Enabling Wireless in Windows Server 2008
May 28th, 2007 | 35 Comments
There is a several week lag between the last day of classes and graduation, so I decided to use this free time to, among other things, catch up on my other hobby – installing and breaking software. More specifically, I decided to test out the latest beta of Windows Server 2008 (formerly known as Longhorn Server) for several reasons. Primarily, several of my friends use a Windows Server OS as their primary computer, so I wanted to know what that felt like. Second, I’ve heard good things about IIS 7, so I figured I’ll try it for myself.
I have been using Windows Server 2008 as my primary OS for a week now, and overall it is has been pretty good. The most difficulty I had was in enabling Wireless Networking, so after some help from Walt Blanchard in the Beta newsgroups, this post will outline the problem and then the solution.
The Problem – When Diagnostics Don’t Help
I expected as smooth of a wireless setup experience that I have with Vista. What threw me off originally was that, despite verifying that my wireless driver works, my Windows Server 2008 laptop would not detect the network:
Even using the built-in troubleshooter that appears when you hit the red x (see above image) provided me with two options that didn’t work in my case:
Based on the suggestions of the above window, I attempted to reinstall my Intel 2200BG drivers several times, and my IP Bindings seemed correct. After repeated attempts of these and various other steps failed to get wireless working, I decided to post on the Beta newsgroups. It was there I was able to figure out the solution to the problem, so let’s look at that.
Enabling Wireless
The problem was that the Wireless feature was not enabled. Because this is a Server OS, almost all background services are disabled out of the box. Any non-essential features that you would want, you need to add manually. The Wireless feature is no different.
First, launch the Server Manager by clicking the first icon in your System tray. Find the area marked Features Summary, and click the Add Features link:
When you click on Add Features, you will be prompted with a list of features that you can add. Scroll all the way down until you find the checkbox marked Wireless Networking:
Check the Wireless Networking checkbox, hit Next, and continue the installation process. After a few moments, your wireless will work, networks will be detected, and all of your digital/analog problems will be solved. I didn’t have to restart my computer either. The world began to make sense again.
Two Ways of Looking At This
It is safe to say that the solution was fairly straightforward. The time I spent troubleshooting, while a great learning experience about other Windows Server features, was spent in the wrong direction. There are always two questions I ask myself when I realize that I spent time searching for an answer to a different question than the one I was stuck on:
1. How can I avoid that mistake in the future?
Servers are usually not connected wirelessly. Because this is a non-essential feature, I should have done a better job searching the Add Features window to see if this feature is listed as something that needs to be added.
2. How could the software be improved to avoid this issue?
The diagnostic features exist to help troubleshoot errors. When trying to troubleshoot a network connectivity issue, especially when no LAN connection is present, the wizard could try to check if the Wireless Networking feature is enabled instead. This seems like a solution the Windows Network Diagnostics window should list as an option.
These are two things that, when you write software or design web sites, that you need to ask also. There is a balance between expecting the user to know enough about the system and making sure the software provides you with all ranges of suggestions to a problem. In this case, I would place the pendulum more towards the software end covered by Question 2.
Concluding Remarks
Besides this wireless issue, Windows Server 2008 has been really great. I learned how to use IIS 7 to do a lot of things on my home network that I never knew how to do before. After tweaking some security settings, I was able to run all of the applications that I normally run on my primary Vista machines. For example, my most recent tutorial was actually written, tested, and uploaded entirely from the Server 2008 laptop.
Since I miss the niceties of the client version of Vista, I’ve returned to using it for my everyday needs. Overall, this was a lot of fun, and if Windows Home Server wasn’t still doing a great job, I would probably have more of a use for another Server in the home.
Cheers!
Kirupa 
May 29th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
So would You recommend installing it?
May 29th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
It all depends on what your needs are. The best thing would be for you to look at the features here and see if you need any of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Server_2008
Otherwise, if your Vista setup works well, you don’t have to rush out and install it for everyday home use.
