Odd Wireless Problem

[Wildman]

I have an Acer Aspire One Netbook with 7 Starter.
It has a Broadcom wireless adapter. Earlier today
I turned it on and it would not connect to my
wireless router. It said that the connection
security settings did not match the router. I
checked the security setting on the router and
the netbook and they matched. They were set
the same way they have always been set. Next
I checked my wife's netbook, also an Acer, and
the settings there were the same and that
netbook did connect.

To fix the problem I had to delete the wireless
adapter (without deleting the drivers) using
device manager and reboot. After the adapter
was reinstalled, a box came up asking for the
password and then it connected. Security
settings were still the same.

I've had the netbook for a little over a year
and this is the first time this has happened.
No changes in hardware or software other then
the normal windows updates. No driver updates.
Anybody have any idea what might have caused this?

 

[Ken1943]

I have an Acer Aspire One Netbook with 7 Starter.
It has a Broadcom wireless adapter. Earlier today
I turned it on and it would not connect to my
wireless router. It said that the connection
security settings did not match the router. I
checked the security setting on the router and
the netbook and they matched. They were set
the same way they have always been set. Next
I checked my wife's netbook, also an Acer, and
the settings there were the same and that
netbook did connect.

To fix the problem I had to delete the wireless
adapter (without deleting the drivers) using
device manager and reboot. After the adapter
was reinstalled, a box came up asking for the
password and then it connected. Security
settings were still the same.

I've had the netbook for a little over a year
and this is the first time this has happened.
No changes in hardware or software other then
the normal windows updates. No driver updates.
Anybody have any idea what might have caused this?

Windows BURP !!!!


KenW

 

[Wildman]

Windows BURP !!!!


KenW

Oh I see. It's the digital version of a
brain fart.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Oh I see. It's the digital version of a
brain fart.

My thought before reading Ken1943's answer was that your password had
gotten corrupted.

Ken said it much more concisely

 

[DanS]

I have an Acer Aspire One Netbook with 7 Starter. It has a Broadcom
wireless adapter. Earlier today I turned it on and it would not connect
to my wireless router. It said that the connection security settings
did not match the router. I checked the security setting on the router
and the netbook and they matched. They were set the same way they have
always been set. Next I checked my wife's netbook, also an Acer, and
the settings there were the same and that netbook did connect.

To fix the problem I had to delete the wireless adapter (without
deleting the drivers) using device manager and reboot. After the
adapter was reinstalled, a box came up asking for the password and then
it connected. Security settings were still the same.

I've had the netbook for a little over a year and this is the first time
this has happened.
No changes in hardware or software other then the normal windows
updates. No driver updates. Anybody have any idea what might have
caused this?

Did you try to delete the connection with the AP to re-enter the password/
phrase before deleting the device in device mangler?

 

[Ken1943]

I have an Acer Aspire One Netbook with 7 Starter.
It has a Broadcom wireless adapter. Earlier today
I turned it on and it would not connect to my
wireless router. It said that the connection
security settings did not match the router. I
checked the security setting on the router and
the netbook and they matched. They were set
the same way they have always been set. Next
I checked my wife's netbook, also an Acer, and
the settings there were the same and that
netbook did connect.

To fix the problem I had to delete the wireless
adapter (without deleting the drivers) using
device manager and reboot. After the adapter
was reinstalled, a box came up asking for the
password and then it connected. Security
settings were still the same.

I've had the netbook for a little over a year
and this is the first time this has happened.
No changes in hardware or software other then
the normal windows updates. No driver updates.
Anybody have any idea what might have caused this?

I would have gone to Control Panel > Network & Sharing > upper left is
Manage Wireless Networks and deleted there first. After a long trip,
there is an entry for every motel network I used.


KenW

 

[Wildman]

Did you try to delete the connection with the AP to re-enter the password/
phrase before deleting the device in device mangler?

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to do that. I did
look around for a way to delete the connection but
I didn't have any luck. So I did what I thought
might work. Luckily it did. I am fairly new 7 in
regard to "getting under the hood". Up until now
I haven't had a need to. I think I'm going to miss
XP. :-(

BTW I know how to delete a connection now and it's
so simple that it makes me feel like a dumbass.
Well I do like think that I live and learn, not
just live.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Wildman]

I would have gone to Control Panel > Network & Sharing > upper left is
Manage Wireless Networks and deleted there first. After a long trip,
there is an entry for every motel network I used.


KenW

See my followup to DanS. It applies here.
Thanks.

 

[Ken1943]

Win 7 is more stable than XP and doesn't crash as much, very rarely on 4
machines. I doesn't take very long to learn. If this old fart can learn
it, anyone can.
To bad Win 8 didn't build on Win 7 interface wise. When Win 7 support
ends in 2020, if I am still alive, I probably won't care.


KenW

 

[Wildman]

Win 7 is more stable than XP and doesn't crash as much, very rarely on 4
machines. I doesn't take very long to learn. If this old fart can learn
it, anyone can.

I haven't been using win 7 long enough to agree or
disagree with that assessment, however, so far it
looks as though you may be correct.

To bad Win 8 didn't build on Win 7 interface wise. When Win 7 support
ends in 2020, if I am still alive, I probably won't care.


KenW

I agree about win 8. My desktop computer is a desktop
not a fondleslab.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I have an Acer Aspire One Netbook with 7 Starter.
It has a Broadcom wireless adapter. Earlier today
I turned it on and it would not connect to my
wireless router. It said that the connection
security settings did not match the router. I
checked the security setting on the router and
the netbook and they matched. They were set
the same way they have always been set. Next
I checked my wife's netbook, also an Acer, and
the settings there were the same and that
netbook did connect.

Yeah, that's common with WiFi. No idea why it happens, but it does, and
in a few moments it works again. Sometimes, it works again after a
reboot. That's why Ethernet will not disappear anytime soon.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Wolf K]

Yeah, that's common with WiFi. No idea why it happens, but it does, and
in a few moments it works again. Sometimes, it works again after a
reboot. That's why Ethernet will not disappear anytime soon.

Yousuf Khan

Based on experience, it's probably a flaky interaction between hardware
and software. I suspect driver loading sequence.

Anecdotal data:

Our old Acer (LinuxMint) has a manual switch with a monitor LED for the
wi-fi on the front edge. Sometimes it turns on during boot, when it
doesn't, reboot fixes it. Or else quicker to switch on the wi-fi, then
disable and enable wi-fi network.

On the HP (Win 7 Home) there's a button for wi-fi near the function
keys. So far haven't had to use it. Ancient wi-fi dongle on the new Win
8 desktop works flawlessly. So far.

HTH

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Based on experience, it's probably a flaky interaction between hardware
and software. I suspect driver loading sequence.

Anecdotal data:

Our old Acer (LinuxMint) has a manual switch with a monitor LED for the
wi-fi on the front edge. Sometimes it turns on during boot, when it
doesn't, reboot fixes it. Or else quicker to switch on the wi-fi, then
disable and enable wi-fi network.

On the HP (Win 7 Home) there's a button for wi-fi near the function
keys. So far haven't had to use it. Ancient wi-fi dongle on the new Win
8 desktop works flawlessly. So far.

My feeling is that it's not the computer at fault really, but a problem
with the router. I noticed it happens more often if the router is
running WPA security, than it does if it runs no security, or WEP
security. Perhaps an identification sequence gets missed during the
handshake between the router and computer?

Yousuf Khan

 

[JackChill]

Check issues persisting with the wireless device installation. Uninstall any devices that show a yellow color exclamation mark in the Device Manager window.

1. Click Start, type "Device Manager".
2. Open it.
3. Right click a device driver, select Uninstall.