Member Avatar for procadman

I have tried (2) dell m90 and (1) dell m6300 laptops at home.

As soon as I ask the laptop to connect it shuts down my wireless network; It shows the network is available - I ask it to connect - it then shows the wireless network as running but unavailable. In addition any other pcs running off the wireless connection will fail.

I have 2 wired pcs and one wireless running from the single router. All work fine until I attempt to use the laptop.

I'm running a linksys G wireless network without firewalls or secure log-ins. (There isn't anyone close enough to piggyback onto my signal.) I am using it strictly for internet access. Hard drives are not visible through this connection..

This router is connected to a Cisco modem.

All 3 laptops will connect to other wireless nets. All have factory installed wireless cards/chips.

Calls to my internet provider have been fruitless.

(Until I solve this issue I am forced to commute 3 hours a day.)

Any ideas?

(So far no one has even heard of this phenomenon.)

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Dani AI

Generated

This problem most often comes down to two things: an OEM wireless utility or driver fighting Windows (or the AP), or the laptop briefly acting as a network service (DHCP/ICS/bridge) that conflicts with the router and takes other clients offline. ’s report that removing the Dell wireless software fixed his unit matches known Dell/vendor-utility vs Windows Wireless Zero Configuration conflicts. (learn.microsoft.com)

Triage checklist (fast isolation, in order):

  1. Isolate the laptop: connect it wired to the router/switch and enable the wireless radio. If the other wireless/WAN clients still drop, the laptop is likely offering or interfering with DHCP/route services (ICS/bridge). Check the adapter details with ipconfig /all (DHCP Server, IP, Gateway). (learn.microsoft.com)
  2. Check for ICS or connection sharing on the laptop (SharedAccess/Internet Connection Sharing). If ICS is enabled it will present itself as a DHCP/NAT gateway and disrupt a router-managed LAN. Microsoft documents ICS behavior and impact. (learn.microsoft.com)
  3. Disable/uninstall the Dell wireless utility and let Windows manage Wi‑Fi (or vice versa), reboot, then retest — many Dell systems have a “Let this tool manage your wireless networks” toggle and uninstalling the OEM utility often resolves router/scan/association conflicts. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick commands to capture state (run on the laptop):

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
arp -a

If the laptop still “kills” the network:

  • Factory-reset the router and update its firmware (backup config first), then test again — router firmware bugs or misconfigurations can magnify a single misbehaving client. Linksys provides reset and firmware procedures. (support.linksys.com)
  • If a rogue DHCP/ARP source is suspected, capture DHCP traffic (bootp filter) with Wireshark to find which device is sending DHCPOFFERs; that identifies the offending MAC/IP. (wiki.wireshark.org)

Notes and cautions: back up router settings before firmware/ factory resets; avoid running two wireless managers at once; test with a static IP (outside the router DHCP pool) to see if the router remains stable — that narrows the cause quickly. The combination of the above tests will usually isolate whether the fix is driver/utility on the Dell laptop, Windows ICS, or a router-side issue.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Sounds like a virus or spyware on the laptop. Have you checked for both recently ?

Also have you tried connecting laptop to router with a cable ? Do you get same results ?

If laptop is a company laptop has it been set up in some special way by your IT department ?

Denis

Member Avatar for hughv

Logic suggests that this is a problem with the network, not the three different laptops that work fine on other networks.
Run your router setup again from scratch, including the wireless setup.
I understand what you're saying about security, but it's quite risky to run without firewall or wireless security, especially when it's so easy to configure. It's not inconceivable that this may have caused your problem.

Member Avatar for joshleq

I had a similar problem. I have one new Dell laptop that our family got for christmas that would kill the wireless network as soon as you turned on its wireless.

I found that uninstalling the dell wireless card software and just using the normal xp connection manager seemed to fix the problem.

Hopefully this helps.


Josh

Member Avatar for procadman

Thanks for the input.

The current laptop will connect to the internet if it's directly connected to the hub and I disable connection proxys.

The laptop is brand new and has no viruses, yet.

I have reconfigured the hub to no avail.

I will try Josh's suggestion and uninstall the dell wireless card.

I have found other people with this similar problem since posting this here. All of their solutions have either not been applicable or have not made a difference.

Again, thanks for the help.

Steve

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