No internet on WiFi but fine on LAN

[JustInspired]

My own little HP DM3 laptop that I take on jobs with me has suddenly stopped working on WiFi but works fine on the wired connection. This has taken up way to much of my time already and I'm about to nuke and pave but thought I'd ask here to see if I'd missed something.

This is running Windows 7 Pro x64. It was a clean install about 2 months ago so there has never been any bundled crap on it and I have not installed any firewall software.

Last time it worked was on Sunday just before I took it on a job. On the job I plugged it into a brand new router to configure it via cat5 cable on DHCP. Got home and it's not working on WiFi.

Before I tell you what I've done so far, let me tell you the full symptoms...It connects to my wireless router (and others), the WiFi icon status is connected, both local and internet. It gets a DHCP address from the router. IPCONFIG /all shows correct settings. I can PING anything on the net with no problem. All browsers try loading the page then time out and come up with the default Page Cannot be Found error. Sometimes I get as far as the page title loading into the browser titlebar before it craps out.

I know the card works fine in Linux Mint as I loaded up a live CD and went browsing wirelessly.

What I tried (may not be in order)...
1 Cleared caches including doing an IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS
2 Checked for malware
3 Removed the Managed Antivirus (GFI Vipre) and also ran the Vipre cleanup utility
4 Uninstalled the wireless driver completely and renstalled it
5 Checked for any rogue proxy settings or host file entries. (shouldn't be an issue as the lan works fine but I'm clutching at straws here)
6 Removed saved WiFi connections and reconnected
7 Ran the network and Windows repair modules in D7
8 Ran SFC /SCANNOW
9 Ran Tweaking.com AIO Repair Tool
10 Turned off Windows Firewall
11 Set a static IP
12 Drank several alcoholic beverages

There may be other things I did (curse at it?) but that's all I can remember.

 

[lan101]

did you check the drivers? uninstall reinstall them?

 

[JustInspired]

did you check the drivers? uninstall reinstall them?

Yes. Number 4 in my list above.

 

[mr m]

Man, it sounds like you covered all bases. Perhaps a simple router reset?

 

[JustInspired]

Man, it sounds like you covered all bases. Perhaps a simple router reset?

Forgot to mention it but yes I did that plus tried it on two other routers. I hate to admit defeat but I don't know what else to do but a nuke and pave.

 

[katz]

Try a system restore?

 

[pc-rebuilders]

Dns

Are you running open dns or anything like that? I just had almost the same problem, it was because I changed back to another router running OpenDNS. Once I deleted all the settings, and reset everything....worked fine.

 

[HubCityPC]

Before a N&P try creating a new profile...worth a shot.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Forgot to mention it but yes I did that plus tried it on two other routers. I hate to admit defeat but I don't know what else to do but a nuke and pave.

Had the exact problem several months back (Vista, though if I remember correctly). Spent most of a day spinning my wheels trying to figure it out. Like you, I tried damn near everything, and never did get to the bottom of it. Had to N&P.

 

[thebige]

Try a repair install? Try getting a wireless USB adapter and see if it works. Could be a bad wireless card.

 

[FremontPC]

Maybe uninstall the wireless driver with Revo and let it clean up the leftovers, then get the original driver from HP.

Is it an Atheros card?

 

[AlaDes]

Have you tried pinging any websites from the command prompt (I use Google)? If you get a response, you've got a connection, but are just unable to browse using a browser. If this is the case, I'd start looking into any internet security suites you may have had installed in the past, especially Norton or McAfee.

 

[JustInspired]

Maybe uninstall the wireless driver with Revo and let it clean up the leftovers, then get the original driver from HP.

Is it an Atheros card?

Did that and yes it's an Atheros card.

Have you tried pinging any websites from the command prompt (I use Google)? If you get a response, you've got a connection, but are just unable to browse using a browser. If this is the case, I'd start looking into any internet security suites you may have had installed in the past, especially Norton or McAfee.

Gasp! Norton or McAfee! No, as mentioned in the OP I only had Managed Antivirus from GFI that doesn't have firewall components. Cleaned that out properly anyway.
Yes as mentioned previously, I can Ping everything.

Try a repair install? Try getting a wireless USB adapter and see if it works. Could be a bad wireless card.

Think I'll try a repair install if possible. Most times I try to do that, Windows informs me that the version I'm trying to upgrade is newer than the install medium.
Sold our last USB wireless adapter during the week so when I get some more in I'll be trying that. However, the internal card works fine on Linux Live CD.

Before a N&P try creating a new profile...worth a shot.

Got two users on this machine so figured they both can't get hosed at the same time. But I will try that anyway.

Are you running open dns or anything like that? I just had almost the same problem, it was because I changed back to another router running OpenDNS. Once I deleted all the settings, and reset everything....worked fine.

I do use OpenDNS settings in my router so maybe I'll try using Google DNS as a fixed entry on this wireless adapter to see if that makes a difference.

Try a system restore?

Yes, one of the first things I tried. No difference.

 

[Martyn]

I was going to suggest a wireless USB, I carry a couple. Also if you can ping by ip and name and it resolves I would put on Wireshark and see if that gives any clues.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

yes it's an Atheros card.

That moment when the feeling of hopelessness sets in .

 

[citizensmith]

Can you connect to your routers' wepage? Or connect to a web page by ip adrres only like cnn on 157.166.255.19?
my best guess

 

[JustInspired]

That moment when the feeling of hopelessness sets in .

Yeah. Well... it works on Linux Mint Live ok.

I tried the only other half-height Mini PCI card I had available but got the dreaded HP "unrecognized wireless device" BIOS error message so that idea got shelved.

Can you connect to your routers' wepage? Or connect to a web page by ip adrres only like cnn on 157.166.255.19?
my best guess

Nope. Cannot even get to my Netgear router at 192.168.1.1
Tries to load a blank screen then times out. As mentioned, I can PING, also NSLOOKUP and TRACERT work as expected. It's just HTTP requests that get killed.


Update...
I've set 8.8.8.8 (Google's DNS) as a static entry for that wireless adapter - no change.

I've created a new admin account and still the same.

Is is there a browser log file somewhere?

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Yeah. Well... it works on Linux Mint Live ok.

Anytime something funky happens with wireless out of the blue its Atheros. Anytime I can't fix a wifi acting up its Atheros. Anytime a customer buys a new usb dongle and they start crashing out of the blue guess who makes the chipset? Atheros.

See if you can't find different versions of the drivers, like for example if you find drivers like V1 V2 V3 try the different versions.

If you do get a usb wireless dongle to try please make sure its not based on an atheros chipset.

If you do decide to reinstall windows do yourself a favor and do a hard drive image just in case you find it not working when you get back into windows. (yes yes I know it works for you in linux but when dealing with Atheros, expect the unexpected)

 

[kwest]

Try a USB adapter if that works then buy a new wifi card. I have seen them fail like this before

 

[SilverLeaf]

Just grasping at straws, but have you tried switching encryption types, or disabling it altogether? Might be a WPA issue or some such not playing well with the hardware.