topic Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008 in Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:21:42 GMT

I recently upgraded my laptop to NIS2008 and after going throguh the installation, I was no longer able to establish a wireless connection with my router or connect to the internet via my ethernet port. I contacted the laptop's help forum and they instructed me to uninstall NIS. All of my drivers are up to date, and SP3 was installed prior to upgrading NIS. The wireless and ethernet functioned properly after installing SP3, but ceased working after installing NIS2008. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem with NIS and could offer a better solution other than completely uninstalling NIS.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil_D — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:11:09 GMT

dolinn,

Be sure your Windows Firewall is OFF so that you are not running two firewalls.

Next try this Norton link dealing with your issues.

If you still have questions, please get back to us.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Vineeth — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:05:36 GMT

Since the issue is with your router or network, I suggest you to configure firewall for the network. Steps...

Open Norton product>Click on Norton Internet Security tab>Click on settings>Click on Norton Internet Security options>In the new window,on the left pane ,click on firewall>Trust control>now on the right pane,click on the network listed under the active tab>Click on the Trust tab under the Active tab>Apply and OK.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:37:37 GMT

Phil,

I followed the steps, but they did not work at all. If you have any futher suggestions I would be open to ideas or if you need further information I could provide it. If not, I will simply uninstall NIS.

EDIT:

Vineeth,

I tired to connect my laptop to the router via an ethernet cable, and then go through the menus as you described, but when I got to the Trust Control window, no networks were shown. Again, the router is functional, since my desktop (which I am typing on) can connect to the internet via the router and I was able to connect the laptop to the internet prior to upgrading NIS.

Message Edited by dolinn on 08-25-2008 05:37 PM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:16:19 GMT

This sounds interesting. Just as a side, and I am sure you thought of this; can you see the wireless network at all? If you right click on the wireless icon on the taskbar, can you get a status and see the network name? Have you tried a repair? I have seen where the networkparameters in hp laptops get disturbed (espically on a static ip) and the network no longer works. You might try ipconfig from the command line and see if everything is still correct. Sometimes a channel change can cause some strange problems, espically if you don't run on channel 1. The local ethernet connection on the laptop may be turned off, as mine is. Also if the bridge feature got turned on in the wireless setup, it probably won't work. Just various things that I have found in the past that sneek up on you if you aren't watching.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:37:13 GMT

I have a Thinkpad from Lenovo which doesn't use Windows to connect to the internet, but instead uses a program called Access Connections to assist with connecting to the internet. You can connect to a wireless/wired connection just like you would with Windows, it just streamlines some of the menus (see this article for some more info). I can perform a search for nearby wireless access points, but the laptop can no longer find any access points after I upgraded to NIS2008, so I can't attempt to establsih a connection because according to my laptop, there are none to connect to.

As far as the ipconifg suggestion, I will check that in a bit. I assume that it is possible to tell if the ethernet is on by looking to see if activity lights flash when I connect a cable (which they do) and making sure the device apppears to be in the Device Manager and is functioning (which it does). And I am not sure how to check if the bridge feature has been turned on, but at no point during upgrading did I see an option to turn it on. If you could let me know how to check it , then I will.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:57:39 GMT

It is in the wireless connections page. If you view network connections it should show up and it would say bridged. Could it be that the access connection is actually a proxy connection. Seems to me that you wouldn't need this at all. Sounds like an "AOL COnnectivity" type of thing that allows you do do a dialup or something to a specific network, which is now being blocked by the firewall.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil_D — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:36:31 GMT

dolinn,

You should check in the Norton firewall settings to see if the program "Access Connections" has full permissions. You should see a number of programs in this window listing their type of internet access permissions.

Message Edited by Phil_D on 08-26-2008 10:36 AM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:26:55 GMT

Phil D,

I added Access Connections to the list, but it still isn't working. I could remove Access Connection if you think that might help, but like I said before this wasn't a problem prior to upgrading NIS.

EDIT: Also, if there was an issue with the firewall and program permission, wouldn't it have stopped when I disabled the firewall earlier?

Message Edited by dolinn on 08-26-2008 12:26 PM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil_D — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:15:35 GMT

Yes, if you disabled the firewall, I should think that would have taken away the variables dealing with program permissions.

As a long shot, view the Network Map (Left side of Norton Control Center) and be sure nothing there is restricted.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:01:03 GMT

Phil,

After clicking the Network Map, a message pops up which says:

"Cannot probe your network. This may be caused by tunneling protocols (for example, VPN), or you computer is not online. Do you want to try again?"

If I click retry, the message just reappears.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

Phil_D — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:22:32 GMT

Good Morning dolinn,

I watched the flash video about "Access Connections" on the link you provided. I am not familiar with this program , but I noted that various settings can be adjusted in the profiles; one of them being settings for your Firewall.

Could you explore the firewall settings inside "Access Connections" to see if something there could be conflicting with the Norton Firewall?

Please let us know how you are progressing.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:57:54 GMT

I apologize for the tremendous delay. I have been extremely busy with school and I have been able to manage with just my internet connection on my desktop. However, I had some free time to sit down and work on my laptop.

To answer Phil_D's suggestion, I checked out the firewall settings in Access Connections and the only menu I could find was one that allows you to turn Windows firewall on or off for each individual connection profile. So if, for example, I wanted Windows firewall on while using my ethernet port, but off for the wireless connection, I could use the menu to have it apply the settign when I change connection. To be honest it is a rather pointless feature, but be that as it may it wouldn't effect my wirelss connection because it is set to "off" by default, so the earlier tests I ran with the firewall off would not have been impacted by the setting.

