Troubleshooting WLAN Acquiring Network Address And Other Common Problems
As the prices of WLAN equipment goes down, it is now possible for most of the people to have their own WLAN networks. The catch is that a number of people get errors like WLAN acquiring network address or similar problems which prevent their WLAN networks from operating normally. Here is a look at some of the common configuration problems which you may come across.
To begin with there is the very common WLAN acquiring network address problem. In this problem the device which is trying to enter a wireless local area network just keeps on showing that it is trying to acquire a network address and does not get any further. This is a problem which occurs mostly due to misconfiguration of IP addresses. This is generally where one of the parties is set to use fixed IP while other is meant to use dynamic IPs. The solution is to change the device configuration to whatever is the network norm.
Another common problem in configuration is that of standards. Various standards of WLAN technology are in use now a days. There are 802.11 a, 802.11 b and 802.11 g. There is an 802.11 n (draft standard) as well. In some cases, the network is locked to only one standard. This means that 802.11 a device would not work in other standard network. If you get such a problem, you have to check with the network administrators and see which is the best way out. Generally switching your device to that mode would work.
One more common problem that people tend to encounter every once in a while is that of an IP address conflict. This is a c common problem in cases where static IP addresses are being used. It occurs when two or more nodes in the network are given the same IP address by mistake. You would not have to worry about this if the network and device are set to use dynamic IP addresses. The solution is to change the address of all but one of the devices which are having the address conflict. Other than this, the security configuration problems are also present. WLANs use either of these three systems to secure access - WEP, WPA Pre Shared Key and WAP 2. They are not compatible with each other. If you get messages like authentication failure, you would have to reset the encryption system in all devices to a common one. WPA Pre Shared Key is recommended. Other than that you may encounter drivers problem, generally when using Linux and a non Intel WLAN solution. In some cases a USB adaptor might also get frequent connection drops. Here a replacement is required. Remember that most of the problems like WLAN acquiring network address are common problems which you may solve by checking configuration. So remember to read the manuals before you call support.
| 
