Windows 7 on wired computer prevents wireless connections to router

[r@minder]

Hello.

I own three computers. One has a wired connection to my wireless router (Linksys WRT54G v. 6 with latest firmware), the other two use wireless adapters and are running Windows XP Professional 32-Bit. If I run Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit on the computer with the wired connection, the other two computers cannot connect to the router (access point). Here's what's troubling.

If I leave the other two "wireless" computers turned off, and run Windows 7 on the "wired" computer, then turn off the "wired" computer, and turn on one or both of the "wireless" computers, they still cannot connect.

In order to establish a wireless connection, once again, I must reset the router , then reset the security, and finally, enter the new network key on each of the "wireless" computers. It doesn't matter whether the "wireless" computers are on or off when I either install or run Windows 7 on the "wired" computer. The problem occurs even when I turn off the "wired" computer before turning on the "wireless" computers.

At this point, I can only "assume" (either from lack of knowledge or imagination) Windows 7 actually makes changes to the router's settings. I cannot access the router's web-based utility from Windows 7 or from Windows Vista. I must access it from Windows XP (I quad boot XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Ubuntu). My problem with wireless networking only occurs with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit. I don't experience this problem with Vista Ultimate 64-Bit. Also, I have no networking issues with Windows 7 running on the "wired" computer.

Perhaps there is a simple solution. However, it's disconcerting that Windows 7 can prevent other computers from connecting to my router. Windows 7 should only be concerned with connections made to the computer it is running on, and not take over the responsibility of the router. If this is the case, then I find that to be completely unacceptable. I'm not using the wired computer as a gateway for the other computers. The Linksys router is the default gateway. Furthermore, I'm absolutely not interested in sharing music or files through Home Group, since this feature of Windows 7 is only compatible with other computers running Windows 7, and I'm not about to replace XP on the "wireless" computers with a beta version of Windows 7. I suspect Home Group might be the culprit here, or the reach of Windows Firewall is now out of bounds.

If you know or have an idea of what might be the problem, please let me know. I'll have to leave Windows 7 alone until I find a solution, as I'm not going to go through the hassle of reseting the router and network keys every time I run Windows 7. Unplugging the computer from the router is an option, but to do so would cripple the OS and the fun of using it. Besides, the beta needs access to the Internet for updates and to report problems.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

and who says microsoft doesn't care . Anyway I run a similiar setup and have not had that problem. Try updating your routers firmware.

 

[montyuk]

access point? is it possible to just switch it back to being a router with nat?

its possible that in ap mode it cant handle wired and wireless and that the wired connection takes priority of the only available ip address, thus the wireless cards cant get an ip and so cant connect.

of course that could be b*****s but you never know.

yes i know you said it works fine when using xp pro so maybe the router doesnt release the ip correctly with win7.

any chance of installing a wifi card from one of the xp machines into the win7 machine just to test it?

can you test connecting one of the xp machines with wired and see if the other can connect using wireless?

 

[knotknut]

At home I have 3 compters connected to the router, one laptop wireless "N"with Vista 64bit, a PC with XP Pro hard wired to the router @ 1gig and a PC with Windows 7 hard wired to the router @ 1gig. I have no problem connecting to the internet or the "Network" from any of the computers. I also have a network printer connected to the router. Prints etc from all locations.

At Work I have 4 PC's hard wired and one Laptop wireless, sometimes 2 laptop's wireless. One of the wired PC's has Windows 7 and all the rest run XP. Also 2 network printers. No problems here either.

I dont know if it makes a difference but when I installed Windows 7 all the computers and printers were turned on and connected to the network.

Maybe try a fresh install of Windows 7 with all computers and printers turned on. Another thing is I chose "connect to a home network" when installing W-7

 

[RobertGru]

I experienced the same problem XP systems with wireless connections lost their connectivity after the Windows 7 system got on the home network. Under Network and Sharing Center, hit the Advanced sharing settings and at the bottom select "Use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computer" under Windows HomeGroup connections.

You will have to reboot your router and all the wireless XP systems, while the Win 7 system is off. You may have to reboot the router once in a while. Not the most elegant solution, but this is the only way my XP systems with wireless would work.

 

[alaskaguy]

I have the same problem as well with WTR54g v6 firmware 1.02.5. I have the following setup:

1 wired Windows XP box
1 wired Windows 7 box
2 wirelsss MacBooks running Leopard 10.5
2 iPhones
1 wireless Xbox 360

Once Windows 7 has been up on the network for a few hours, the router stops accepting new wireless connections, however devices already connected are fine... i.e. if I'm on xbox live playing a game it still trucks along, but the macbooks won't be able to connect. I've verified it's Windows 7 by shutting that box down for a few days and noticing no problems, and then booting it up yesterday and having problems a few hours later.

So far in windows 7 I've disabled DualServer DHCP/DNS and put DHCP functions back to enabled in the router, which didnt make a difference. I've now disabled HomeGroup, so I'll let you know in a couple of hours if that did any good.

