Follow up on US Robotics router and Dell Windows 7 computers
Ben Myers
to establish wifi connections with a US Robotics router. After some
time trying to determine the cause of the problem, I told my sometime
client that the router should be replaced, because it is old and no
longer supported by the manufacturer. I looked at the US Robotics web
site just now and saw that the router, model USR8054, is not supported
with Windows 7 by US Robotics, whatever that means. A couple of people
here said that I had taken the easy way out in recommending replacement.
In fact, they are right. With my laptop, I could have snooped the
packets for the wifi connect from my XP laptop and from a Win 7 laptop
and compared them. That would take more time than the client was
willing to pay for, so I did not do it. Too many bits to compare! At
this point, let's just believe that Microsoft changed something in the
wifi connect protocol between Vista and Windows 7.
Spoke to client today. A replacement Linksys wifi router works
perfectly with their Windows 7 computers now... Ben Myers
Christopher Muto
don't interpret the criticism of 'taking the easy way out' as a negative
thing. it is a smart thing. i can walk to the post office across the
street by walking directly over there, or i could turn around and circle
the globe to get there, which doesn't make a lot of sense. glad you
sorted out the problem.
Mike S.
In article <hhulag$33f$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
Weird. Got an ancient Linksys WRT54G running 3 year old DD-WRT firmware. I
just set up a Samsung netbook for my neice, running Windows 7 Starter, and
it had absolutely no problem accessing the router.
Ben Myers
It's always a question of time available to troubleshoot a problem, and,
when it's a paying customer, how much they are willing to pay. Had this
been the branch office of a well-heeled corporate client (e.g. Goldman
Sachs), I would have willingly spent as much time as necessary to
pinpoint the exact cause of the failure of a Dell Win 7 laptop to hitch
itself to the USR8054. And billed for the time! ... Ben Myers
Ben Myers
Really not weird at all. Linksys, as part of Cisco, is a mainstream and
major vendor of communications gear. I am still running a WRT54G
myself, because the only benefit I see to a newer wifi router here is
the financial benefit to the retailer from which I would buy one.
US Robotics is very much a minor player, and they are pretty much US
Robotics in name only, having been spun off to a vulture capital firm by
3COM some time ago. Anyway, their long-time expertise in telco modems
up to 56K in speed does not translate well to the complexities of a
4-port router with wifi. USR clearly did something in the design of the
USR8054 firmware that turned out not to work with Win 7. Why else would
Win 7 not be in the list of supported and tested operating systems on
the USR web site? (Of course, Linux, BSD Unix and Mac OS X are not
shown in USR's list of operating systems.) And I foolishly thought that
all modern wifi connection protocols were the same across all operating
systems and routers! Actually, not. I tend to stick with tried and
proven hardware... Ben Myers
postm...@127.0.0.1
wrote:
>
>Weird. Got an ancient Linksys WRT54G running 3 year old DD-WRT firmware. I
>just set up a Samsung netbook for my neice, running Windows 7 Starter, and
>it had absolutely no problem accessing the router.
>
Ditto here except my firmware dates back to August 2005.
Indeed, I didnt even consider that Windows 7 wouldnt be compatible
with my router - that could have been a costly mistake :-(
skeeter
"Ben Myers" <ben_...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:hi00pe$43p$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
> It's always a question of time available to troubleshoot a problem, and,
> when it's a paying customer, how much they are willing to pay. Had this
> been the branch office of a well-heeled corporate client (e.g. Goldman
> Sachs), I would have willingly spent as much time as necessary to pinpoint
> the exact cause of the failure of a Dell Win 7 laptop to hitch itself to
> the USR8054. And billed for the time! ... Ben Myers
yeabut, how often do *those* jobs come around.
RnR
wrote:
>As many may recall, I reported that Dell Windows 7 laptops were unable
>to establish wifi connections with a US Robotics router. After some
>time trying to determine the cause of the problem, I told my sometime
>client that the router should be replaced, because it is old and no
>longer supported by the manufacturer. I looked at the US Robotics web
>site just now and saw that the router, model USR8054, is not supported
>with Windows 7 by US Robotics, whatever that means. A couple of people
>here said that I had taken the easy way out in recommending replacement.
> In fact, they are right. With my laptop, I could have snooped the
>packets for the wifi connect from my XP laptop and from a Win 7 laptop
>and compared them. That would take more time than the client was
What exactly would you be looking for in those packets to find the
wifi connect?
Ben Myers
I do not hold my breath waiting for them. But Goldman Sachs is free to
call me at any time... Ben
Ben Myers
I would have to capture the packets for both ends of the wifi connection
dialog. One set of captured packets would be for a successful connect
between an XP laptop and the USR8054. The other set would be between a
Win 7 laptop and USR8054. What I would be looking for would be
differences in messages sent by XP and Win 7 computers. Beyond this, I
cannot say exactly what I would be looking for and what I might find.
The router in question was wide open with no security, no encryption and
no password. Microsoft has treated this combination with increased
paranoia going from XP to Vista (UGH!) to Win 7. I would expect to see
some differences among all three sets of packets... Ben Myers
RnR
wrote:
This definitely sounds easier said then done. I've looked at packets
a couple of years ago and after a short time, I gave up. I wasn't
looking for anything special but just wanted to see if I could use a
packet sniffer. I think your advice to switch routers was the right
one, all things considered.
BillW50
I installed Windows 7 RC (I have two unopened Win7 Upgrade on the shelf)
on this machine the other day. And the 2Wire DSL/wireless router worked
great (like it always does). Although today, this Windows 7 wouldn't log
on, but the Windows XP machines were.
It had taken me a few minutes, but found this Windows 7 was using the
Public Profile and not the Private one. Adjusted the settings and it is
now working great.
I dunno, if anybody is having trouble with Windows 7 connecting to the
wireless router... they might want to check this setting in Windows 7.
--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Windows 7 (build 7100)
Ben Myers
Thanks for the suggestion. Public vs Private was one of the Win 7 wifi
settings I tweaked before telling my client to replace the USR8054
router... Ben Myers