My Toshiba e740 has WiFi built in, but it communicates only
sporatically with my Belkin F5D6130 802.11b Access Point. The Access
Point
connects to a Belkin F5D5230-4 Router, which hooks to my
Scientific-Atlanta WebStar cable modem. All computers hard-wired to
the router, and one computer connected via 802.11b can access the
Internet just fine.

If I turn off all security encryption and MAC address filtering, I can
get on the Web with the e740 once in a while, but never to a page
requiring log-in. It doesn't seem to matter whether I use DHCP or
static addressing on the e740.
What can I do to improve the Internet access of this system?

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 03 Aug 2002 17:38 PDT

Hi waverouter

Have you tried any diagnostics
of the line connection?

You didn't mention the operating
system, but on Windows NT, 2k, XP
you can type ipconfig at a command
prompt:
[Hit start, run, type in cmd, hit <enter>]
[When the command window is open type ipconfig <enter>]

For Windows 95,98 it is called winipcfg
[Hit start, run, type in command, hit <enter>]
[When the command window is open type winipcfg <enter>]

That will tell you if you have been
assigned an IP address, and will show
your gateway address. If these are
blank or improperly populated, that 
could be part of the problem.

In NT, 2k, XP you can also type in the
command window:
nslookup google.com
It will show you if you have a DNS
server doing name translation for you
<[(this almost sounds like your problem)]>
A sample output would be:

Server:  ns1.yourdnshere.com
Address:  172.1.1.1

Name:    google.com
Addresses:  216.239.51.100, 216.239.35.100

That output shows ns1.yourdnshere.com
is responding to my network queries,
and it responded with google's ip's

You could do a tracert to cnn.com 
or amazon.com or google even.
In Windows NT, 2k, XP, 95, 98 at
the command prompt you would type:
tracert google.com
I'm behind a firewall right now,
so I can't show you the result for me.

Do you have too strict of a firewall
maybe?

You can try pinging ip addresses
that you know to exist
amazon - 207.171.184.16
cnn - 207.171.184.16

Only do a couple pings so it doesn't
appear as an attack.

You can even download some 
software for network analyzation.
There are very robust programs
that cost hundreds of dollars, but
in simpler form, there are free
ones available:
[ http://www.ethereal.com/ ]
[ http://www.webattack.com/features/premiere.php?id=100855&r=r ]
to name a few.

You only mention web surfing
have you tried other means of
connection? Are they being 
broken also? Some things to
try that require constant
connections:
AIM - aol instant messenger
MSN - microsoft messenger
IRC - internet relay chat
FTP - file transfer protocol
SSH, Telnet - shell access

Web access doesn't require a
solid connection 100% of the
time like these protocols do.
These will let you know the
quality of the connection by
the uptime available.


I hope this helps in some way.
Let me know if any of this answers
your question. Feel free to inquire
more and to add clarifations.
-AI

---

Clarification of Question by waverouter-ga on 03 Aug 2002 21:30 PDT

Surfing the web with a wired connection (via USB) works fine.

The operating system is Pocket PC 2002.

---

Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 04 Aug 2002 08:09 PDT

hi again waverouter,

For that long of a clarification I 
should have noticed the Pocket PC
part, hehe, sorry bout that. I 
will try to find some diagnostics
that you can try with a Pocket PC.

sorry for the trouble, =)
-AI

As a test, you may want to try surfing the web with a wired connection
(if the Toshiba allows that), perhaps connecting to a computer via
USB.  With a wired connection, try surfing the web and visit sites
requiring a password.  This test is to rule out limitations of the web
browser, instead of the 802.11b connection.

Good luck in you search for a solution.

Surfing the web with a wired connection (via USB) works fine.