on a 3G/4G Wireless N router, and just hook all my stuff up through that. Sure hate to spend more money on this, since I have high hope that I will have a better internet source in the next few months than my lone 3G solution now. I do not even have DSL here. (Eastern TN, where if it can't be delivered by mule, we don't need it!)

Worth a mention, but not all router and wifi equipment is suitable for Windows Seven.

Time and again there are threads asking for solutions where the hardware simply isn't supported.

Then again there are plenty of networking threads, with solutions.

Qdos said:

Worth a mention, but not all router and wifi equipment is suitable for Windows Seven.

Time and again there are threads asking for solutions where the hardware simply isn't supported.

Then again there are plenty of networking threads, with solutions.

True, but the drivers I downloaded stated they were for Win 7, and when clicking on "update drivers" in Device Manager, get "best available" answers. Vendors state that all my devices are Windows 7 compatible. I checked all that before upgrading from XP to be sure I was ready.

Right now I regret the "downgrade". I only did it because support for XP is slowly going away. At least XP WORKED!

Now ordering a 3G/4G Wireless N router to try and get this sorted out.

Actually, I kinda like Win 7 for the most part, but this fiasco has made my holiday period very frustrating, to the point of wanting to kick someone at Microsoft, hard.

2xg said:

I guess you're good for now?

Right now I regret the "downgrade". I only did it because support for XP is slowly going away. At least XP WORKED!

It is strange that I personally never encountered this issue that others are experiencing. We have about 5 computers at home all with Windows 7. I guess our Linksys G Router is great and not giving us troubles 'yet'.

In some occasions changing DHCP to Static would work though. Your first ipconfig /all doesn't have any Fixed IP assigned on DNS Servers. Too late now....

My issue is that it was so easy to do in XP, without delving into ANY TCP/IP configurations. These are exceedingly confusing for someone like me, who is very comfortable with building and upgrading the hardware over the years, but never had need to become an "expert" with the deep dark innards of networking, which seems to be necessary to accomplish what should have been almost automatic in Windows 7 HOME premium. It is supposed to be a home system for the masses, NOT a complicated business system needing an MCSE IT person to set it up and keep it running. It is very evident from days of reading on several forums that Microsoft has dropped the ball somewhere in the creation of the networking system for Win 7. There are so many posts on forums with different approaches to networking problems in Win 7 to show There is a big bug in it that they are exdeedomgly reluctant to acknowledge. I did read one probable fix for my situation, but it required Win 7 Professional at minimum to accomplish. I have spent days researching, and at least a dozen tries at different fixes, some seeming totally at odds with others, but NONE worked.

I did read several posts on various forums regarding setting static IP addresses, but none stated what the hell to do with the DNS boxes. I don't know, and should not have to. If it was not so expensive to do, I would be at a frustration level to abandon Microsoft after over 3 decades of use and finally switch over to MACs. That just cannot happen, so I will keep pounding on this problem. Sure hope the 4G N router I just ordered fixes it for me. I just set up my daughters home network, and connecting three computers to a router was no problem. My problem is getting the two devices in my desktop to work together. I have now given up on that.

I purchased a Cradlepoint MBR95 3G/4G Wireless N router, install and setting up all computers took MINUTES!

Hated giving up my on motherboard Access Point, but all is well now, except my wallet is $100 thinner.

Best of all, I had to run no software for the Pantech UM175 USB modem, and no longer have to "dial" it to get online. The Cradlepoint unit does it automatically.