 

[alaskaguy]

Disabling HomeGroup fixed my problem... I've been up and running 24 hours without requiring a router reboot and wireless is working great.

 

[sporocyst]

I just wanted to add that i have the same problem. I have a WRT54G with the 1.02.5 firmware and windows 7 being on the network (after a few hours) kills the ability to create new wireless connection.

I just disabled homegroup and will let you guys know if it solves the problem here as well.

 

[sporocyst]

Yup. Disabling homegroup worked. All my wireless clients can connect just fine now.

Hope this gets hammered out before the win 7 release. I like the concept of the homegroup.

 

[Guest]

Disabling HomeGroup worked for me as well (I had the same problem... router would turn off once the Win 7 PC was connected to the network for a few minutes).

I've now read elsewhere that it might have something to do with an over abundance of error reporting... but I am still checking that out.

Thanks!

 

[bwery3]

I will figure out the exact cause tonight and post a reply here. Also, I have found out that once you reset the router, only one wireless connection can be made before it screws up again.

Laterz, Twitch(the origional)

 

[Guest]

I had the exact same issue. I disabled the HomeGroup Provider and Listener on the Windows 7 machine. And then rebooted both the machines (Windows 7 and Vista). It fixed the problem. Both machines were able to connect to the wireless router. HomeGroup Provider/Listener service on the Windows 7 is the culprit.

 

[shadow_60]

sure sounds like that router / access point is not IPv6 compatable! Homegroup runs on IPv6 so I assume it was not homegroup but the underlying protocol that is hanging up the router. my AR670W has a similar issue (but not as bad as loosing connectivity)... wireless windows7 homegroup members can see eachother, and wired windows7 homegroup members can see eachother, but wired and wireless cannot see eachother! the IPv6 is not passing between wired and wireless segments in the router.

 

[Zoron]

Odd.

I have a wired Windows 7 desktop with a wireless Vista laptop, Wii, iPod Touch and PS 3 with the WRT54G and have had no problems. Mind you, I have version 8 of that router... so whether or not that makes a difference I couldn't tell you.

 

[Guest]

Hi folks -- Had a similar problem and was able to fix the issue. Here are the quick details:

Run a home network which consistes of 3 XP laptops (one wired and two wireless), wireless printer, and wireless TiVo connection. Introduced a fourth laptop Windows 7. For some reason, it brought down the whole network (Linksys WRT54G router). When I removed the Windows 7 machine, it worked again.

Updated the firmware on the router which did the trick.

 

[Guest]

FireWalls .... Norton /mcafee anything with a firewall other than Windows Get rid of it period. windows has its own since XP, norton is a bitch you have to configure File sharing with in norton software... if you want to use it by all means spend a few hours learning your software that you bought. and keep it otherwise stop bitching and get rid of it... its no good to home users... business i will adapt but many problems have occurred with norton since 2004 IS.. also Workgroups, make sure everything is on the same workgroup. it is very unlikely that a Win OS will bring down the network..come on a apple computer can talk on the same network that runs windows... you think windows 7 caused your problems amongst other windows OS's. get real... the first step to your problem would be to power cycle and understand Dynamic ip address, if you are not on a static network, Dynamic ip address assign a number to each computer (first come first serve)meaning the first computer you turn on to your home network the router will assign that computer a ip address or number and so with the 2nd and 3rd 4th a priter and so on and so forth. File and print sharing will have to follow as there are many issues with FnP sharing with xp and vista alone you have to turn on Public discovery i would refer to microsoft.com for most answers and Google. is your best friend...otherwise you need someone from the IT computer certified world that knows computers to solve your problem. good luck

 

[kosimov]

I had a similar problem, but probably not the same as yours.

I followed the instructions for using my Toshiba laptop with my Linksys WRT56G router with Windows7. It said to connect the laptop to the router with a wire cable, which I did. The router is rated at "G" speeds which is the wireless speed; I got 100 mbps with the hard wired connection, though my internet modem only gets 56 mbps. So, I was getting about 56 mbps net at the laptop (minus some performance for net overhead etc.).

I could not get the laptop's wireless connection to work. I even tried using "Network Magic", the new Cisco software they acquired along with Pure Networks; it indicated the connection was being made between the router and my laptop's wireless adapter, but no internet connection.

I struggled with this for a couple days; since I had not used VISTA or Windows7 before, I stuck with the instructions, and tried every tip and trick I could find listed. No luck.

Then I decided to put the written instructions aside and see what my instincts developed over several decades of experience would show me. It wasn't long before I realized that the wireless adapter in the laptop did not have its own 'NIC', so to speak, but used the regular NIC which the laptop used for wired connections to a network. Hence, using the furnished instructions, I was attempting to connect to a wireless node on the network at the same time as I was connected to a hard-wired node, which meant the laptop had to establish two separate connections to the router: one wired, and one wireless. It was then easy to see that the laptop couldn't do that with only one "NIC" for both connections!

I used the wired connection to the router to set it up and make sure all was well with it, including use of the internet. I then pulled the plug on the hard wired connection, and went to the wireless setup and connect routines in the laptop, which now worked just fine because they could use the internal "NIC" chipset of the laptop, which it could not do when the hard wired connection was using the NIC chipset.

