wireless conection problem

[niik]

hello. thanx for reading. im new at this....ok. i turn my laptop on to search for available wireless networks. one is found to be unsecure and can connect to network.connects. i lauch a browser (explorer and firefox) reads: the page cannot be displayed.....any ideas? ive gotten on the internet in a different location using the same method but cant get it here...im confused because the status shows that i have a connection...is it my browser settings...iv read somewhere about ip address' begining w/ 192.168.25 (which is the address i get) arent real or something for protection...any ideas! thanx a bunch! niik

[DMR]

Hi niik, welcome to DaniWeb :)

I can think of at least a couple of reasons that you can't reach Internet sites through that connection:

1. The network is not secured with encryption or a password, but Internet access is controlled by a proxy server on the network... good luck hacking past that.

2. The DHCP server on the network is assigning your computer a valid IP, but isn't passing you DNS server IPs. You can verify this by doing these steps while connected to the network in question:

* Try reaching a site by its actual IP address instead of its URL. For example, open a browser and enter the following in the address/location bar:
http://66.102.7.99
If that takes you to Google, chances are pretty good that you've got a DNS problem.

* Click on the "Run..." option in your Start menu. In the "Open:" box of the resulting window, type "cmd" (omit the quotes) and hit Enter. This will bring up a DOS window.
At the DOS prompt, type the following commands, hit Enter after each, and tell us the results for each command (if DNS is working properly, you should receive 4 positive responses from Google, followed by some summary info):

ping 66.102.7.99
ping www.google.com

* Again at the DOS prompt, type the following command and hit Enter. You won't see any result from the command, but when it completes, a second prompt with a flashing cursor will be displayed; close the DOS box once that happens:

ipconfig /all >ipconfig.txt

The above command will have created a text file on you desktop named ipconfig.txt; double-click on the file to open it in Notepad, and then cut-n-paste the file's contents in your next post here. The contents of the file will give us some important details of your IP configuration.

iv read somewhere about ip address' begining w/ 192.168.25 (which is the address i get) arent real or something for protection

There are 3 IP address ranges which have been reserved for use on private networks only, and the range of 192.168.0.x through 192.168.255.x is one of those. "Reserved" or "private" IPs are definitely valid, but they can only be used on LANs like a corporate network or your home network; they cannot be directly routed to/from the "outside world" of the Internet. This isn't done primarilly for security reasons, but more as a way to keep from depleting the entire pool of available IP addresses. If every single network-capable electronic device on the planet had to have its own unique IP address, under the traditional Internet addressing scheme (IP v.4) we would have run out of unique IPs already. The idea of having non-unique "private" addresses which could be used on any number of separate networks at the time was developed as a way to hold off that inevitable event. IP v6 (when it comes into widespread use) will alleviate the problem for some time by greatly expanding the total number of available IP addresses.

(Networking Fun-Fact # 1024:
Occasionally, network packets which carry reserved IPs as their supposed source IP address do manage to appear out on to the Internet. Internet routing devices know that such packets are invalid/erroneous/bogus for Internet transmission, and the term they use for them is "Martians". It's kind of amusing to look through router activity logs and see entries referring to things like "Martian transmissions" or "Warning- Martian source detected!".)

[niik]

wow.ok.i just got the chance to look at your ideas.great. thanks for responding. ill take a look at it tomorrow if i get the chance and let you know what comes of it. niik.

[DMR]

OK- post when you can; we'll be here.

[niik]

tried ip address in address bar. nothin'..k....heres ipconfig txt.

Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . :toshiba-user
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-CE-BA-7D-24
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.25.143
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.25.115
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, July 14, 2003 1:03:14 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, July 24, 2003 1:03:14

AMEthernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8036 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-A0-D1-2A-4B-01

what do ya think?

i have one other network available here but the signals not as good as the above... niik.

[DMR]

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

The IP address of the Internet gateway device is not being passed to you for some reason, so your computer doesn't know where to send Internet-bound traffic.
Ask whoever administers the network if there are any specific settings you need to configure on your end.

[niik]

yeah...i dont know the administrator...this is just a local signal im picking up in range...so i guess the problem is a confict in my operating system settings, a firewall or my internet browser settings? hmm..

[DMR]

this is just a local signal im picking up in range...

Yeah, I thought that was the case.
I know that jumping on to some random unsecured WiFi network to get Net access is pretty common and pretty benign, but technically you are trying to gain anouthorized access to a private network. I hope you can understand that because you don't have permission to access this network, we can't help you do so. Offering assistance for that kind of thing runs contrary to our forum rules regarding topics of possibly illegal activities.

[niik]

yeah i hear ya..(thinkin about it now...) it seems using radio frequencies (that is what is used right?) in range with basic 'consumer' devices.. knowingly set up 'unsecure' at that...would be a public utility like citizen band..or at least one should be set up for such a use...well, thanks for your time tho!!

[DMR]

...a public utility like citizen band..or at least one should be set up for such a use...

You're right, and open, public-access WiFi networks do exist in many areas.
Unfortunately, most consumer-grade wireless networking devices are also "open" by default; they rarely have any security applied at all in their "out-of-the-box" configuration. If you detect a network whose network name (SSID) is something "Linksys", "Netgear", "Default", "Wireless", or "WLAN", you're almost certainly dealing with one of these kinds of devices.