Windows 7 New PCIe Adapter "Identifying" Woes

[DrMario86]

Hey folks, I'm a system builder but not too well versed in networking yet.
Story: New apartment, new ISP, new router, new adapter
Hardware: Buffalo 300NH-V2, Asus PCIe N-15, Linksys USB54g
OS: Win7 64-bit (Hasn't been formatted in 6yrs, IIRC)
Symptoms: Stuck on "Identifying" with new NIC. Works on: old usb adapter, Vista notebook, Nexus 7
Already tried: Reboot Router/Modem, Static IP, New Asus and Realtek drivers, Winsock Fix, Bonjour (didn't have it), changed Avast to MSE

My ipconfig:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]


C:\Users\Domo>ipconfig /all


Windows IP Configuration


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


Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 5:


Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : ASUS PCE-N15 11n Wireless LAN PCI-E Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 10-BF-48-4B-64-A9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5926:1830:b195:3d1f%32(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.61.31(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 537968456
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-15-87-41-ED-04-4B-80-80-80-03


DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled


Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 6:


Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter #5
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1C-10-E3-8C-08
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cc47:4e0b:d1e:c116%22(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.11.37(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, September 07, 2012 10:14:07 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, September 08, 2012 10:14:07 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.11.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.11.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 520100880
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-15-87-41-ED-04-4B-80-80-80-03


DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.11.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled


Tunnel adapter isatap.{CD85FA07-90A2-473B-9044-0B2455F19253}:


Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Tunnel adapter isatap.{5372365F-731A-40F1-ACC6-DD844EDA2588}:


Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Tunnel adapter isatap.launchmodem.com:


Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


C:\Users\Domo

I'm rather stumped on this one. Been forums searching and Googling for a week with no luck yet. Any wise thoughts or ideas I overlooked?
THANKS!

 

[helpifIcan]

If using wireless security, even though other devices are working, I would turn off the security and see if it connects that way. This will as least narrow it down to which device is giving you issues.

 

[DrMario86]

Workin till 9pm today but I'll check tonight. I use a 26 digit WPA2- AES key. Are there any compatibility issues with AES?

Edit: just double checked, the N-15 should be fine with WPA2 and AES. Any concern over broadcasting channels? Still learning networking...

 

[helpifIcan]

Channels should be OK the only thing is if not too crowded in your area 1, 6, 11 are non overlapping and will give the best reception.
FYI US is only channels 1-11 other countries can use 1-13.

 

[DrMario86]

Well, some almost good news. When using no security, the N-15 at least recognizes the name of the signal but states "No Internet Access". The little 54GC stick once again thinks nothing of it and keeps chugging along. Does this by chance help to diagnose the issue?

 

[DrMario86]

An update full of sadness. Tried a more in depth Winsock fix that involved removing 2 registry entries. Backed up reg and good thing too because it then wouldn't detect ANY network adapters. After importing the backup registry, the janky Linksys recognized but N15 wouldn't detect even with Asus software and drivers.

Formatted, new partitions, shiny clean windows. Loaded all my drivers, software, documents. N15 detected and sees all networks but guess what...
Identifying. Balls...