I also tried to uninstall AC, and that did not help restore my connection. After uninstalling AC, I went to the Network Connections menu and no connections (neither the ethernet or the wireless) were shown.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

mijcar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:37:48 GMT

Sorry I am getting here so late.

I have Access Connections on two of my three home computers. One of them is active: that means that the software controls access to the computer's wireless broadcaster/receiver. One of them is inactive: that means the software is installed and ready for use any time I tell it to, but at the moment is leaving access control to the operating system.

All three computers have no problems with wireless connections, either to the home network or to the wireless printers that is installed nor to the wired printer accessible through the router.

There is good reason for Lenovo and IBM's Access Control. There are times when I don't want the computer to have access to the internet (for example, when I am engaged in defragmenting or a long install; and I want to speed up the process by turning off the antivirus program and sometimes the firewall). When Windows controls access to the wireless card, it is easy to forget to disable it (and sometimes a pain to re-enable it) after removing the LAN cable. But I have Access Control set up to block wireless unless I specific tell it to allow it - takes two clicks - so it is much easier to use. It also provides an extra layer of security when travelling.

Anyway, I have found that all my past problems with wireless were always due to the security password in the network and all those settings (WEP, etc). My modem, wireless point, and router are Linksys products; and reluctant though I am to give lavish praise, I have to say that they were the most professional and helpful customer service people I have ever worked with. Every problem was solved; the support was gentle but concise; and it was all free! So I would begin by calling for support from whatever manufacturer is responsible for your products.

Good luck,

Message Edited by mijcar on 09-19-2008 05:37 PM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:57:43 GMT

mij,

Sicne you have AC, I will try to re-explain my problem. I had profiles on my laptop for an ethernet connection with my router and wireless connection to my router and to my school's wireless access point. After upgrading NIS, all of the profiles ceased to work and using the Fn+F5 didn't turn on my wireless card (it was stuck on "off"). After updating all of my drivers, I could turn the wireless card back on, but none of my profiles worked and when I did a search in AC to find nearby networks, none would show up. The problem doesn't have to do with a WEP password or my router (or my school's), it has to do with AC not being able to find access points at all and I know the access points are functional. The problem started after I upgraded NIS (everything worked fine before I upgraded) and i am just trying to isolate the problem.

Message Edited by dolinn on 09-19-2008 11:57 PM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

mijcar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:11:17 GMT

Dolinn,

Ouch!

I like what AC can do, but I have had trouble with their settings with and without NIS 2008. At the moment, however, on both my wife's and my own computers, AC is working fine -- it is picking up all reachable local wireless sites (which I can confirm with my son's Window's system). But I am using NIS2009 and it seems more reasonable.

Since the upgrade is free, why don't you download NIS2009 and see if it works better with AC? I don't see how it could make the situation worse and it just might make it better.

Other suggestions. Have you tried totally removing AC from your computer and reinstalling it using Thinkvantage System Update? That worked once for me when I got totally tangled in my wife's settings and could not get AC to work at all.

I don't get that much help from Lenovo -- they don't like to do software issues unless you have a software warranty. But since you don't at this point know whether or not it is a software or hardware problem for absolutely certain, you could call Lenovo and discuss this as a hardware issue. The only way for them to prove otherwise would be to explore the appropriate software fixes ...

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:24:21 GMT

mij,

I have been in contact with lenovo on their forums and they have been relatively responsive. Also, I have tried manually removing AC, but I went to "Network Connections" and nothing was there and I am not sure why that is, so I just reinstalled AC. I am not sure how I would run the ThinkVantage System update without a internet connection. Is there a .exe I can download from lenovo on my desktop and tranfer to my laptop?

As far as upgrading to NIS2009, that is an decent idea but I want to make sure I try everything else and try other software fixes, before I dig the hole deeper. If all else fails, at least I can run a factory restore and start over, but I would like to avoid that if at all possible.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

mijcar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:48:18 GMT

dolinn, Windows has its own network connections wizard and the removal of AC should totally enable the wizard to do its job. In fact, if you are hardwired to the internet at home, you should be able to be on the internet without any help at all. If this is not the case, then the problem you are having would appear to be a Microsoft issue rather than either Lenovo or NIS.

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

dolinn — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:11:27 GMT

mji,

I uninstalled AC again and plugged in the ethernet cord that was hooked up to my desktop (so I know that works). The lights on the network card go on when I plug it in, the device is "working properly" according to the Device Manager, but I go into Network Connections an no network adapters are shown. I clicked "Create a new connection" and went through the steps for a broadband connection, clicked Finish and nothing shows up. Now I am totally baffled.

Message Edited by dolinn on 09-20-2008 01:11 AM

Re: Issues with Wireless/Ethernet Connection and NIS2008

mijcar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:12:25 GMT

dolinn,

When you talk about plugging in to your network card, do you mean an onboard card or a card (such as a PCMIA card) that you put into a port on your computer? If it's the latter case, then there are also issues to think about related to those drivers (for example, drivers that allow the PCMIA port to work and other drivers related to the card plugged into the port). I hope it's not this latter case, because I used to have all sorts of problems with those cards.

Assuming that you have the standard onboard card and that it is functioning, it should be easy to access the internet. Since you suggested that this was a problem with the security software, have you tried uninstalling the security software then briefly connecting to the ethernet cord and trying to make an internet connection? If you can't get a connection that way, then we at least know what isn't the problem.