Member Avatar for lilbennett

I'm using a router and the other computers connect successfully to the router. I have one Dell that detects the network, but will not connect. I am unable to ping the router, and unable to get any message when I ipconfig other than "Media Disconnected." Any help is greatly appreciated!

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A focused troubleshooting checklist that builds on , and without repeating what they already suggested. The behavior you described — briefly getting an address and then reverting to “Media disconnected” — usually means the wireless interface is flapping (being disabled, failing to associate, or being managed by a conflicting utility). These checks isolate hardware, driver, and configuration causes.

First, rule out the radio and OS-level disable: confirm the Dell’s physical wireless switch or Fn key is ON; open Control Panel -> Network Connections and make sure the Wireless Network Connection is Enabled; in Device Manager verify the adapter shows as working (no yellow bang). If a vendor wireless utility (D-Link) is installed, try disabling it and use Windows’ Wireless Zero Configuration service instead (Start -> Run -> services.msc -> find Wireless Zero Configuration -> set to Automatic and Start). If the adapter still misbehaves, uninstall the adapter in Device Manager and reinstall the latest driver from D-Link.

If DHCP might be involved, do a controlled static-IP test on the same subnet as the working PCs (pick an address outside the router’s DHCP pool). Example values to test (adjust to match the other PCs): IP 192.168.1.50, Mask 255.255.255.0, Gateway 192.168.1.1, DNS 8.8.8.8. If you can ping the gateway with a static IP, association/authentication is working and DHCP was the problem; if you cannot, the adapter/radio or router filtering (MAC filter, encryption mismatch) is blocking access — temporarily disable MAC filtering and confirm the router’s wireless security mode matches what the adapter supports (older adapters sometimes lack WPA2 support).

Run these commands from an elevated command prompt, then reboot:

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh winsock reset

If a wired connection works (as suggested) the problem is wireless-specific. If it fails, check the router’s DHCP and logs. If problems persist, test with a different USB Wi‑Fi adapter or a Linux live USB to verify whether the Dell’s wireless hardware is faulty.

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Member Avatar for cgeier

How is your computer connected? Wireless or wired? What brand router are you using (and what version)? Have you tried reseting your router? Not unplugging and plugging it back in, but following the manufacture's instructions for reseting the router (probably pressing and holding the reset button, unplugging the power and then plugging it back in, and then releasing the reset button). What operating system are you using? Have you restarted your computer?

Member Avatar for lilbennett

How is your computer connected? Wireless or wired? What brand router are you using (and what version)? Have you tried reseting your router? Not unplugging and plugging it back in, but following the manufacture's instructions for reseting the router (probably pressing and holding the reset button, unplugging the power and then plugging it back in, and then releasing the reset button). What operating system are you using? Have you restarted your computer?

The computer is connected wirelessly with a DLink driver to a Linksys Wireless-G 2.4 router. We tried resetting the router. I just assigned a Mac address to the computer and it now will return a 169 IP address and 255.255 subnet. It was stuck on Finding the Network address, and then timed out and is back to having Media Disabled. I'm using Windows XP on a Dell desktop. I just restarted the computer.

Member Avatar for cgeier

Has this computer ever been connected to the router with the current configuration? Or did you just install a (new) wireless adapter for it? Do you have the latest driver for the D-link wireless adapter? Do you have the latest firmware installed on your router?

http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support#

Here are the router reset instructions:

"169......" is the default address that is assigned if the computer can't connect to a DHCP server (ie: your router in this case)

Member Avatar for xav.vijay

OK...U have Windows XP.

More than one computers are connected in ur network.

Other computers connect, but this one does not. Which means, u do not have any problems in the router.

Your computer is getting 169.x.x.x series of IP address, which could probably mean that, the router is not giving out DHCP address or ur computer is not accepting for some reason.

Find the IP address in the other computers. Check whether they are static or Dynamic. See what range they are in. for ex, if they are in 192.168.1.x something, assign an IP as static for ur machine.

then ping the router's gateway IP.... u should probably be able to connect.

Member Avatar for khess

Try connecting it via a wire to troubleshoot any other issues. If it connects fine with a regular network cable then you'll know it's the wireless card or its settings.

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