Need help how to set up my wireless connection and laptop!!!!!

[crabbie1]

My DH bought me a laptop the otherday and as we have a computor upstairs we decided to buy a cable router as we are with virgin media so we can both access internet etc togeather if needed.Problem is it won't work.We have it enabled on the wireless thingy but nothing happens.Have rung the helpless line and said laptop had a virus!!!!!I had only just turned it on !!!!Brand new.Do we have to speak to virgin media to say we have gone wireless so they can ajust our system?Lapton keeps saying no connection found not connected.I know its a long shot asking on here but thought I would try before going back to the shop.

thanks
alyson

 

[Goofyish]

I'm also on Virgin boadband.

When I went wireless I just installed the wireless router (make sure it is a cable one and not an ADSL one) as per the instructions that came with it.

Make sure you change the routers SSID and set up the security using WEP or WPA. Your router instructions should explain how to do this.

Next, make sure your laptop has it's WIFI turned on and scan for wireless networks. Your router should appear on the list, together with any neighbours wireless networks (you will see who has not changed there SSID and setup security!).

You then should be able to connect to your network using the WEP code or WPA security settings.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

How big is your house? It may sound a stupid question, but even though it is claimed wireless routers will transmit 30 metres indoors, ours has problems approximately 5 metres away.....(2 internal walls - proper brick built, not plasterboard). However, if we take the laptop upstairs to the farthest point away from the router (approx 12-13 metres) we get a very strong signal (it only has to transmit through the ceiling).

Have you tried sitting next to the router with the laptop?

A quick P.S.:

I have just read your post again and you say you have a cable router. If this is so, and it is not a wireless router, then your laptop will not have a signal to pick up.

 

[alisonbestford]

Have you turned the firewall off while you set it up?
I couldn't get the wireless router to connect until I did this

 

[crabbie1]

How big is your house? It may sound a stupid question, but even though it is claimed wireless routers will transmit 30 metres indoors, ours has problems approximately 5 metres away.....(2 internal walls - proper brick built, not plasterboard). However, if we take the laptop upstairs to the farthest point away from the router (approx 12-13 metres) we get a very strong signal (it only has to transmit through the ceiling).

Have you tried sitting next to the router with the laptop?

A quick P.S.:

I have just read your post again and you say you have a cable router. If this is so, and it is not a wireless router, then your laptop will not have a signal to pick up.

Hi it is a wireless router a g+ model which is suppose to reach 200m.We have a 4 bedroom house but even with it next to the laptop it is not working.I am going to check everything you have all said and post again.I am sure it is something simple but the instructions are rubbish and the man in pc world was about as much use as nothing.
thanks
guys

 

[carolfoy]

How big is your house? It may sound a stupid question, but even though it is claimed wireless routers will transmit 30 metres indoors, ours has problems approximately 5 metres away.....(2 internal walls - proper brick built, not plasterboard). However, if we take the laptop upstairs to the farthest point away from the router (approx 12-13 metres) we get a very strong signal (it only has to transmit through the ceiling).

Have you tried sitting next to the router with the laptop?

A quick P.S.:

I have just read your post again and you say you have a cable router. If this is so, and it is not a wireless router, then your laptop will not have a signal to pick up.

can I ask a silly question? if I install a wireless router on my laptop will it work all over the house? i have three floors and a lot of my walls are four foot thick proper stone walls.

 

[kizzy212]

hello, on my lap top i have a button on the front. well iits like a slider. i rang virgin for days until somebody asked me if i had changed the slider. mine has a blue light next to it. (when off it goes orange) that the signal for wireless. felt pretty stupid. see if you have knocked it off.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

can I ask a silly question? if I install a wireless router on my laptop will it work all over the house? i have three floors and a lot of my walls are four foot thick proper stone walls.

You'll probably find that there are a number of "dead" spots in the house. Ours is a brickbuilt house with proper brick built interior walls. DW can sit on the sofa in the lounge at the nearest point to the router in the dining room and the signal will come and go - but always weak. If she were to move to a chair on the far side of the lounge, and further from the router, the signal gets stronger. DD's PC in her bedroom (about as far away from the router as you can get in our house) has a signal strength betwenn 80% and 90%. The receivers can be very sensitive. DD's PC has a wireless dongle attached to it. If I put my hand around the dongle I can actually cut the signal off.

With regards to your stone walls, you may find signal transmission on the same floor a problem, but going through the wooden floorboards shouldn't cause you any issues. My brother's house is 3 storeys. His PC is on the top floor and his router is on the ground floor and he gets a strong signal all the time.

 

[Goofyish]

I have a Belkin G+ wireless router. It's located next to my home PC in our conservatory. I get either a 'very good' or 'Excelent' signal strength anywhere in the house (brick built 3-bed semi), including the upstairs bedrooms. I've also tried the laptop at the bottom of the garden (approx 50 ft.) and it works fine

 

[alisonbestford]

I have a Belkin G+ wireless router.

