13 replies to this topic

[sunbunny]

So all this time, I'm thinking my laptop is messed up. My son got his school issued laptop today, and that one won't connect to the internet, either. He's tried unplugging and letting it reset itself, but it doesn't help. Do I just need to buy another router? We have a linksys wireless something.

[Zaximus]

Unplug your cable/dsl modem, then unplug your router. Wait about 5 minutes, plug in the modem, wait another couple of minutes. Plug in your router, give it a couple of minutes. Reboot PC and see if you can connect.

[sunbunny]

So wait until someone gets home that actually knows where all that stuff is?

I'll try all that this afternoon. I don't think Ty unplugged the cable/modem. He just did the router, I think. He probably also didn't reboot.

[phidelt649]

What operating systems are you using?

Is your laptop seeing the router? Generally it will show up as something generic like "Linksys" or if your cable provider set it up, they may have named it according to your home phone. If it doesn't see it, find out what the name of your router is (ie "StevesRouter" or "8034569873") and go to Control Panel > Network Settings > Wireless Tab > Add Network ID and type it in manually.

If you can see your router in your wireless settings, check to make sure your router is encrypted. Generally routers use either WPA or WEP encryption. If it is encrypted, make sure you entered the current security key.

Figure out what kind of wireless card you have on the laptops, it would be 802.11B, 802.11G or 802.11N. Then check to see what frequency the router is sending on. For example, your laptop might be running B while your router is running G and not auto setting itself.

Finally, make sure that your computers are set up to automatically assign a TCP/IP address. Go to Control Panel > Network Settings and check the properties on the TCP/IP settings.

Let me know!

[sunbunny]

It worked fine for months, then stopped.


I'll have all that checked. I do think it sees the router. It comes up with a signal strength for it, it just won't connect to it. I don't know what the other laptop does.

[Johnny Rockets]

We have the same brand router and had the same problem. Wife called their helpdesk and although most of the time you speak to someone in India they were quite helpful. Turns out our cordless phones in the house were operating on the same frequency as our router and it kept knocking it offline. There were other problems with it that they fixed also though.

Whenever that happened, doing what Maximus said did work.

[sunbunny]

I'll give them a call, too.

Thanks, everyone!

[sunbunny]

Ok, Tyler here. So far everything is working as it should. The school laptop has an internet connection and I will test out the other laptop as soon as I get around to doing it. I'll tell my mom to come back here and post if any other problems occur.

Thanks guys for the help.

[Davidson Deac II]

Glad its working, but if the other one doesn't, might want to see if its getting an ip from the router. Sometimes mine has trouble when I move it from work to home and back.

To test it, go to start, then run, type "cmd" in the pop up, and hit ok. It will bring up a dos prompt. Then type ipconfig, hit enter, and it should give you the ip address (probably 192.168.x.x). If it doesn't, then type ipconfig /renew and hit enter and it should pick up an ip if it is connecting to the router.

[TerriblePizza]

From my experience, Newer Linksys routers and XP don't get along. The modem stops automatically assigning the computer an IP address for some reason, resulting in "Limited or no connectivity." I found a solution online before, but I've forgotten where.

[sunbunny]

My laptop still won't connect. I don't know if he tried to fix it or not. I'll gt him to work on it more tomorrow.

[Zaximus]

Yeah cordless phones, microwaves etc, can mess with routers. I lived in a townhouse with a buddy of mine once and my wireless was getting knocked off all the time. Changed the frequency to something else and it worked fine after that.

[Seamonk]

We have the same brand router and had the same problem. Wife called their helpdesk and although most of the time you speak to someone in India they were quite helpful. Turns out our cordless phones in the house were operating on the same frequency as our router and it kept knocking it offline. There were other problems with it that they fixed also though.

Whenever that happened, doing what Maximus said did work.

Microwaves do that too. It used to suck when I had to decide if I really want something microwavable to eat while playing an online game.. Gladly don't have that problem anymore.

[Davidson Deac II]

My laptop still won't connect. I don't know if he tried to fix it or not. I'll gt him to work on it more tomorrow.

Try the procedures I posted earlier. A lot of times, my laptop will not get an address, particulary if I am connected to it by wire. I have to tell it to go out and get an address.