Windows 7 / Networking

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Troubleshooting Wireless Connections

Because of the different components and processes involved, troubleshooting wireless connections can be a difficult task. This section describes the following:

• The tools that are provided with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista to troubleshoot wireless connections
• How to troubleshoot wireless connection problems from the wireless client
• How to troubleshoot wireless connection problems from the wireless AP
• How to troubleshoot wireless connection problems from the NPS server

Wireless Troubleshooting Tools in Windows

Windows Server 2008 provides the following tools to troubleshoot wireless connections:

• TCP/IP troubleshooting tools
• The Network Connections folder
• Netsh wlan commands
• Network Diagnostics Framework support for wireless connections
• Wireless diagnostics tracing
• NPS authentication and accounting logging
• NPS event logging
• SChannel logging
• SNMP agent
• Reliability and Performance snap-in
• Network Monitor 3.1

TCP/IP Troubleshooting Tools

The Ping, Tracert, and Pathping tools use Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo and Echo Reply and ICMPv6 Echo Request and Echo Reply messages to verify connectivity, display the path to a destination, and test path integrity. The Route tool can be used to display the IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables. The Nslookup tool can be used to troubleshoot domain name system (DNS) name resolution issues.

The Network Connections Folder

When you obtain status on the wireless connection in the Network Connection folder, you can view information such as the signal speed, which is shown on the General tab. Click Details to view the TCP/IP configuration.

If the wireless adapter is assigned an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address in the range 169.254.0.0/16 or the configured alternate IP address, the wireless client is still associated with the wireless AP, but either authentication has failed or the DHCP server is not available. If the authentication fails and the association is still in place, the wireless adapter is enabled and TCP/IP performs its normal configuration process. If a DHCP server is not found (either authenticated or not), Windows Vista automatically configures an APIPA address unless there is an alternate address configured.

Netsh Wlan Commands

You can run the netsh wlan command with the following parameters to gather information for troubleshooting wireless issues:

• netsh wlan show autoconfig: Displays whether the WLAN Autoconfig service is enabled
• netsh wlan show blockednetworks: Displays whether blocked networks are visible in the list of available networks
• netsh wlan show createalluserprofile: Displays whether everyone is allowed to create all-user profiles
• netsh wlan show drivers: Displays the properties of the drivers for the installed wireless network adapters
• netsh wlan show interfaces: Displays properties for the installed wireless network adapters
• netsh wlan show networks: Displays the list and properties of the available wireless networks
• netsh wlan show profiles: Displays the list of group policy and local wireless profiles
• netsh wlan show settings: Displays the global wireless settings, which includes the state of Wireless Auto Configuration and whether everyone is allowed to create all-user profiles.
• netsh wlan show tracing: Displays the state of tracing and the location of the wireless tracing logs (by default in %SystemRoot%\Tracing\Wireless)
• netsh wlan show all: Displays complete wireless network adapter information and information on available wireless networks