Metropol

Hidey ho kids,

Am currently trying (and failing) to set up another wireless network. Please help...here are the basics:

My laptop is running Windows XP and has a Belkin 54g PCMCIA card. It works fine and always has done, I've successfully managed to network it with my computer (Windows XP) at home as an ad-hoc network, and also used it at work to join the network.

The problem now is that I'm trying to network it up with a new computer which is running Windows 98 SE. In a word, it doesn't work. I bought a Belkin 54g PCI card (thought best for compatibility purposes) and popped it in. Installation all went, as far as I can tell, as planned. Only thing is that the little Belkin utility doesn't appear in the system tray...but the utility itself does actually work.

I try searching for an available wireless network, but sadly it doesn't find anything. I try to set it up with the basic connection to get it working but it never connected and always reports "No network available" - my laptop therefore does also not pick up the wireless network which should be broadcasting.

It's very annoying, I just wanted to get everything working. I realise that Windows 98 won't be best with dealing with wireless networking stuff, but it's the one variable I cannot change. Please Please Please can some help me before I go out of my mind!!

Any more details needed? Just ask...

Thank you.

it sounds to me very much like the network card is in infrastructure mode rather than peer-to-peer or adhoc. is there a way you can verify this is or isnt the case?

It's not in any mode at the moment...it's just not getting a connection. Basically the laptop card will connect with "itself" and state which mode it's in (ad-hoc), but I don't get that with the PCI card on Windows 98. It just states that there is "No network available."

Despite my many attempts to try and force it to that stage...it won't!

Bit of an update, both the laptop and desktop will see each of the networks enabled (both just called 'belkin') - the laptop connects fine and is connected, but the desktop just won't connect at all.

It's picking up the signal of the laptop's wireless network, but just not fully connecting to it!

Any ideas?

And as if by magic...the shopkeeper appeared.

Or rather the wireless network has appeared.

I decided to uninstall everything on the Windows 98 PC, switch the slot the PCI card was in and then just let it try and do it again. What feels like a hundred slow restarts later (you forget how much less Windows XP demands you to restart after changing a single setting...) It works!!

Even the archaic Internet Connection Sharing is working well, and I'm now sharing an ADSL connection. Hoorah for all!

Don't know what was wrong before, but obviously just "one of those things..."

Oh well, all is well! Just thought I'd let you know so no-one posts a massive essay on trying to fix it.