I have a a pc running windows xp and a laptop running the same. In the desktop PC i have placed a wireless PCI 802.11b adapter in the laptop I have placed a wireless PCMCIA 802.11b adapter. I have tried on countless occasions to get the 2 to connect using ad-hoc reconfiguring and reconfiguring till my fingers bled using the native windows applications and the ones that came with the cards. Both cards are running the RTL 8180 chipset, I have even gone to the realtek website and got the native driver and utilities and tried them but to no avail. I have tried to set the desktop PC as a wirless access point then using the laptop as a station I have set a static ip for both and bridged the network connections on the desktop PC to try and get the laptop onto me local LAN so that I can surf the net with me laptop wirelessly. I have also tried not bridging the connections and tried to get one to connect to the other but still to no avail. Now both cards have lights that come on and tell me that there is connection present but I cant get anything from the laptop (i.e surf the web) and although at one point the desktop PC did indicate that there was a 2nd workgroup present there was still no connection. I am now out of ideas if anyone could shed any light on this situation I would be eternally grateful thanks.

To help you with least amount of guesswork on our part about your system(s) and often erring in that process in this Forum troubleshoot, give us the details about the problem and the system. In this case, it seems you have a Desktop and Laptop computers networked using Wireless adapters whose Exact Make and Model are not given in the post. Conspicuously lacking in the data provided are any mention of the WAN (Wide Area Network ) or the Internet access method. What type of Internet access you have or trying to have and the devices used to access the Internet? Dial-Up Internet->Dialup "modem" > Ext vs Int> [?Make & model] Broadband Internet Cable Internet -> Cable Modem. [?Make & model] DSL Internet-> Modem or Modem+router[?Make & model] Do you have a Router /Switch/ Hub interposed between the WAN and LAN (Local Area Network i.e. your Home network of Lap and desktop] If yes, its exact make and model. The above information will provide a good start for the troubleshoot. Hope one of us can help you resolve your Networking problem.:-) M

ok thanks for the pointers this is how everything is setup for the network: I have an ADSL usb modem which is connected to an old amd k6 366 256mb ram which runs linux as my firewall router and webserver: this is plugged into a 100base hub with one other linux box and 2 windows machines connected to it. I did try and get the wireless adapter to run under linux using ndiswrapper but was unable to do so(this was a driver problem not the problem i am having now) In my frustration I removed the Q-tec 744WP PCI wireless adapter from the linux router and placed it into one of the windows machines to make things easier( i thought). The adapter on the laptop is a hostnet PCMCIA WLAN adapter which also just happens to run the same chipset as the q-tec which is a RTL8180L. (the realtek chipset) Now as I stated in the previous post I have used different drivers both from the manufacturers of the cards aswell as the native chipset driver from RealTek. I have also tried ad-hoc and infrastructure networks using the realtek config tools and having an ssid called starfleet (yes im a star trek fan and dont say im sad) Now when I try either of these configurations I get a response from both adapters that there is a network to connect to but nothing happens I cant ping anything from the laptop and I can ping the laptop from the windows desktop. I then proceded to use the windows XP wireless configs and let windows do all the work but still to no avail, both adapters say something is there and that the signal is excellent but I cant surf the web or connect to the desktop from the laptop or vice versa. Now I tried to bridge the LAN and WLAN adapters on the desktop and gave the bridge its own ip but still i am unable to surf the web from the laptop and the desktop can no longer either with the network bridge enabled as soon as I delete the bridge however the desktop can get out onto the internet. I think I have tried everything here this is my first steps into the wireless world and its not going too well, if anyone could point me in the right direction here I would be eternally gratefull thanks. I also hope this is enough information :-)

This is a very fascinating Linux & Windows Networking problem I will be very keen to watch & participate. Unfortunately, I will be on the road for the better part of the next 24 hrs starting the next 3 hrs during which I am making the prepartion for the trip. With one fast reading of your above post, I have not yet formed a visual image of the various components the way you have setup your network of 2 Windows clients + 1 Linux client ---> Linux Server->Internet; I am still on the " Abbot & Castello" stage in my undersatnding of the setup:-) One quick question: Had you already established Internet Acces usng your Linux Box --Hub>>>Linux Server--> USB DSL Modem> Internet chan before you added the 2 Windows Clients to the Network? Wouldn't a Cable Router prove more helpful in resolving the problem? Since I'm in the mindset to start my travel prep, the grey cells are busy with that and I might miss things, so I better stop here for you to ponder or post your respponse to my above comments. Good luck M

Hi thanks for the response: The answer is yes internet access has been available througout all this time without any problems. I have had the linux router box for about 7 years or so and have used it as a firewall/router webserver for all this time. As far as a cable router goes i really dont think that will help my situation as the router would basically be performing the same task as the old chug alug AMD 366 is doing now. The thing that puzzles me is I had an xbox setup in much the same way using a network bridge and it worked fine but(and a big but) that was on a wire going into the hub and not using a wi-fi connection. Up until this I really havent had much problem at all getting all the windoze and linux boxes and xbox (oh yeah and PS2) talking to each other and all happily getting out onto the internet thru old chug alug. I am going to see if its some hardware problem and test out the PCMCIA on someone elses wi-fi, I will let you know how I get on. Thanks for the response and have a safe journey :-)

Thank U Pragmatic. I am looking at my watch and typing and may create typos and other sundry errors and I hope you and other readers will forgive me for that. I have been always using 'WindoZ' and lately started taste testing different flavors of Linux but still a lowly newbie in that OS. I made a few Knoppix HDD installs, tried SuSe 9.2 on HDD and played with SuSE 9.3 Live DVD but have yet to get hooked on to it:-). My experience with a mixed Homenetwork of SuSE 9.2 ,WinXP Pro SP-2, Win2k -SP4 boxes through a Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router BEFSR41(4 pc Wired Homenetwork ) with Cable Internet access was not very plesant. Windows talked to one another and shared files and printers and each independently accessed the Internet [each has separate Software Firewall (NIS)] but Windows and Linux seldom communicated despite removal of firewalls etc :-(. I finally gave up Linux. Since I had no Linux Gurus to learn from or chat with, my enthusiasm waned. May be your question will rekindle my interest. Building PCs and doing Case Mods and other things take up a big chunk of 24hrs and Linux self learning had been pushed to the back burner! Good luck with your problem solving efforts and I hope you will post some updates to this thread for me to read tomorrow. M

Buy an access point and plug it in to your hub your linux box would still be doing the routing. It will be a lot less trouble and your desktop will not have to be on to use the Internet with you notebook. I have went the rout of useing two wireless cards and internet sharing and I would have to reboot the server ever couple of days ok for me but the wife could not do it.