Wireless connection problems

I have a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows Vista which has come out of hibernation. The Network symbol is saying there arewireless networks available but when I click 'connect to a network', it says Windows cannot find any networks. I have tried setting up a manual connection but it then says 'an unexpected error occurred'. The Adapter is an Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter and having run their Diagnostics Utility, the test results show my I.P address is 0.0.0.0. and says you have not configured your computer to use the client adapter. Can anyone tell me how to set this up, please. Thanks in advance Neil

Hi Neil, Sorry to hear of the problem with your computer
Here are some things to check:

1 Has someone inadvertantly switched off the wireless facility on uour laptop?…check for a hardware switch often with a LED which illuminates when the wireless is on, and also be sure to check that no one has switched the wireless off through software…. often a Fn key + a Fkey acts as a "soft switch"

2 Check in Device Manager that your wireless network adapter is installed and that there are no warning flags shown …usually Yellow or Red…by right clicking on it you should be able to tell if its being recognised and is working OK

3 Connect an Ethernet cable twixt your laptop and router…… does this enable the laptop to connect to the Internet?

4 If still in trouble try and connect wirelessly, and this time open a command prompt with elevated privileges (Right click and Run as Administrator)
type in:

cmd /c "ipconfig /all > postme.txt & ping bbc.co.uk >> postme.txt & notepad postme.txt & del postme.txt"

Press Enter key

Note please use "copy and paste" (Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v) for this command, as this will automatically make sure you get the spaces correct!
Please copy and paste the output into your reply.
Regards
paws

Hi Paws Thanks for the reply. To answer your points 1. The switch is On and the light illuminated 2. No flags showing and it says it is working properly 3. A cable works fine and I'm able to connect to the internet 4. Still unable to connect wirelessly and here's the report Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Maisie-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home.gateway Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR928x Wireless Network Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-E1-D8-B3-B7 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home.gateway Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-BA-87-9C-9E DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.106(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 25 April 2012 17:58:55 Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 26 April 2012 17:58:55 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 212.58.241.131: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=246 Reply from 212.58.241.131: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=246 Reply from 212.58.241.131: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=246 Reply from 212.58.241.131: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=246 Ping statistics for 212.58.241.131: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 23ms, Maximum = 24ms, Average = 23ms

Hi Neil, The output indicates that you have connected sucessfuly to the Internet via Ethernet cable but that your wireless is not connected. Go into your network settings (via control panel) and enable the wireless networking…. you can disconnect the Ethernet cable now. Let us know if this does the trick for you. Regards paws

Yeah, tried that without success. It says wireless networks are available but when I click on connect to a network, the next window says Windows cannot find any networks. When I try to set up a connection manually, it says an unexpected error occurred.

Hi Neil, Run the command again, but this time with the Ethernet cable disconnected and your wireless network (via control panel) set to enabled Copy and paste the output in your reply. Regards paws

Hi Neil,
Run the command again, but this time with the Ethernet cable disconnected and your wireless network (via control panel) set to enabled
Copy and paste the output in your reply.
Regards
paws

Hi, I am having the same problem. I did what you suggested. Here is the output..

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : VikashKumar-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Anchorfree HSS Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-40-3B-AA-3A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : zyxel.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-16-ED-C0-46
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Ping request could not find host bbc.co.uk. Please check the name and try again.