Wireless connection problems

[fireflybob]

Finally decided to drag myself into the 21st century and go Broadband with wireless router etc.

Main machine working fine with wired connection between router and pc but cant get the laptop to connect to internet although the signal etc is all ok. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any help!

[Keef]

Lots :(

Before going into all the various "bits" of setting up a wireless network, have you worked through the instructions that came with the router?

What exactly does the wireless device in the laptop say when you try to connect? Does the "Connect" option appear at all?

It's normally pretty straightforward to get a laptop to connect via WiFi, once you've set up the security and entered the codes etc. The fun starts when you want to access one machine from the other, or print to a shared device.

[Cypherus]

All things wireless/Networking ect...... www.wown.com (http://www.wown.com)

[fireflybob]

What exactly does the wireless device in the laptop say when you try to connect? Does the "Connect" option appear at all?


Yes the Connect comes up ok but the web page will not load and when I run the diagnostic it says to contact your pc manufacturer etc.

It's Easter so cant get anyone on the phone but have spent the whole day on this and am none the wiser - if aircraft were this difficult they would be crashing all over the place!

[Cypherus]

Just a quick one you might like to try is too check your TCP/IP protocol is installed and operating correctly, if not you can get this problem.

[nic_from_rae]

Couple of things I would check..

1. Check the router itself to see if Wireless is enabled
2. Check that your laptop "sees" the wireless router. You should be able to do something like "View Availible Wireless Networks", make sure your's is being seen.
3. That your PC/laptop is getting an IP address from the wireless router. Go start->run then type cmd to get a command window. Type "ipconfig" at the DOS prompt. You should see an IP address (something like 192.168.0.2. if you see 169. instead of 192 you may have a problem with DHCP - the protocol that assigns IP addresses).
4. If you do have a 192. address then try the following from the same command window. Type "nslookup www.yahoo.com". This should tell you if you are connecting to DNS......
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>nslookup www.yahoo.com
Server: BThomehub.home
Address: 192.168.1.254
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: www.yahoo-ht3.akadns.net
Address: 69.147.114.210
Aliases: www.yahoo.com
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>

[fireflybob]

Well despite two lengthy calls to my ISP (75p per minute) trying various fixes including reloading the software and disabling security I am still unable to connect my laptop to the internet!

I am flying tomorrow - a bit of light relief after todays frustrations with computers and their support "systems"!

[green granite]

Does your laptop have a network socket? if so connect it directly to the router and try again, if it doesn't connect then it's probably the settings in your control pannel internet settings , if it does then it's a problem with getting the settings reconising the wireless network card

[fireflybob]

3. That your PC/laptop is getting an IP address from the wireless router. Go start->run then type cmd to get a command window. Type "ipconfig" at the DOS prompt. You should see an IP address (something like 192.168.0.2. if you see 169. instead of 192 you may have a problem with DHCP - the protocol that assigns IP addresses).

I see 169 so I have a problem with DHCP - how do I fix it?

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, much appreciated!

[Cypherus]

I put up a post earlier to check your INTERNET PROTOCOL (TCP/IP) If you did and your sure it’s installed and working correctly then this link:

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Troubleshooting-DHCP-Server.html (http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Troubleshooting-DHCP-Server.html)

will give you an insight into the DHCP server problem and what to do about it.

If not suggest you check TCP/IP is installed and that the relevant settings are correct,

If your certain that the Router settings for wireless are correct and functioning, try and connect the laptop to it via cable to see if it will make a connection at all, if it will then both of the above are OK, use the Network setup wizard if possible to transfer the settings to your laptop. if still no joy >

Then I would suggest you look hard at the adapter card settings and even the card it’s self for a possible hardware interface problem, Some equipment just does not like other makers equipment, fact of life I am afraid.

I Would also check to see if the laptops adapter is set to always one preventing the machine from turning it off intermittently to save battery power.