This fooled me for a while because I can connect both a wireless and hard wired connection to the router on my desktops, because they use separate NICs for each connection; the wireless adapter has its own network interface chips rather than sharing those used for hard wired connections.

I have to admit I feel sheepish about disclosing this, as it makes me look pretty dumb, to not have realized this immediately, as soon as I read the instructions telling me to connect the hard wire to the computer (to set up the router, test it and the internet, etc.) while attempting to connect the wireless also. As a design engineer who has designed a wide assortment of peripherals for PCs and laptops I should have seen that problem immediately. However, I didn't at first realize that the laptop, in order to save space and power, used the network interface already present for the hard wired connection, and added only the "radio" part of the wireless adapter, with the "radio" doing the transmitting and receiving, and interface to the NIC already present in the laptop. Obviously, with a single channel NIC interface between the computer and the router, it can handle only one connection, and, if I first established a hard wired connection to the router, then attempted to use the same NIC for the wireless connection, it wasn't going to work! Only when I released the NIC from the hard wired connection to the router was the wireless connection able to use the NIC and establish a connection.

Sorry this is so long and 'wordy', but I wanted to explain thoroughly in case it may help some others I have seen on the internet with the same problem, ie, not being able to connect wirelessly when the hard wired connection is already established.

Larry

 

[chicobird]

Thanks loads for this info! I've been struggling with the same issue on my T61, but have the reverse: if the wireless isn't disabled (using switch), it always takes priority over the wired connection and terminates use of it. Interestingly, it does this seamlessly, with no interuptions to downloads in progress.
Here I was hoping to have dual-NIC capability, but see now I only have one NIC! Stupid me too, and I spent years working with this stuff in high tech. At least my quest for answers can end here.

 

[Guest]

Here is a stab in the dark..Is it possible that windows 7 when wired is "sharing" the internet connection and commanding all other connection resources to authenticate through it? I dont have windows 7 installed yet but check you internet sharing ...see if you cant turn it off..reboot and still find it off...then turn on you laptops...see if this works.

Renshi

 

[bert2369]

I had the exact same issue. I disabled the HomeGroup Provider and Listener on the Windows 7 machine. And then rebooted both the machines (Windows 7 and Vista). It fixed the problem. Both machines were able to connect to the wireless router. HomeGroup Provider/Listener service on the Windows 7 is the culprit.

I think I am having the same problem. My other computers have Vista and XP. All are wireless. I bought a new laptop with windows 7 and it is having major connection issues. Everytime i troubleshoot, Homegroup keeps coming up. How do you disable the homegroup provider and listerner? I would like to try this to see if it solves my problem. I thought 7 was supposed to simplify!

 

[cynthiak]

I think I found the solution to my connection problem since setting up my new Windows 7 workstation. I've had a Linksys wireless router since May that I have only used really for my iTouch without problems at all. I setup my new computer (wired to the router in addition to my XP workstation) a week ago and have been having tons of problems connecting and also losing connection to my wireless with my iTouch. Rebooting the router and finally getting reconnected, only to lose the connection again. I found that the NIC card in my new workstation was being turned off in Power Management. What I did was right-click on Computer, select Manage, click on Device Manager, on the right expand Network Adapters, right-click on my adapter and go to Properties, click on the Power Management tab and uncheck the box for "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power." So far, so good. Hope this helps someone.

 

[lizziep]

I don't have an answer to your questions, but what the heck is the 'network key'? When I called Linksys they advised I needed a new router or they could upgrade my wrt54g for a 'small' $30 fee. I am stumped when I get to the network key part.

 

[Guest]

hello i ve had a hp laptop with window 7 for christmas i run a win vista wired a p3 with ubuntu as my web server, and a vista laptop

yesterday when i plugged it in it crashed my router now i am working on my p3 with linux the only computer still able to go to the net,,,,

ive tried to retablish my router with the ports to allow my website to work while i try to fix it but there nothing passing my i cant even acces my web site with my ftp server,,,,,,

im asking is there anybody who can help please???

 

[Guest]

Hey i had similar problwm with a linksys WRT110.

I disabled IPv6 connections in the wireless card properties and that did the trick with fixing connection issues.

I then tried to update the firmware on the router and re-enabled IPv6 connectivity, that did the trick as well. It looks like the firmware that was installed on the router wasnt IPv6 compatiable and that was causing problems.

Cheers.

 

[lthemet]

I bought a brand new Dell laptop w/windows 7 and was ready to rock and roll....or so I thought. Two other laptops in the house running Vista and XP have connected to my Westel (Verizon DSL) modem/router without ever having any trouble. "My" Windows 7 would recognize the connection, but would not connect to the router. Several "Computer Guys" and Verizon techs later, here's the deal. Verizon needed to update thier equipment (modem/router) - They can do it rather easily but only if you ask them. I wasn't computer savy enough to know how to. If you can't connect with your laptop, this may help...I hope so because I was pulling my hair out.