Windows 7 Trendnet/Trendware TEW423 won't connect.......

[dkperez]

I looked in here and don't find anything specific to the TEW-423 and (as far as I can tell) I've done what the other "can't connect" notes recommended...

My wife's desktop worked FINE....... With XP. Had a disk problem and put in a new drive, and she asked about going to Windows 7 like the rest of the boxes.... SO, I stupidly installed W7, 64-bit home, which is EXACTLY what my laptop is running......

Went fine... Works fine. EVERYTHING IS FINE......

EXCEPT, kept the Trendware TEW-423PI (rev C whatever) wireless card.... According to the Microsoft chart this IS FULLY COMPATIBLE with W7 64-bit with the latest driver, WHICH I DOWNLOADED AND INSTALLED. The driver now matches what is on the Trendnet site - 6.1125.615.2010

It will NOT connect to my access point....... It worked PERFECTLY when it was XP, it still sees the network but it will not connect....

The laptop connects fine using the same WPA2 protocol... We're all in the same room, 6 feet from the access point......

I've got the access point on my desktop screen in front of me. I have the password right....... It will not connect.

I turned OFF WEP AND WPA security and tried it. It recognized that the network was now unsecured and WILL NOT CONNECT.

I installed the Trendnet utility.... It sees the network, it churns, it will not connect...

Having verified the access point is accessible with the laptop, put in the recommended driver, used both Windows 7 and the Trendnet utility, turned OFF all security on the network, and tried repeated with no luck, I'm out of ideas.....

HOW do I get this POS to connect?

 

[Trouble]

Not sure, it seems that you've done practically everything I would suggest. The only thing that I will add is that you actually can't successfully "turn off" third party security suites without completely uninstalling them, often only after using the vendor specific uninstaller to rid the computer of all remnants of the software. So I would suggest completely removing any such third party software packages until you can determine for sure that they are not somehow part of the problem. You can reinstall them later. Also double check the router and make sure if it has any type of MAC address or IP address filtering that the MAC address and/or IP address of the problem NIC is trusted.

 

[dkperez]

Pardon me while I release a loud scream of anguish.............................

OK, ...

I don't have any security software on the affected system. All that's on there is the O/S..... Haven't put anything else on until I can get to the main system that has the kits...

I just checked the router and there's no MAC filtering or service filtering or IP filtering on... I also just (actually my wife) connected the laptop from the other end of the house and it connects fine.....

This is getting bizarre... I figure it's something stupid and obvious that I"m just missing.

 

[Trouble]

Not sure what else I can add except to suggest that depending on which wireless router you are using there may be some additional settings that you may try experimenting with;
Select a different channel up or down the available range to see if that makes any difference.
Adjusting the beacon interval and preamble. See the router documentation to see if those settings are available on your model. While never having had experienced this myself, I have heard mention that a wireless device being too close in proximity to the router can result in similar issues in essense as I understand it, more or less over-driving (too loud) the communication medium resulting in distortion. Again, I haven't ever actually experienced this but I just thought that I would pass it along for your consideration.

 

[dkperez]

What really confuses me is that this card worked in this computer when it was running XP... Same access point to DSL and everything..... Only change is the O/S.

I presume it's something different in the way W7 works, 'cause W7 says it connects but it won't communicate. The system SEES the network. It even asks for the WPA code... Then it just churns and says the connection was unsuccessful.

It appears there aren't a lot of other ideas out there for this problem. I've been rummaging around the Internet for several days, read a lot of notes about different problems, but nothing that's made a difference so far...

I'm beginning to think I should just pick up a different card that's logo certified or something. Life's too short to deal with something this dumb.

 

[TorrentG]

I would turn all security off in the router as a temporary test to see if it connects. Either way, you can proceed from there.

 

[dkperez]

Tried that yesterday....... Turned off WPA and WEP. It still wouldn't connect....... I checked on the network on the system and it recognized there was no security, but it still didn't communicate... Saw the network, just doesn't connect successfully.

BUT, I'm gonna try it again just in case I missed something yesterday...

 

[TorrentG]

By any chance, do you have a process with the name mdnsresponder.exe in the task manager?

Anyhow, run these commands one at a time from the elevated command prompt, then reboot:

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset C:\log.txt

You can copy/paste them with the mouse.

 

[TorrentG]

Ah, I think I know your problem...

Uninstall the utility that came with the driver, but make sure you leave the driver installed. Reboot and test.

If you can't do that, then uninstall everything and only install the driver itself, using the device manager. Test.

Make sure the WLAN service is set to automatic. Services.msc in the start menu to get to it.

 

[dkperez]

There is NO mdnsresponder.exe in the process list. Do I need one?

Ran the netsh commands........ Rebooted.

There's no utility installed.... All I did was let W7 boot, and install the old driver. Copied the "updated" 64-bit driver from Trendnet and installed it........

NO utility... Everything's being done from Windows 7.....

WLANsvc is running and automatic......

No change... Still won't talk to the network.....

 

[Trouble]

It would seem that perhaps the solution may be in fact resorting to a different card all together as you suggested in an earlier post but, I was wondering if you have a problem wireless profile that is causing the problem. It would seem that if you have never successfully attached to the wireless device than no such profile would be present but it won't hurt to check. Open the network and sharing center and choose "manage wireless networks" if there are any profiles present consider deleteing them and manually re-creating a new one using the "Add" button.

