Wireless Networking on Vista Beta 2

[MythosaAkira]

I recently installed Windows Vista Beta 2 on one of my computers, dual-booting with XP Pro. The installation went fine, but I can't get the wireless networking to work. Vista will find the SSID of my router (a Linksys WRT54G) and can gauge the signal strength, but when it connects it can't get an IP address and it tells me I have "limited connectivity" - which really means no connectivity at all (I can't see my other computer or get out to the Internet). I've tried changing a variety of settings on the router as well as in Vista, including assigning a static IP and turning off encryption, but nothing seems to work. I also tried a different NIC (a Belkin USB wireless connector versus the Netgear WG311 I had been using), but with the same results.

Wireless works just fine when I boot into XP (and always worked in the past). Anyone have any ideas what the problem is? I've been searching on the Web but so far I haven't found anything that works for me.

Thanks!

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

It's most likely a driver issue. Lots of companies (including Netgear) are dragging their feet on drivers for the beta, and a lot of beta 1 drivers don't work in beta 2.

I found one hint on Netgear's site that suggested using the running the XP install, rebooting, uninstalling, and rebooting again. Supposedly there is something in the install that keeps the drivers from working in Vista, but the uninstall removes that but leaves the bare drivers behind. On the second reboot, it PnPs itself and sometimes works.

This is why they call it a Beta

I don't have a spare laptop, so I haven't had a chance to test Vista with wireless yet.

 

[MythosaAkira]

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually did get it working last night, shortly after posting. Asking in a forum must have been the key

I tried updating the Netgear drivers earlier based on a post I read on another web forum but that didn't work. What ended up working in the end was switching the wireless security from WEP to WPA. That made me switch back from the Belkin card to the Netgear card since Vista said the Belkin didn't support WPA, despite the fact that the box says it does (among others). But, like you said, it's a beta...

 

[Mercule]

So, how is the Beta? I'm dying to try it, but I'd have to put it on my primary laptop, with files backed up to a server.

As it is, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with the other odd beta stuff I'm running (mostly the 2007 stuff).

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

So, how is the Beta? I'm dying to try it, but I'd have to put it on my primary laptop, with files backed up to a server.

As it is, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with the other odd beta stuff I'm running (mostly the 2007 stuff).

Slow, fat, kinda pretty. Lots of interface changes for no good reason. Some nice under-the-hood stuff (eg running as a non-admin user with privilege escalation when needed). Hopefully the emphasis on running as a standard user will finally force the application developers to write good code and not rely on elevated rights to function. That'd cut down on a lot of the issues with home PCs.

Not seen much so far to make it interesting in a corporate environment, where things are generally pretty locked down already. I'd like to get my hands on a spare laptop to try the wireless and mobile features, though.

 

[KenM]

I had read that its a RAM hog.

 

[drothgery]

I had read that its a RAM hog.

Betas of large software (opetating systems, Office, Visual Studio, etc.) are almost by definition RAM hogs. Debugging frameworks tend to eat memory for lunch.

 

[Mercule]

Betas of large software (opetating systems, Office, Visual Studio, etc.) are almost by definition RAM hogs. Debugging frameworks tend to eat memory for lunch.

Quite. I've really been liking Office 2007 (though, I'm still not sold on the ribbon). Sadly, it's actually got me thinking about upgrading my RAM.

Truly, GMing is trying: PCGen/GMGen for characters and combat, Word 2007 for campaign/adventure notes, Excel 2007 for tracking treasure and other lists, and Firefox (had to stop using the IE7 beta) for http://www.d20srd.org. All of those, open all the time for the game. You figure it out, real quick like, if you find a memory leak.

 

[Henry]

Betas of large software (opetating systems, Office, Visual Studio, etc.) are almost by definition RAM hogs. Debugging frameworks tend to eat memory for lunch.

I remember beta-testing Windows 95 when it was first released - That sucker needed at least 128MB of RAM to run smoothly. (anyone who remembers RAM prices in 1994 remembers that with a smile. )

 

[drothgery]

I remember beta-testing Windows 95 when it was first released - That sucker needed at least 128MB of RAM to run smoothly. (anyone who remembers RAM prices in 1994 remembers that with a smile. )

Hmm... Yeah; I think the PC I had at the time came with 8 MB, and I think had 16 when I got rid of it.

The Visual Studio.NET betas got me to upgrade my PIII (which has since been handed off to my parents; the P4 that replaced it will probably head down the same path next year) from 128 MB to 512 MB. Beta 1 was basicly unuseable on that box; beta 2 was workeable.

VS2005 caused the same thing, though; I couldn't run the whole web dev stack with 512 MB on my P4, so I ended up getting another gigabyte of RAM.