Hello Friends,

I have been having a problem getting an IP address while connecting to my unsecured wireless router. The signal is strong and my roommates have no problem connecting.

I am running Xubuntu 12.10 I think and using network-manager. I used to connect just fine to the network until recently, perhaps since the last update. Network manager just times out while trying to connect.

I would be quick to diagnose it as a driver issue, but I tried two external USB wireless adapters in addition to my internal card and none of them worked either!

So, assuming a software problem, I booted Backtrack 5 off a live USB. Then, using wicd I tried to connect again using all three wireless interfaces- I always got the error "Unable to get IP address". Again BT5/wicd has worked in the past on this network.

So now I am totally stumped! The only clue I have is that when I start wicd I get an error about "starting the D-Bus interface; see log for details". I have no idea what the D-Bus interface is... but if anyone wants to see that log, please tell me where to find it (on Backtrack).

It's strange that multiple devices won't connect on multiple operating systems. Has the router perhaps been reconfigured in some way? Like a DHCP server was disabled?

Yeah isn't that wild? I don't know about the router- I didn't set it up. I can try resetting it: that is the extent of my knowledge. My roommates are even less tech literate than me so I don't think they are changing any fancy settings.

I can also try going to a cafe and using their wifi and see if that works. Then I'll come back and report whether it is the router or my PC.

Hi there,

so who did? I take it from your description that you share an apartment with other people. One of them must be responsible for the IT infrastructure. Can't you ask that guy or girl if anything has changed? And if there has, why did the person responsible for that not notify you (or any other rommate)?

Hm. So you have some control over that appliance, and you don't know about its configuration or changes about it? That seems strange to me.

What would that tell you? The settings required in that internet cafe may be totally different from your router at home. You wouldn't get any further.

[X] Doc CPU

Thanks for your replies! I appreciate your interest in my ridiculous problem.

I don't know of any changes to the router config- however, I am kind of assuming that nothing has changed BECAUSE nobody told me; I will inquire when I get home. I wouldn't say my roommates are in charge of our IT infrastructure: it's technically true but they are serious noobs

As for the internet cafe, I figure that since the router is set up completely differently, I can see if it's an issue with the router or my computer... I mean if I can't get an IP address from the cafe either then it must be my computer. Could the error about the D-Bus interface have anything to do with anything?

Well I will report back tomorrow when I am back at work (where I can get online).

OK, sorry for the delay. I went to the cafe and was able to connect fine. So I talked to my roommates and it turns out they added a whitelist to block everyone else out, because it was too slow (they can do that- they paid for it).

So I am getting my interwebs from another source now. Sorry for the pointlessness of my question!

Not pointless at all. Thanks for the solution.