need help with wireless win 98

I have a wireless access point which I have used with this win98 second edition ibm laptop computer before. Now, for some reason, it will connect to the network, but won't access the internet. The one difference is that I now have a wep encription code. I entered the pass phrase which I used to create the 24 character wep key and a different key was created but I just let it go and it connects with the modem but not with the internet. Then I tried to enter the wep key directly but it isn't case sensitive and doesn't connect with the access point.

I have checked to see if the tcp/ip setting is there for the wireless card and it is.

I have disabled the wired internet connector in system/device manager.

Is there anything I'm forgetting to do? I used aol to try to detect the ways I could access the internet and it identifies a phone modem and tcp/ip but when I click on tcp/ip, it can't access the internet.

Any thoughts? Everything else in my house uses xp. My wireless access point connects to a wired modem which then connects to the cable modem.

I have not put this computer on the home network, because I want to use it for guests. It shouldn't have to be on the home network because none of my houseguests have a problem getting onto my wireless internet once I enter the wep key in their computer ... but then they have all been xp users.

I have a feeling the problem is with the wep key and got no help from linksys.
I got india and they said that my tcp/ip wasn't working right and I would have to reinstall windows. I find that hard to believe so thought I would try here first.

 

I can't offer much help, but before reinstalling Windows, I would uninstall as much as possible that is related to the connection (including drivers for the network hardware) and try reinstalling everything again. Certainly worth it if it saves reinstalling the whole system.

Matt

 

I did that with everything I could think of. I was wondering if I should disable the wep key just to see if that was it? Maybe I'll try that.

 

"Wep keys "...you would know more about them than I would
Although it may be worth going into Safe Mode and look through the hardware listed in Device Manager. Remove anything that may be related to the problem and you may no longer use, eg., network hardware.

Matt

 

why safe mode?

 

Even though hardware is no longer listed under Device Manager in "normal mode" it can still be listed in Device Manager in Safe Mode (and subsequently cause problems with the drivers of your new/upgraded hardware).
When you take out a piece of hardware, it may disappear from the normal mode list, but the driver files are still "active" within Windows unless they have been "uninstalled" or "removed ".

If Windows (98) has a problem with the drivers of a piece of hardware, you can sometimes find a long list of the same hardware listed in Device Manager in Safe Mode, where Windows has reinstalled the drivers over and over again.

Check in Safe Mode. If I have problems with a piece of hardware that is where I check first. I change hardware a lot on my computers, sometimes I will go to Safe Mode and remove any old listings just as a tidy-up so that they do not conflict with any hardware/driver changes I make in the future.

Matt

 

When you remove the items in Safe Mode, boot the computer to a command prompt, and do these two commands.
scanreg /opt
scanreg /fix
When you get the message that 'windows has repaired the registry', reboot.

 

the real problem seems to be that win98 has problems with 128 wep keys.
Linksys suggests i upgrade to winxp. think i will buy a cheap xp laptop on ebay.

thanks for everything

 

This is a far reach here, but there is a dial up networking update for 98SE that upgrades the connection to 128 bit. In any case it's not going to hurt. A quote from this page.
This update for Dial-up Networking in Windows 98 Second Edition adds the ability to encrypt dial-up and PPTP traffic using 128-bit keys. After installation of this upgrade, a Windows 98 Second Edition computer can establish either 40-bit or 128-bit encrypted sessions using Microsoft Point to Point Encryption
Get it here
Note, during the install of this update, you will be prompted for your Win98 CD, or need to browse to the location of the 98Se setup files. It does this to install Virtual Private Networking so it can be updated at the same time.

 

i'll try it ... what the heck

thanks

 

On the machine that works fine with everything including internet copy down all the setting dealing with the network info and internet settings and then look at the 98 machine and make sure they are all the same.

 

did the update ... internet wouldn't work at all, so undid the update.
i've put a bid in for a cheap refurbished xp laptop on ebay. given up.

thanks