No network provider accepted the given network path

Question

Hello everyone,
I've got a "Workgroup" network consisting of two XP Pro PCs, one XP Pro Laptop, a networked printer and a Linksys Router (BEFSR41) attached to a Linksys Wireless Router (WRT54G).  All PCs are running
identical versions of ESET protection, of WIN XP Pro, etc.
When hard-wired, all PCs can access the internet, can share (Explore/delete/copy/move, etc.) files, can access the printer, etc.  In other words, they all work like they are supposed to.
When using the WIRELESS connection on my laptop it's different.  The Laptop can access the internet and printer but neither of the two PCs.  Also, neither of the two PCs can access the Laptop either.  When I attempt to (Windows) Explore wirelessly, or if I attempt to communicate with the PCs any other way, I get the error message "No network provider accepted the given network path".
I have searched the web and even tried the stuff that didn't make sense ("enable File & Print Sharing"... If it weren't already enabled then why would it work when hard-wired?).  I even tried a new wireless router with the same results.  Again, everything works as designed when hard-wired.
The ONLY time I have been able to wirelessly access the shared files on all PCs was when I turned off the wireless security.  In other words, if I disable the wireless router's WEP/WPA/etc. keys, THEN I can do everything wirelessly that I could when hard-wired.  I don't feel comfy about that ;-).
I didn't used to have this problem so I suspect it may have been caused by either a Windows or security software update.
Would someone please offer suggestions of what I might try to solve this problem? I'd surely be grateful!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Answer 1

Ya'all remember in the movie "Jumping Jack Flash" where
Whoopie Goldberg was given the riddle "What's the KEY?"?
IT'S FIXED!!! Now the bad news... I'm not certain whether it was
fixed by one, or a combination of things (and don't have the
time to reverse each step, one at a time, to determine).
I first disabled dynamic DHCP on the router then tried to
give each device on the network a fixed IP address. Since I
am not a wizard I may not have done this correctly.
Believing that, I took unnecessary devices off the network
keeping only one desktop PC and the laptop. Everything
worked correctly hard-wired but not wirelessly. This
eliminated the DHCP server as the cause.
I also tried static IP addresses with MAC filtering. Same
result.
A suggestion was made to use the router's installation disk
in the Laptop, making sure that was the ONLY PC attached to
the router to set it up. I decided to wipe it clean, start
from scratch and did a router reset (to factory specs).
Using the disk led me to unexpected errors in communication
during the setup... I must have tried three times before
having the installation go cleanly due to one setting or
another being incorrect on the laptop. I'm not sure at this
point whether the settings were changed during testing or
before the problem first surfaced. Sorry. :-(. Anyway, after
the installation went through, I was back at square one with
the same results and it was time to implement a
Strategy-Based Diagnostic routine!
Remember I mentioned in my OP that if I disabled the
wireless security then everything worked? That was my
primary clue. The router's instruction manual *clearly*
states the network will not perform as expected if the
security key in the router does not match the security key
used in the wireless devices (Laptop). I must have read that
100 times.
In the router setup window under Wireless\Wireless Security
it offers a security key choice of "Disabled", "WPA
Personal", "WPA Enterprise", "WPA2 Personal", "WPA2
Enterprise", "Radius" and "WEP".
On the Laptop, in the " Properties"
Association folder tab there is a drop-down menu for
"Network Authentication". Here I can choose a security key
of "Open", "Shared", "WPA", "WPA-PSK", "WPA2" or "WPA2-PSK".
This is where it gets confusing. Apparently there is a
difference between what the router calls a security key and
what the laptop calls a key... In other words, the security
key offerings of the router aren't *identical* to the
choices in the Laptop. After learning what differences each
security key had, I determined "WPA Personal" isn't the same
as "WPA-PSK". "PSK" does not equal "Personal" it means
"Pre-Shared Key". My bad. How stupid of me to assume only
the names were different! Why isn't there uniformity between
what the router offered and what choices the laptop had?
Knowing "Disabled" (called "Open" in the Laptop - see the
similarity???) worked, I tried the next stronger security
key, "WEP". That selection offered some protection but not
everything worked! Next I tried "WPA" then "WPA-PSK", etc.
until I found (what I believe to be) the only security key
to work properly... "WPA2 Personal" in the router and "WPA2"
in the Laptop (look IDENTICAL to you???) allowed me to do
everything that I could do hard-wired! I had assumed
erroniously, that if the next higher security key didn't
work, none would. I was wrong!
The weird stuff: I believe in my frustration, prior to
selecting the WPA2 key, I got distracted and I ran the
Wireless Network Wizard on the desktop PC. Keep in mind,
this PC has no wireless card. After it "completed
successfully" I explored the Laptop and visa-versa
wirelessly! This step may or may not have been the "KEY" all
along, sorry.
BTW, I think it was "D" (the key the song was written in