Member Avatar for Denthris

Dell Inspirion 6000 Laptop - Windows XP.

The Laptop has had a working wireless with the same router, with the same WEP key, for a good long time without any changes. At some unknown date it stop working. It connects the the router, gets an IP address from the Router. But after that there is no more communication between the laptop and the router over the wireless connection.

I cannot ping the router from the wireless card. Yet I've gotten an IP address from it. Yet if I release the IP address, and then try to renew it, I do not get an IP address.

I have confirmed that the WEP key has not changed, and I have even gone so far as totally removing encryption all together. And yet to no help.

I have tried numerous possible solutions, on the internet, looking for possible bad windows updates, resesting winsock, even doing an entire reinstall on the computer, yet the Wireless internet is not working.

The Laptop when wired works fine, their is also two other laptops, another Windows XP and a Unbuntu Laptop that connect and function properly on the wireless network without fault.

I've entirely run out of ideas, other than suspecting it could be a hardware problem. The Router itself, while showing no real faults is an old Dlink DI-524 and it has the latest firmware for it I can find V 1.23

If anyone has any information or things I may have missed in checking, please ask.

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Good follow-ups from (hardware/Device Manager) and (driver updates). Below is a compact, practical checklist that digs deeper into OS/service/layer‑2 problems so the thread can isolate adapter hardware from software/configuration causes.

Run these commands and capture their output for analysis:

ipconfig /all
arp -a
route print
getmac /v

If the gateway MAC does not appear in the arp -a output then frames are not reaching the AP at layer‑2 (driver/hardware/firmware issue). If the gateway MAC is present but routes look wrong, check the interface metric and the default gateway shown by route print.

Practical steps to try next (safe, incremental):

  • In Device Manager enable "View -> Show hidden devices" and remove any ghost/duplicate wireless adapters. In the adapter Power Management tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."
  • Check Services (services.msc) and confirm the Wireless Zero Configuration service is running and set to Automatic; if a vendor utility is installed, try switching between the vendor utility and Windows WZC.
  • Do a clean driver uninstall: uninstall the adapter and choose to remove the driver package, reboot, then install the vendor/Intel driver fresh. If vendor software bundles a WiFi utility, try the opposite (use Windows instead of vendor or vice versa).
  • Perform a clean boot (msconfig -> hide Microsoft services -> disable the rest) to rule out third‑party security or network filter drivers.
  • If available, sniff traffic with Wireshark while attempting to reach the gateway: absence of any 802.11/ARP traffic from the adapter points at hardware/firmware problems.

If all of the above still shows no layer‑2 traffic, the adapter is likely failing; testing with a different USB/WLAN adapter is the quickest final confirmation.

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Member Avatar for cguan_77

u tried checking your device manager if your wireless device is working properly? i supposed you're using the on-chip device which comes with the laptop..but try to use a usb wi-fi whether you can connect or not..in this way you can check whethere it's your hardware or other problem..

Member Avatar for Kraai

You may also want to update your wireless drivers to the latest versions as per the dell website.

Member Avatar for Denthris

Dell for that Laptop did not have any drivers, it being an intell device, I search and found drivers for it, it says it updated but their was no change in my abilty to connect. If I can get my hands on a usb device, I can try that, but right now I do not own one.

Member Avatar for Kraai

Dell have many drivers for the inspiration 6000. Go over tho this webpage of dell, http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?~ck=ln&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen

there you select your type (laptop) then the name (inspiration) then the model number (6000)

this wil take you to the next page where you select your OS (XP)

then the driver page will open, listing all the drivers for your pc. Scroll down to the Network heading, there should be 10 drivers you can download and install, some of them is definitly for your WLAN connection.

Let us know how you are doing.

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