Wireless on Vista help needed.

[AnyMal]

I just received my first Vista system (Thinkpad) and so far I am really annoyed by it. My biggest gripe at this time is that I am unable to connect to my home wireless network. It's setup for WPA/TKIP authentication and I know that it works since I can connect with my two XP machines just fine.

I added my network profile with all the settings verified but Vista just will not see it. When I try to enter settings again it tells me network already exists. I am sure wireless card works since I can browse networks within range and I was able to connect to my neighbor's open router.

I am really scratching my head here trying to figure this POS Vista crap. Any ideas?

 

[stash]

I added my network profile with all the settings verified but Vista just will not see it

Can you elaborate on what you did here? Normally, you just find your network in the list and click on it to connect. It should prompt you for the key, and that's it. It should auto-configure everything else.

Do you have SSID broadcast disabled on your wireless network? MAC filtering enabled?

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: stash

I added my network profile with all the settings verified but Vista just will not see it

Can you elaborate on what you did here? Normally, you just find your network in the list and click on it to connect. It should prompt you for the key, and that's it. It should auto-configure everything else.

Do you have SSID broadcast disabled on your wireless network? MAC filtering enabled?

SSID broadcast is disabled. I chose "manual" option to connect to wireless since that is what Vista is telling me I need to connect to a hidden network. I entered my SSID and passkey and Vista seems to accept it but nothing happens, network is not showing up in the list of available networks. When I try to enter this information again it tells me this profile already exists. I can see my network and connect on my XP machines without a problem.

 

[AnyMal]

bump

 

[stash]

I chose "manual" option to connect to wireless since that is what Vista is telling me I need to connect to a hidden network.

You shouldn't need to do this IIRC. Vista detects non-broadcasting SSIDs by default. They show up in the connect to a network dialog as "Unnamed network". You click on it, type in the SSID and key and that's it.

Personally, I would just turn SSID broadcast back on and get on with life. It's worthless as a security feature (SSIDs are intended to be public information, so technically networks with broadcast disabled are out of spec). I wouldn't even consider it part of a layered defense.