laptop internet access

[Baz]

any ideas on this one. over the past few days my sons laptop has not been able to connect to internet when he turns it on.It seems either that its not picking up a sidnal or the router is not giving out the signal. All settings are for the router to broadcast the key etc. his laptop is named in the security settings,he is not that far away from router just upstairs. even when the laptop is downstairs in same room as router it wont pick it up. All I have done to get it working is log into router and check the settings, click apply on the wireless page and it seems to correct the fault.is it best to turn off the wireless switch on laptop each time you shut down and then wait until its booted up fully before turning it on or not. Never had to do this before.Will the laptop, if the switch is on at boot up, continually try to find a connection or not.The wireless LED on router does not show any signs of activity when the laptop is within range until I go into the settings page.

[Rik]

Sounds wrong, Baz, I just switch on and go. Are you using Vista's wireless setup, or the laptop manufacturers?

[Baz]

not sure about the set up Rik. I would guess Vista as I just turned the switch on and it searched for connections.

[Rik]

OK, you need a Vista person at this point, Baz. Hang on...

[Simon]

Don't look at me! 

[Baz]

ok........... if it helps, netgear DG834PN with latest firmware. Once it gets the signal it is ok until the next turn on.

[Baz]

dont look at me either, thats why I'm here 

[Rik]

It should just work, Baz, but not having Vista running anywhere, I can't offer any advice.

[Baz]

no problem Rik. its just one of those annoying things you come across now and then 

[Glenn]

Are there any other wireless signals being broadcast in your area, so can the laptop see other wireless routers, when you ask it to find a wireless network?

[Glenn]

I never turn off the wireless on my laptop with either Vista or now Win 7

[Ray]

Deleted by Sheltieuk

[Steve]

My only suggestion is to go to network and sharing center> manage wireless connections, clear all the entries and start from scratch, It may work if you've got several different entries for access to your home router

[Sebby]

Yep, what Steve said, or perhaps update the wireless adaptor driver?

[sobranie]

192.168.0.1
Wireless settings.
Is SSID broadcast enabled.
Reason I ask is that I was asked to check an identical prob last night and someone had switched off the ssid broadcast.

[Glenn]

Or along that line there is a tick box to "connect even if not broadcasting"

[Baz]

Are there any other wireless signals being broadcast in your area, so can the laptop see other wireless routers, when you ask it to find a wireless network?

does see other networks but it is set up to auto use the one on my network.

My only suggestion is to go to network and sharing center> manage wireless connections, clear all the entries and start from scratch, It may work if you've got several different entries for access to your home router

have had to do that before Steve and start from scratch but it settled down and was finding network ok until about a week ago


SSID is broadcast Sobranie.did have this off but was getting probs with another wireless lappy so leave it on now.But is it possible to not broadcast and have the MAC addresses in the 'set up' list of router to just allow certain machines to gain access.I'm not sure about this broadcast thing especially when you see other networks, unsecured too.

[sobranie]

My only suggestion is to go to network and sharing center> manage wireless connections, clear all the entries and start from scratch, It may work if you've got several different entries for access to your home router

Agreed!  I would also prefer windows to set up the remote computer rather than any netgear software supplied.  jftr I found a 10-15% increase in performance over the netgear software.
btw, can you connect to any of the non secured routers showing on your remote computer?  If so then your router settings are at fault somewhere.

[Baz]

havent tried any of the other networks it sees.will keep an eye on it and thanks for the tips 

[Baz]

Yep, what Steve said, or perhaps update the wireless adaptor driver?

where do i find the info about which driver i have in now and where do i get an update from

[Steve]

In Vista>start>control panel (classic view)>system device manager >network adaptors  click on wireless adaptor

Perhaps post which adaptor make and driver version it comes up with

[Baz]

oh dear. its not picking up on the other laptop we have now. Steve.....network adapter make on this laptop,not the one I first posted about(sorry its getting a tad confusing now) is Realtek RTL8102E Family PCI-E Fast Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.0) driver version 6.205.403.2008    AND  Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter, driver version 6.1116.1226.2007

it did pick up another un secured network. before I tried this the details for my network were showing as limited strength even though I was right next to the router. The box was ticked for connect to this network automatically.


will it make any difference if windows firewall is enabled on the laptop. Just had a look and it is although I have turned it off before something seems to keep enabling it.

[Baz]

 ive just updated the driver for the wireless adapter so see if that helps. up to version 6.1158.113.2009.


if this doesnt work can you go back to the old one.

[Rik]

The firewall shouldn't be an issue, Baz. If the strength is low, it could be a fault with the lappy. Does rotating it, or moving it a small distance help?

[Baz]

just on a re boot Rik.......two minutes.

it has worked ok in different locations before its just recently that both have started playing up.