May 31st, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Sweet Thanks!
August 14th, 2007 at 2:27 am
[...] Windows Server 2008 (”Longhorn”) Wireless Gotcha Well, it seems that yesterday’s issue was not hardware or driver related at all (sorry Asus!). Windows Server 2008 (”Longhorn”) does not install wireless networking support by default and you must install it by adding the Wireless Networking feature (details at http://blog.kirupa.com/?p=99). Although I do feel a little stupid (especially after buying a second wireless adapter) it would have been nice if the Network Diagnostics told me that Wireless Networking had to be installed rather than suggesting a hardware/driver issue or a missing TCP/IP protocol. [...]
December 10th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Rock n’ roll
January 19th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Man what a simple fix,I guess I’m gonna have to buy a 2008 server book just to check out all the features. Thanks for this blog man,I appreciate it!
January 19th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
haha – thanks
February 26th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Really Good. Thanks a Lot My dear. Kindly share me a 2008 technical details
March 6th, 2008 at 8:56 am
As to your comment about the “niceties” of vista – The only one you cant enable in Server 2008 is Windows Media Centre. Since very very few laptops are media centres, I don’t assume that’s the one you mean.
As for aero etc, you need to enable the Desktop Experience feature from server manager, and then enable Themes service.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Thanks for the suggestions Vigilante!
April 11th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Thank you. this really saved the day. I am pleased with Windows Server 2008 on my Laptop and this was the last issue I had to resolve.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Thank you…. thank you… thank you. I was not sure what I needed to do to make wireless networking work.. Also, thank you about the comment on areo. However, without Windows Media Centre, I am not sure how long I will remain with Server 2008 on my laptop. I will probably use Servier 2008, you guess it, as a server.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Is Windows Server 2008 32 bit and 64 bit on the same DVD? Do they use the same product code?
May 4th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
John – I really don’t know the answer to that.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Thanks so much! I spent nearly 2 hours and several restarts trying to figure this out.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:57 am
Thanks, this was a big help.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
thanks. i was baffled until i came acroos your posting. whew….
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Thanks so much! You’ve saved me so much time in trying to get my wireless to work.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:35 am
[...] that, follow this simple example : http://blog.kirupa.com/?p=99 [...]
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Thank-you for your diagnostic post on this issue. You SAVED me a great deal of time, AND reminded this old professor, of the “Two ways of looking at this” approach to problem solving. It will be paid forward!
October 27th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I echo others sentiments… I figured they disabled something relating to wireless, but I couldn’t nail down what. Thanks for posting this!
January 28th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Dear Kirupa..
am sooooooooooooo thankful..
u solved my problem
best regards !
January 30th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Thank you! Great help!
March 31st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Kirupa,
Thank you so much for your post.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
cant get my dongle to work on my laptop, do i need to download some thing first
May 25th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Thanks for your write, nice tutor to solve my wireless problem in 5 minutes. Done!
August 4th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Добавлю в избранное, написано не плохо
August 10th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Неплохая подборка в блоге, хорошо сделано, автору спс.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Thanks for this. It works for me, I am using Netgear WG111v2 USB wireless adapter. It showed as “Wireless LAN Service” under Features->Summary and not “Wireless Networking”..I’m just not sure what’s the different between our Server 2008 version. Just letting other people know. Thanks again.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Интересная статья, добавлю в избранное и буду следить за обновлениями
September 19th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Для более подробного и внимательного изучения добавил в избранное. Буду изучать
September 25th, 2009 at 10:40 am
порно бесплатно без регистрации только для blog.kirupa.com
October 9th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Неплохой ресурс мне подсказали, будет теперь у меня в закладках.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Thanks a billion for this – I was about to buy a second card……
November 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Brilliant, was wondering what I’d forgotten – just installed Server 08 x64, and added both of my wireless cards, but then one installed OK, the other totally failed to install, and neither functioned!
Now have one Belkin F5D7000 working perfectly. Many thanks!