Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Technical Help and How To's Wireless connectivity problem...

We've got a wireless router that seems to work just fine for me, but my sister (and her boyfriend :p ) can't get her laptop to connect. It used to work, then it just stopped working one day. I've tried fuddling with it some, but I don't really know what I'm doing.

Any suggestions on how to fix this? Or is there more info/specs I need give to help explain the problem?

Thanks!

Sara

couple starter questions:

- when you say it can't connect, are you getting error messages at all?

- is the network secure and do they have the proper info to connect to it? (and if you know how to check that, how many accesses is it set to be able to grant? cause you can set that and if it's set to just one, well... *lol*)

- what type of router is it? (maker + model) with that I can go search for more info.

The most important thing is the type of encryption being used on the wireless network. The computer has to have the password to that network to log in as well as the type of encryption.

People who don't know a whole lot about wireless often leave their wireless networks with default settings in which case there is no password and it's an open system. To connect to that, just select the SSID (broadcast name) of that network.

The most common type of encryption is WEP. That comes in typically two flavors, a 64-bit or 128-bit encryption. To log into that, you'll need the SSID plus the hexadecimal string that makes up the password. To find that, the router's wireless web admin page will usually show what that password is.

Two more secure types are WPA and WPA2, usually referred to as Personal editions. Lots of older routers won't have WPA or WPA2 as an option, so most of those will use WEP or nothing at all. Enterprise editions of WPA and WPA2 usually require Radius servers that maintain the password. WPA and WPA2 passwords are usually more easily handled as they are typically just character strings that you type in as a password. In both cases, you'll also need the SSID.

Some wireless networks will hide their SSID, usually by unchecking a broadcast SSID option. I've noticed that some wireless clients can't hook up with non-broadcast networks even if the SSID is known. But to connect to this network, the SSID still must be known.

Our network isn't secured.

We're using a Linsky's Wireless G 2.4 GHz/54 mbps.

Months ago, when my sister first had this problem ( HOW has she been coping without?), I remember the the wireless network would show up, say it was connected, but it wasn't. When I looked at it earlier tonight, it wasn't detecting any networks in range.

And I'm terribly confused now because it's working. Not on the admin user, but as "guest" because my sister's gone to bed and she's password protected her log on. :p

Something other than the "Wireless Network Connection Properties" came up when I clicked on the signal bar. This time I got "Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utlity" Says something about "Radio". I disabled that, enabled it. And presto. Idiot savant, I am.

I'll check tomorrow if the main admin log on is still having problems, but otherwise it seems to be fixed.

Thanks, guys!

Sara

Looks like it's not your router at all, then, but rather something on the computer - some setting that's not enabled right...

If the admin user won't work, lemme know and I can go hunt for answers.

Go figure. Looks like I managed to fix it entirely. Thanks, guys, for the ideas of what to look at.

Sara

I love staying next door to people like you.

(Translation: That's not a problem, if you don't mind every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the neighborhood or driving by using your connection.)

HAH, ditto. If I ever knew who had "default" I would so bake them cookies. The second time I moved in Georgia, my pothead roommate and I didn't have internet for a while. We broke down and got it last month, but whoever had "default" was my hero! For the time being, I haven't password-protected ours, and it hasn't been too cluttered. I'm just like, I've been there, man! I feel the need to share the wealth!

JD

I do secure mine for a few reasons. A big one is that I believe there is case law in California which holds liable the person paying for the connection for any illegal transactions conducted over it.