I have one of these too but have disconnected it twice as I get a good signal but had problems receiving my e-mails and chatting on MSN - only one sentence in, maybe, 3 would come through which made for some pretty confusing conversations!!

I've contacted Belkin twice as I thought there might be something wrong with the router but have given up for now - any ideas?

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

I have one of these too but have disconnected it twice as I get a good signal but had problems receiving my e-mails and chatting on MSN - only one sentence in, maybe, 3 would come through which made for some pretty confusing conversations!!

I've contacted Belkin twice as I thought there might be something wrong with the router but have given up for now - any ideas?

Interesting. Early this week I finally gave into DD continuous whinging (sorry requests) and allowed her to subscribe to MSN. Immediately on doing this, things started playing up, including "Outlook" not working (see thread:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1578050). For some unknown reason, when subscribing to MSN it had changed my IP address - this was only found out after many hours of investigation!! Luckily I'd got it written down so was able to reset everything manually.

 

[crabbie1]

I have a Belkin G+ wireless router. It's located next to my home PC in our conservatory. I get either a 'very good' or 'Excelent' signal strength anywhere in the house (brick built 3-bed semi), including the upstairs bedrooms. I've also tried the laptop at the bottom of the garden (approx 50 ft.) and it works fine

This is the same one I have bought.I have tried everything you all suggested.My laptop is wireless enabled and I do have to press a button on the top for this.I have gone into set network up and search for network but it cannot detect any network.God its so frustrating.Does having 2 different windows versions make much difference?Message on laptop says no router can be found???Do I need to buy a flash card for the laptop?

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

This is the same one I have bought.I have tried everything you all suggested.My laptop is wireless enabled and I do have to press a button on the top for this.I have gone into set network up and search for network but it cannot detect any network.God its so frustrating.Does having 2 different windows versions make much difference?Message on laptop says no router can be found???Do I need to buy a flash card for the laptop?

One other thought, does your laptop have Vista? A colleague a work recently bought a laptop with Vista and found out that Vista was not compatable with his wireless router.

 

[jharrowell]

This is the same one I have bought.I have tried everything you all suggested.My laptop is wireless enabled and I do have to press a button on the top for this.I have gone into set network up and search for network but it cannot detect any network.God its so frustrating.Does having 2 different windows versions make much difference?Message on laptop says no router can be found???Do I need to buy a flash card for the laptop?

*put's on network manager's hat*

Goodmorning, IT support. How can I help you?

Ok, here's a few things to look at...

1) As already said, VISTA is a incomaptible with, well everything! In all my time in the industry, it is the biggest piece of garbage I've ever had to deal with. If you have it I would recomend "aquiring" a copy of XP SP2 and downgrading.

But that aside.

Let's break the problem down into sections. Firstly, does the router itself connect to the Virgin cable box? If not I'd start there.

If your laptop also has a CAT5 port, try plugging it in on a wire and getting the router working that way. This eliminates half of the potential problems.

When setting up my sister's connection for her in the exact same setup, we found the Belikn unit had trouble getting the configuration from the Virgin cable box. We tried putting in manual settings while speaking to Virgin Tech Support, but these didn't work and Tech Support were worse than useless.

In the end we used the Belkin auto configure feature, but had to do a hard reset on the unit first (in fact we did this several times). We logged directly into the Belkin to do this, we did not install the "software" (why they try to convince everyone that a router needs software is beyond me.)

First, just make sure the cables are in correctly, there should be a specific port for the connection from the route to the virgin box (marked by a little world logo I believe) make sure the cable from the virgin box is in here, for plugging in the pc, us any of the other ports (if I remember it has at least 4 more) and also make sure that the power is in ok and that you get lights on the box. (I know really simple stuff but it's easy look at the obscure and miss the obvious).

Reset the router (paperclip into a hole in the back). Set your PC to pick up it's IP address via DHCP (should be on as default, if you don't know where to do this your probably already ok).

In the Belkin book, you should have a default IP listed for the Router, try giving it a ping. (Open a command prompt then type ping -ipaddy-).

If that works the PC is talking to the Router on a cable.

If you got that far, log into the router using a web browser (same ip but use it in IE).

It may have a password to get in but it will be in the book.

Once in, there should be an "autoconfigure" button.

Hit it, then once it says it's done try to connect to the net using the pc.

This took several attempts when I did it so be patient. I personally think it's Virgin's system at fault but there's no way to prove it.

Once you've got this far we can play with the wireless...



(hope that helps and isn't too "Janet & John").

 

[crabbie1]

JAHARROWELL-Thanks for the great tips.After checking the setings o the computor the routeris set up with I found my husband had not enabled it to allow other devices to access.Button clicked and problem solved.I am now up and running.My laptop does have windows vista on it and the main comp has XP.Doesn't seem to be a problem yet.Thanks for all the advice.Used it in the garden today at the end which is.100ft from the house.

ypur all ace thanks