Connectivity/activesync and network issues

You may occasionally get an error message that reads "This connection has limited or no connectivity. You might not be able to access the Internet or some network resources." It indicates that your PC is having a problem trying to access your network device to connect to the Internet. Very often, a bug that typically affects Windows XP Service Pack 2 causes this error message. This bug causes a loss of your network connectivity in workstations that use Microsoft's L2TP-based VPN (virtual private networking) client to connect to the NAT-based networks. You can fix the "Limited or No Connectivity" problem in a few steps. (If your connection works but you still get the error message, go to Section 2 to learn how to disable it.)

Review the following symptoms and determine if you experience any of them after you install the Windows XP Service Pack 2:

You get the error message "Limited or No Connectivity" when you attempt to connect to your network.

You have a problem connecting to your local area network or to the Internet.
You keep on receiving an error message: "Acquiring IP Address" message. If you experience these symptoms after installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, then this bug is causing the problem. In this case, go to Step 2; otherwise, skip to Section 3 Download the Microsoft patch (KB884020) from the Microsoft website. Run this update to install it. Create a registry fix by launching Notepad and typing: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\IPSec] "AssumeUDPEncapsulationContextOnSendRule\"=dword:00000002 Save the file as FixReg.reg to your desktop. Double-click the saved file to install it into your registry. Restart your computer and the error message will likely be gone. If you still see the error message, follow the steps in Section 2. b> If Your Connection Works But You Still Get the Error Message b> Navigate to the "Start" button and select the "Control Panel." Double-click on the "Network Connections" icon. Right-click the "Local Area Connection" icon and select "Properties" from the popup menu. Click on the "General" tab. Uncheck the option that is labeled "Notify me when this connection has limited or no connectivity." Click "OK." b> If the Patch Doesn't Fix the " Limited or No Connectivity" Problem b> Check your DSL router for any malfunctions. Re-configure or power cycle your router. Check your computer's network card configurations and network cabling to ensure that the problem does not lie here. Check your firewall to determine whether it is blocking you from connecting to the network or to the Internet. Disable the firewall and attempt connecting to the network or Internet while with the firewall is disabled. If the firewall is causing connection problems, then reset or uninstall and re-install the firewall. Reduce your connection speed to 10 Mbps and test this to determine if it fixes the problem. To do so, navigate to the "Start" menu and select the "Control Panel," "System" and "Device Manager." Review the properties of your network card. Click the "Advanced tab." Locate the "Link Speed and Duplex" section. Change the settings from "Auto Detect" to "10Mbps/Full Duplex." Hope this helps.

Sometime the wireless card does not connect to the wireless router properly and you will get this error message. To fix, right click on the wireless icon on the Task Bar and then click Repair and the wireless router will issue a new IP address to the wireless card in your computer/laptop.

Why don't you try uninstall - install the lan card, or disable from bios, or try another lan card?
Stelios

Hello kenji, hi, it would really help if you could add more information about the no connection problem, anyway there are several reason why you have no connection;

1. Bad Lan card, or built in lan port,
2. Lan card device driver not properly installed, check your driver CD.
3. loose lan cable. check using a lan cable tester device.
4. bad router or router setup.
5. bad dsl or modem setup.
6. bad telephone connection. check also telephone cable.
7. no internet service, call your ISP.
8. if you are using a wireless lan card, check the device.
9. bad Operating system installation.
10. check your connectivity setup, is it enabled?

Go through each from one to ten, see which one is the fault.

You're network card may be disabled, and that would be why you are unable to connect to yout network/the internet through your network card, to check this go to your network settings, right click on the "Local Area Connection" and if the option is there to "enable" then click it because your card has been disabled, if disable is there in stead then I'm stumped. with regards to "unidentified network" This usually comes up when someone has a wireless network created, but they have the settings made to not broadcast (show) the SSID (name) of the network. This is done for extra security, because in order for someone to connect to the wireless signal they need to know the type of encryption used, the key or passphrase for the encryption and on top of that the network name. Limited connectivity means that you are "connected" only in the sense that you can see the network connection, but you are unable to do anything with it.

Is this after the Bios post screen (shows how much memory what harddrives are mounted, etc.)? If not, are you getting anything other than one beep when bios posts? If so, you may have a hardware problem. Try removing PCI cards from it first (network card, sound card, etc.) and see if one of these cards is causing the issue.

If it's not all that and it is trying to load Windows, do you have a recovery disk? Does the computer hard drive have a recovery partition? If so, try and recovery Windows XP from the recovery program.

Hope this helps,
Bill

Limited or No Connectivity Error Message

If you are still experiencing this error message even you may be experiencing one of several problems shown below:
1) Your Network or DSL router may have bad or missing information. Powercycle your router and/or rebuild the configuration in your router.
2) Double-check your cabling to the computer. Make sure you have the correct type of cabling, straight-through CAT 5 or possibly a crossover cable and try another cable or test the cable to make sure its working properly.
3) Check your network card to make sure its configured correctly and working properly. Many times setting the network card to 10Mbps/Full Duplex will solve this issue. To do this, open Control Panel, System, Device Manager. Go to the properties of the Network card, click on the Advanced tab and find the Link Speed and Duplex section. Change it from Auto Detect to 10Mbps/Full Duplex.
4) Check and test your firewall. Your firewall, especially if its a software firewall like ZoneAlarm, Black Ice, Norton Firewall or something else could be blocking the connection. Disable your firewall and test the connection. You may have to resolve the problem by even uninstalling and reinstalling the firewall.
5) Check your IP address assignments and workgroup settings in the computer for accuracy. Statically assign IPs to the computers in your network.
6) Reset your TCP/IP stack by downloading and running WinsockXPFix.exe a Visual Basic program designed to fix corrupted TCP/IP issues, host file problems and a variety of other connectivity issues.

I'm going through this myself, and what I've read suggests that the 'install' be run on a PC (XP, NT, 2000 etc) running ActiveSync - the drivers are downloaded to the PPC from the PC. BUT...I can't use ActiveSync, does anyone know a way to get the drivers installed using ONLY the PPC (and a memorycard).
I know, didn't even solve the first problem (just explains why it doesn't work the way it 'should' work) and creating another...

Does your USB adapter provide serial port connections ? I had the same issue with an USB adapter with a dedicated-to-phone software. I changed to MSI bluetooth adapter and then made a serial port available to COM5, then connect activesync to COM5. (make sure on the ipaq you create a shortcut "activesync connection" and pair with the bluetooth adapter.

My experience with Linksys support has been one of horror. It relates to a different product - 2 port lan printer server. I never got it to work right & it is gathering dust. Perhaps when I have time I will try it out with WinXP with native support if it is built in. Although a manufacturer may claim on his site that a particular device supports WinCE 3.0 on mips cpu you have hake it with a ton of salt. There have been some threads on this boards for the specific device you mention & suggest you contact the concerned persons directly for their opinion & experience. I have found DLink to be far more accurate in its claims than LinkSys.