Windows 7 Wireless Issue

Hmm BCXtreme, do you happen to remember what exactly happened when you tried to connect to WPA networks? I'm currently having issues with my Intel 5100. I don't seem to get a properly assigned IP Address from my router (DHCP) and get stuck in Limited Connectivity. There are so many things to doubt here, and I never thought of blaming encryption.

Thanks

I use WPA2/AES for all of my wireless networks. My Windows 7 computers have no problems connecting. I use Atheros based chipsets, however. The chipsets for the USB device and the Intel wifi cards could be part of the problem.

If possible, use WPA2/AES instead of TKIP.

Even if that does solve the problem, I'm not going to ask cafes or any wifi hotspots to configure their routers to satisfy my needs (or actually Win 7's). This has never been a problem and I don't see why it should be on Windows 7. MS's responsibility is to fix this mess, and soon enough. My whole Win 7 experience was ruined because of poor wireless performance regardless of how well other aspects have functioned.

Kiko said:

Even if that does solve the problem, I'm not going to ask cafes or any wifi hotspots to configure their routers to satisfy my needs (or actually Win 7's). This has never been a problem and I don't see why it should be on Windows 7. MS's responsibility is to fix this mess, and soon enough. My whole Win 7 experience was ruined because of poor wireless performance regardless of how well other aspects have functioned.

That's how I'm starting to feel...I'm on break and I can't help worrying if I've made a huge mistake by upgrading so soon....

When I get back I'm gonna see if the driver I downloaded changed anything. If not I'll try WPA2-personal with aes instead....

Kiko said:

Even if that does solve the problem, I'm not going to ask cafes or any wifi hotspots to configure their routers to satisfy my needs (or actually Win 7's). This has never been a problem and I don't see why it should be on Windows 7. MS's responsibility is to fix this mess, and soon enough. My whole Win 7 experience was ruined because of poor wireless performance regardless of how well other aspects have functioned.

I do not believe this is Microsoft's fault. A hardware manufacturer has to keep pace with new operating systems, and must release drivers that ensure their devices work. Also, the end user must also make sure that drivers are available for their hardware before they upgrade. If there are no drivers available, and the end user chooses to upgrade, then the end user has to live with limited or no use of those devices.

For example, I upgraded to Windows 7 knowing that my Canon MX850 did not have Windows 7 drivers (at the time RTM was released - they had Windows 7 drivers available prior to the official launch). I realized that I would have to find a way to make the printer work, or I would just not have network printing until Canon released drivers. If there were no drivers available for my wifi card, I would not have upgraded - I can't live without wireless on my laptop.

Win 7 drivers were released a few days ago for my wireless card but the problem persists even after I updated my drivers. I still get Limited Connectivity quite often, but only when I shutdown/standby my notebook. Once I have internet access it never drops, but once I get limited connectivity I never get internet access either. Not sure you get what I mean.

YESSS! I FINALLY GOT IT WORKING!

The driver I downloaded from Ralink worked. And it automatically saw that the router was WPA-Personal. Then clicked on connect (trying not to get my hopes up at the same time) and it asked for the same "network security key". I put in the passphrase and this time it connected easily without any trouble!

Thank God that's over! Hopefully I won't suffer like this with my mom's laptop....

And kego I agree with you up till the point about the consumer. Your average consumer doesn't know that much and cannot be expected to have to like any of this.

All they know that MS told them that they could upgrade and that their system could handle it. That's all they care about. And if it doesn't work perfectly right off the bat chances are that they'll be blaming MS. And personally I think MS should carry some of the load of responsiblity.

Which driver did you end up downloading? I'm glad that at least one of the links I provided ended up solving the issue!

And - are you speaking in general terms that Microsoft tells people they can upgrade, or are you referring to the Windows 7 upgrade tool that scans a system?