Plz help....wireless authentification failed because of a time out..

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Plz help....wireless authentification failed because of a time out..

fin7880

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#26232 16-Sep-2008 10:19

Please help im going crazy

Got a new laptop Advent 5401. (windows vista). I have been trying to connect to my sisters network using her Belkin Wireless N router. She also has an Advent (5301) and uses Vista and has no problem going wireless.

When I click to connect I can see the network name but when i try to connect it say 'wireless authentification failed because of a time out' It does this after about 5seconds of me trying to connect.

I think its related to my wireless connection because I can go online ok when I use an ethernet cable with this modem. Its just when i try to go wireless.

When I click my wireless button on the laptop it doesnt connect properly so I think it must be the problem. The small (wifi) icon in the bottom right alternates between a red cross and the signal strength icon. It never fully loads up an becomes blue. (the only time it does go blue and have a small globe is when I am linked with the ethernet cable).

It is driving me mad. Please help! I have followed the instructions for installing the Belkin Router but it does not show up on my comp once i unplug the ethernet cable. I wasnt sure how to link another laptop to the network so I did it the same way as my sister did and loaded the belkin router and installation disc.

Any advice would be so appreciated

38894

80 posts

Master Geek

#166015 21-Sep-2008 13:26

If it's a brand new Vista Laptop I recommend doing the following to resolve the issues:

1) Turn OFF UAC (User Account Control) You may find that when you're trying to connect to the wireless network UAC is butting in to ask permission but not showing the prompt properly.
2) Ensure the laptop is FULLY up to date including SP1 and all updates issued since (Windows OS are notorious for bugs in Networking software which get fixed later, you may find your sisters laptop is fully up to date, hence having no problems, yet yours may still be running out of the factory software/drivers)
3) Set the network up manually instead of trying to dynamically connect to it, you can do this in the Networking control panel and you may find this fixes your issue even if it doesn't reveal the reason for not being able to connect dynamically.
4) Try removing the belkin software, Windows has it's own software for connecting to Wireless networks and regardless of how the Networking Manufacturers try to make out their software is better than Windows own stuff, it isn't. You may well find (Especially in Vista) that third party Belkin software is going to HINDER your progress rather than FURTHER it. Try removing their software and connecting via the Windows Wireless Wizard.
5) Upgrade the laptop (lol) to XP or Linux instead. (I don't actually recommend doing this if you're not an experienced or power user but I needed 5 points and I'm always happy to have a dig at Vista :D)

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#166025 21-Sep-2008 13:56

What encryption is the WiFi router using? What type of laptop are you using and does it have Vista or XP?

My first point of call would be to look at the WiFi router and see what encryption settings it is using. If it is using WPA2 + AES encryption and you have an older laptop it may only support WPA2 + TKIP encryption and won't support AES.

Try tsting the connection with no security. If that works you can work out what the problem is but I'd be 90% certain it's the issue I mentioned above. If it is the issue I mentioned you can try running WPA2 + TKIP. Running WEP or WPA is not recommended as they have both been compomised and no longer considered secure.

38894

80 posts

Master Geek

#166031 21-Sep-2008 14:17

I considered your solutions as well sbiddle but he's using a new laptop on Vista so WPA won't be a problem.

fin7880

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#166132 22-Sep-2008 00:06

Hi thanks for your replies. I have solved the problem.....well i got someone to solve it for me!

It was an issue with the security settings the router was using (even tho my other Vista laptop was fine with it) just as you said Sbilddle. The tech guy changed the settings and now it is fine

38894

80 posts

Master Geek

#166143 22-Sep-2008 07:24

These laptops were the same make and yours had the higher model number, making it more modern and a higher spec? It's strange that the WPA-TKIP/AES settings within the router would affect the better one and not the lower model number,

Did the tech add your mac address to a security list for the wireless access or something, or was it actually an AES/TKIP issue like sbiddle said? I don't want to know to dissprove sbiddle but simply because a laptop running Vista from the factory should be able to support AES encryption on wireless with no issues at all and if this one doesn't I'll avoid selling it to my customers.

Either way, glad you got it fixed.