Help with my girlfriends Dell (i told her to buy an IBM!)

[corleone]

This is the best board for tech help i have used, so here i am with a Q about a DELL computer....

My t-42 gets wireless all over the house, hers doesnt even pick up the wireless network... does anyone knwo what i can do to try to fix this?


Thanks guys...

C.

[dsigma6]

is the network encrypted? a little more information could be helpful.

[pianowizard]

There could be so many causes of this problem, e.g. is the wireless card even turned on? Yeah, more info would be helpful.

[tfflivemb2]

I know that this might sound stupid, but does she even have a wireless card? I have seen posts where people couldn't connect because their system was wireless upgradeable, not wireless enabled.

[corleone]

She does have a wireless card and it is working, because we both get wireless internet at school, on the school network. Her internet works great at school, its just in the house that it doesnt work.

Her computer RECOGNIZES the network... The network is encrypted but i put in the password.... It just will not CONNECT to the network.... it recognizes it and everything... but when you try to connect... it doesnt, and if it does connect, the internet still doesnt work...

does this help at all?

[pianowizard]

One possibility to check: If her Dell has a 802.11b wireless card but the network is enabled only for "g" or "a", then she would be unable to log on.

[corleone]

how do i ckeck those things?

[tfflivemb2]

OK, temporarily disable your password and try it again. I am thinking that you have a level of encryption that her system will not support. If she can connect without the password, then most likely you might have to try a different level of encryption...either higher or lower.

[corleone]

Could you wlak me through disabling the PW? Will disabling the PW have an impact on the other people who use the network?

Thanks, sorry for being such a newb,

c.

[tfflivemb2]

You have other people using your network at home?

Disabling the PW is going to depend upon the type of router that you use. Most are accessable by typing in 192.168.1.1 into your browser. Though I would recommend doing this from a system that is hardwired to the router, incase you mess up something with regard to the wireless end.

[smugiri]

Check to make sure that you are trying to connect with the right type of encryption - there are 2 main types - WEP and WPK.

[Orevin]

I had a similar situation once, the laptop could not "see" my wireless network. Adding it manually resolved the problem.

Open the wireless connection properties, click the "Wireless Networks" tab and then "Add..." Enter the network name (case sensitiv!) and the appropriate security settings. Click OK and OK again.