Wireless router not giving out IP addresses

Factual Questions
1

I used to have a Linksys WRT45G wireless router, and it was notorious for failing to give an IP address to certain of my computers. It was also really flaky keeping my PS3 connected.

Eventually it blew up, so I replaced this last week with a shiny new Belkin N+ and guess what… it has the same problem.

I have three laptops, a Blackberry, and a PS3.

The router is set up with WPA PSK, with DHCP enabled.

All the devices’ wireless TCP/IP settings have DHCP enabled, and DNS autoconfigure enabled.

Laptop #1, FujitsuSiemens, XP, onboard wireless card - no problem connecting.
Laptop #2, Dell Latitude, XP, onboard wireless card - no problem connecting.
Laptop #3, IBM Thinkpad, XP, onboard wireless card - cannot obtain IP address.
PS3 - cannot obtain IP address (8013013d error)
Blackberry, cannot even see the SSID. When I enter the SSID manually, it fails to connect.

I’ve restarted the router, and then I did a factory reset and ran it as an unsecured network and had none of the problems above. I then reconfigured it from scratch with WPA, but the errors noted above recurred.

Has anyone had similar problems? Any solutions? I have admin rights on all but Laptop #3, but I do know it can connect to unsecure networks.

Thanks!

2

Oh, and I’ve got latest firmware installed on the router.

3

And then as if by magic, after it said it had failed to get an IP address, the PS3 was suddenly connected. Hmph.

Still leaves the other two devices though.

4

What happens when you disable the security and try to connect? Do you have any MAC filters enabled?

5

Without security, everything connects. MAC filtering off.

6

Once you connected with security off, then re-enable security, is the connection lost? I would check the security settings on each device; reset any passwords, double-check they are set for the correct security (WPA, WEP, etc).

I had similar issues with a laptop just a month ago. It was driving me bat-shit insane. I basically started over, connecting the laptop with no security and no firewall on. Once I got a connection, I double checked all my passwords and enabled WPA and the firewall. It stuck after that. I really don’t know what made the difference. Post any progress or new problems you get.

7

Try deleting the old wireless network from the Thinkpad and Blackberry before connecting to the new router.

8

Flander and Quartz, thanks for your suggestions. I have done all the things you suggest already.

The recalcitrant laptop is locked down by my roommate’s company, so I can’t alter any of the settings.

And the thing with the Blackberry is the invisible SSID - I can’t even get to see if it can get an IP address because it’s just not there. Even when I delete the profile and try entering the SSID name manually.

I’m starting to think I’ve gone from one notoriously buggy router to another one with the same issues. Does Linksys provide the innards for Belkin, or vice versa, by any chance?

9

You’ve already established that the problem is due to one of the security settings. Have you tried enabling each security setting in turn and testing? And what signal strength are you getting?

10

Make sure you’ve done this. Even if you duplicate the SSID and encryption type/key on the new router, the wireless network profile on the laptop is keyed to the MAC address of the existing router’s wireless interface.