linksys wireless nic getting bad mac address from router?

I have a linksys wireless router, wrt54g 4-port. Two computers connect
nicely using d-link wifi cards. The third (using a linksys nic) can't
connect. When I first boot the PC (windows xp sp2) it can detect but
not connect to the wireless network. Workgroup is correct, router ssid
is detected correctly. Then the windows network manager claims there
are no networks in range, until I reboot. But there's a weird problem
(I think this is the cause):

the router Mac address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxb, (cloned)
the wifi card detects xxx.xxx.xxx.xxc.

I don't see any way to tell the nic to use a different mac address and
the router needs to have the exact address it has because that is the
address registered with the ISP. Besides, the other PCs get the
address right no problem. This was a working setup until the router
was reset. I have been over the router setup and the card setup until
I'm blue in the face. Anyone have an idea? Places to look? Diagnostics
I can do?

Dave

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 16:43:32 -0700 (PDT), Dave Stevens
<geek@uniserve.com> wrote:

>I have a linksys wireless router, wrt54g 4-port. Two computers connect
>nicely using d-link wifi cards. The third (using a linksys nic) can't
>connect. When I first boot the PC (windows xp sp2) it can detect but
>not connect to the wireless network. Workgroup is correct, router ssid
>is detected correctly. Then the windows network manager claims there
>are no networks in range, until I reboot. But there's a weird problem
>(I think this is the cause):
>
>the router Mac address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxb, (cloned)
>the wifi card detects xxx.xxx.xxx.xxc.
>
>I don't see any way to tell the nic to use a different mac address and
>the router needs to have the exact address it has because that is the
>address registered with the ISP. Besides, the other PCs get the
>address right no problem. This was a working setup until the router
>was reset. I have been over the router setup and the card setup until
>I'm blue in the face. Anyone have an idea? Places to look? Diagnostics
>I can do?
>
>Dave

I'm not sure what you're seeing on the problem PC. Where exactly do
you see this MAC address? The PC's wireless network adapter has its
MAC address permanently assigned to it at the factory. You don't
generally need to know a router's MAC address to get a PC to connect
to it through a wireless network adapter.

Is it possible that the PC is trying to connect to a neighbor's
wireless network instead of yours? What is your router's SSID? If
you haven't already done so, set the router's SSID to a unique name.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

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http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Dave Stevens wrote:
> I have a linksys wireless router, wrt54g 4-port. Two computers connect
> nicely using d-link wifi cards. The third (using a linksys nic) can't
> connect. When I first boot the PC (windows xp sp2) it can detect but
> not connect to the wireless network. Workgroup is correct, router ssid
> is detected correctly. Then the windows network manager claims there
> are no networks in range, until I reboot. But there's a weird problem
> (I think this is the cause):
>
> the router Mac address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxb, (cloned)
> the wifi card detects xxx.xxx.xxx.xxc.
>
> I don't see any way to tell the nic to use a different mac address and
> the router needs to have the exact address it has because that is the
> address registered with the ISP. Besides, the other PCs get the
> address right no problem. This was a working setup until the router
> was reset. I have been over the router setup and the card setup until
> I'm blue in the face. Anyone have an idea? Places to look? Diagnostics
> I can do?
>
> Dave

Are you confusing MAC addresses with IP addresses?

MAC addresses (which may have to be cloned by the router in order to
satisfy your ISP) are in the form NN-NN-NN-NN-NN-NN, where each N is a
hexadecimal digit (0-F).

IP addresses are in the form nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn, where each triplet is a
decimal number from 000 - 255. If behind a home router, IP addresses are
usually in the form 192.168.x.n, where x is often 0 or 1 and n is 1 - 254.

It would help if you gave the actual output of ipconfig /all (posting
this data is not a security issue, so you don't have to obscure it).

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

On Jun 2, 7:43*pm, Dave Stevens <g...@uniserve.com> wrote:
> I have a linksys wireless router, wrt54g 4-port. Two computers connect
> nicely using d-link wifi cards. The third (using a linksys nic) can't
> connect. When I first boot the PC (windows xp sp2) it can detect but
> not connect to the wireless network. Workgroup is correct, router ssid
> is detected correctly. Then the windows network manager claims there
> are no networks in range, until I reboot. But there's a weird problem
> (I think this is the cause):
>
> the router Mac address is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxb, (cloned)
> the wifi card detects xxx.xxx.xxx.xxc.
>
> I don't see any way to tell the nic to use a different mac address and
> the router needs to have the exact address it has because that is the
> address registered with the ISP. Besides, the other PCs get the
> address right no problem. This was a working setup until the router
> was reset. I have been over the router setup and the card setup until
> I'm blue in the face. Anyone have an idea? Places to look? Diagnostics
> I can do?
>
> Dave

MAC address is not required for accessing the IP network. Mac address
is a phyical number stored on the network "adapter" used to identify
the card, like a serial number.

Example of a MAC address: 00-14-D1-C1-84-CC

Example IP address: 192.168.100.142


Check all / any antivirus software and software firewalls.