Going WiFi... Why can't my two Belkin 802.11b Wireless Nework adapters see eachother ADHOC?

[CZroe]

OK, I've installed one in my laptop and the other in one of my PCs using the free PCI adapter deal that OfficeMax has this week ($80 after rebate for two PCMCIA cards & two PCI adapters).

They both installed OK, and I set them both to the same channel (11), SSID (ANY), and ADHOC mode but the configuration utility just says "Scanning" forever.

I'm running XP Pro, and its built-in Wireless support in the device properties seems to be customized by the same utility, so I shouldn't have to change anything there (I DID try :roll.

What's next? I'm a total newb, but it seems like one of them may be damaged or something...

 

[CZroe]

OK, for SOME reason you can't run ADHOC without an SSID and they didn't feel the need to tell you that in the manual

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Strange that they didn't put that in the manual, anyone who's ever worked with wireless soon finds out you can't do anything without an ssid and a matching frequency spectrum. 1 is data transfer(handshake) logic the other is physics. Then again I don't use Belkin products, with the exception of printer and usb cables, they tend to have inferior products than other, usually cheaper brands. But at least it sounds like you got a good deal with that rebate, so don't take this as a slam on you, no offense intended.

 

[CZroe]

you can't do anything without an ssid...

You CAN set it to SSID "ANY" with an access point right? Isn't that how open-access public access points do it?

you can't do anything without ... a matching frequency spectrum.

Do you mean channel? I thought ALL 802.11b cards were on the 2.4GHz frequency with 11 different "channels" within.

Then again I don't use Belkin products, with the exception of printer and usb cables, they tend to have inferior products than other, usually cheaper brands. But at least it sounds like you got a good deal with that rebate, so don't take this as a slam on you, no offense intended.

Yeah, I usually avoid Belkin like the plague but I wouldn't be on the Internet wirelessly right now if I couldn't get the two PCMCIA cards and PCI adapters for less than $80 I can't even stand Linksys while most people think that they're OK for value networking hardware (Their "PGL Certified" network card showed me how inferior their products really were.). I guess I'll just take what I can get

Now to find out why the connection keeps crapping out on me...