Realtek Network Cards on Grizznet - OU Help Desk

Realtek wireless cards are a known issue that may prevent connectivity to the wireless network, grizznet. The behavior of the cards would either not connect or connect with limited connectivity. Listed below is a possible work around for Realtek wireless cards to allow the computer to connect to grizznet;

Open Manage Wireless Networks
Select grizznet profile
Check setting “Connect even if the network is not broadcasting its name (SSID)”. See screen shot below.

You should now be able to connect to grizznet normally. This can be done by selecting grizznet from the wireless networks on your available networks list.

Adding A Wireless Network Manually

Windows XP

To create a wireless network, you may follow these steps.

Click Start, click Run, type ‘ncpa.cpl’, and then click Ok.
In the Network Connections window, right-click the Wireless Network Connection icon, and then click Properties.
In the Wireless Network Connection Properties, click the Wireless Networks tab. If you do not see a Wireless Networks tab, your network adapter may not support the Wireless Zero Configuration service.
Under the Preferred networks, click the Add button.
In the Network name (SSID) box, type the name of the access point and select the appropriate settings according to your network requirements. This setting will match the configuration of your access point or router. If you do not have a wireless router or access point, then set the wireless mode to Ad-hoc and use the same network name that matches the other computers.
Click Ok
Under Available networks, click the View Wireless Networks button.
In the Wireless Network Connection dialog box, choose a network by clicking on its name, and then click Connect.

Windows Vista

Click Start – Control Panel
Click “View network status and tasks” (in classic view double-click Network and Sharing Center )
From Network and Sharing Center left pane, click “Manage wireless Networks”
Click Add and then “Manually create Network profile“.
Enter the Network name (SSID) then the security type (ex: WEP,WPA,WPA-2)
Select Encryption Type (ex: AES or PSK)
Enter the Security Key/Passphrase. Optionally check the “Display characters” to display the security key that you type in.
To connect automatically to this network, check the box for “Start this connection automatically”
The next option is the key here. Check the box for “Connect if the network is not broadcasting” to connect to a network which doesn’t broadcast, in otherwords, you don’t find this network in the available network list.
In the next screen, select “Change connection settings” and choose “Connect automatically when network is in range”

Windows 7

Open the Network and Sharing Center window by clicking on Start, followed by Control Panel, View Network Status and Tasks.
In the next step, click on Manage Wireless Networks link which can be seen in the Navigation pane of the Network and Sharing Center window to open the Manage Wireless Networks window.
Now, you have to click on the Add button, which is shown on the extreme left of the Manage Wireless Networks Windows toolbar to open a dialog box asking How Do You Want to Add a Network?
Then, click on Manually Create a Network Profile option to open the dialog box which shows Manually Connect to a Wireless Network.
After it you have to enter the name of the wireless network in the Network Name text box.
If the wireless network is secure, then you have to select the type of security used like WEP, WPA Enterprise, WPA2 Enterprise, WPA Personal, WPA2 Personal, or 802.11x, which can be seen in the Security type drop down list that consists of no authentication. Basically, WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy and WPAÂ for Wi-Fi Protected Access.

These are two security settings which are presently in use. From the two security settings, WEP has been used for a long time and is less reliable. Whereas, WPA2 is also known as 802.11i, is the latest version of WPA security for wireless networks. The home and small business wireless networks make use of WPA Personal settings.

If you opt for WPA2 Personal or WPA2 Enterprise as the Security Type and your wireless network makes use of TKIP instead of AES type encryption, then you have to click TKIP in the Encryption Type drop down list. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard, a block type cipher which is adopted by the United States government. TKIP, a Temporary Key Integrity Protocol is an long used security protocol created to rectify deficiencies in the WEP security standard. After this, click on the Security Key or the Passphrase text box and enter the security key or the passphrase that is assigned to the type of security and encryption used by your preferred wireless network. The WEP security keys are generally from 5 to 13 case sensitive characters or they can range from 10 to 26 hexadecimal case sensitive characters; whereas, WPA and WPA2 security keys consists of 8 to 63 case sensitive characters. If you want to display the characters you type them in the Security Key or Passphrase text box. You have to select the Display Characters check box.
Click on the Next button. Then, the Windows operating system opens a edition of the Manually Connect to a Network dialog box which shows a Successfully Added message with a Connect To and Change Connection Settings option.
Select the Connect To option; if you now decide to get connected by making use of the new wireless connection, click the Change Connection Settings option for opening the Wireless Network Properties dialog box for the new connection, which will allow you to make modifications to the Connection or Security settings. Or, else you can click the Close button for reverting back to the Manage Wireless Networks button. As soon as you close the Manually Connect to a Wireless Network dialog box, Windows 7 operating system will show the name of the new wireless network connection at highest position in the list in the Manage Wireless Networks window. Now, you can make modifications in the order in which Windows 7 uses this connection by either dragging it down or downgrading it by clicking the Move Down button present on the toolbar.