 

[dkperez]

Yup, been doing that too....... It always creates a profile even though it's never successfully communicated. I keep deleting them.....

Sounds like time to order a different card.

Unfortunately, there appear to be a plethora of notes out there about people having problems with all kind of cards... Netgear, LInksys, Trendnet, the Internet is awash in horror stories.... I'd hate to go through this again with another card...

 

[Trouble]

Understandable and because of that I wouldn't even attempt to suggest a card to try. There are just too many variables that need consideration and a wireless device that works fine for one person may not be a good solution for you. It seems that in your OP you mentioned that you are only 6 feet or so from the router, do you have your heart set on a wireless solution or is a wired option available for consideration. I don't know what you may have available to you in your circle of friends, family and or neighbors but I would suggest if possible to perhaps see if they may have a card or usb wireless dongle that you might use for testing in making any decisions. I would also suggest going with the wireless usb network adapter because they are relatively inexpensive, easily installed, tested and returned if they don't make the cut as well as providing a little versatility in that they can be used practically anywhere in anything if you need a quick fix for a network problem on another computer, laptop or netbook. Just some thoughts.

 

[dkperez]

Oh, I'm only six feet from the access point because it's in my office and I"m working on the machine there... Normally,
this machine is as far as possible from my office while still keeping it in the house! My goal is to keep my wife far, FAR
away when she's on the computer so wireless is needed...

So far, almost every card I've found on the MS compatibility chart that's logo certified IS OBSOLETE AND NO LONGER BEING
MADE....... So far, I'm not impressed with the compatibility chart......

 

[dkperez]

OK, I've now started down the silly path...... Opened a help ticket at Trendnet... AND very carefully gave them specifics on what it isn't doing, and WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN TRIED..........

The response:

Remove the utility and let Windows do the connecting.....

Oh....

Updated the ticket and was somewhat more "emphatic"...

Maybe it's not the silly path, maybe it's the stupid path...

C'mon folks, this is Windows 7, it can't be that hard..... Either the thing is ABSOLUTELY compatible, in which case their card is garbage or dead, or it's not, in which case their card is GARBAGE....

 

[TorrentG]

I installed the Trendnet utility....

Uninstall the utility that came with the driver, but make sure you leave the driver installed. Reboot and test.

If you can't do that, then uninstall everything and only install the driver itself, using the device manager. Test.

Make sure the WLAN service is set to automatic. Services.msc in the start menu to get to it.

There's no utility installed.... All I did was let W7 boot, and install the old driver. Copied the "updated" 64-bit driver from Trendnet and installed it........

NO utility... Everything's being done from Windows 7.....

OK, I've now started down the silly path...... Opened a help ticket at Trendnet... AND very carefully gave them specifics on what it isn't doing, and WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN TRIED..........

The response:

Remove the utility and let Windows do the connecting.....

Oh....

Updated the ticket and was somewhat more "emphatic"...

Maybe it's not the silly path, maybe it's the stupid path...

C'mon folks, this is Windows 7, it can't be that hard..... Either the thing is ABSOLUTELY compatible, in which case their card is garbage or dead, or it's not, in which case their card is GARBAGE....

Seems that at one point you say the utility is installed, then on other occasions, it's not.

What I would do is be absolutely sure that the utility and for good measure, the driver is completely uninstalled too. Basically, remove absolutely everything from the machine (software speaking) from the machine involved that is possible. Reboot and use Ccleaner to clean the HDDs and then again to clean the registry.

Once you are at square one with a "clean" pc, install only the latest available driver using the device manager, only. Do not run any .exe, unless it is absolutely needed to only extract the driver to a folder. In this case, close the installer once extraction is complete - then move over to the device manager and install the driver like that.

 

[dkperez]

It IS A CLEAN PC..........

As I've said before, I'm INSTALLING Windows 7.........

I've installed.... I've REINSTALLED.

I've installed just the drivers. I've installed the drivers AND the utility.

I've REMOVED THE UTILITY.

I've BLOWN away the whole thing and reinstalled to make SURE there's no utility....

There is NOTHING ON THIS BOX BUT AN O/S, AND A WIRELESS CARD. I haven't even bothered putting in the updated nvidia video drivers......

IT'S NOT THE UTILITY......

If it's the registry, it's being done either by the installation, or the Trendnet drivers...

Wednesday, if this &^%$# thing isn't working I'll go to the semi-local MicroCenter and have one of the droids guarantee me the card I replace this with is ABSOLUTELY compatible.

And I can pretty much guarantee this TEW-423 will be both my Trendnet cards - my FIRST, and my LAST.

 

[TorrentG]

Cool, but just so ya know, there aren't any members on this site that own stock on Trendnet.

Anyhow, the WLAN service is set to manual by default and I don't believe that it turns itself on when needed. For this reason, you should set it to automatic and then reboot.

 

[dkperez]

HMPH! Tell the truth, you're all big shareholders in Cisco!

Are you talking about wlansvc? 'Cause either the W7 installation or the wireless card driver installation is setting it to automatic and running... At least, every time I've checked it in the process list it's been automatic and running......

The WLAN autoconfig service is manual, but SOMEBODY's setting the actual service to auto and running...

 

[TorrentG]

Yeah, dunno if it's going to help any based on the description, but you'd want that WLAN Autoconfig set to Automatic.

Same for EAP and RPC services.