Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Hi - a friend of mine has just rung. He has a STB and NTLWorld Broadband which he connects to wirelessly from his Dell laptop.

Up until last weekend internet and email was working just fine, then he went away for a few days with his laptop, only to plug it in this evening and found he could not access internet or email. As far as he knows, he hasn't unplugged anything and he says his wireless router has the power light and the internet connection 1 lights on, but the laptop has a cross in the taskbar showing no connection.

I cannot go round and take a look this evening, but do any of you more technical than me have any ideas what this could be?

TIA

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Does the connection work direct from modem---->laptop?

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Thanks Neil for your reply. Sorry to be dumb about this, but are you asking if the laptop is showing a connection to the modem? If so, from what my friend said to me on the phone, then no. Is there any way to test it other than the indicator in the taskbar which he said had a cross on it?

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Advise him to try switching everything off. Switch on STB - wait... Switch on wireless router - wait... Switch on PC.

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Take the router out of the equation, can the laptop get online if it is connected direct to the STB?

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

Also - can he connect to the router itself wither wirelessly or wired ?

If so, can he see the STB on a wired connection ?

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

OK guys, thanks for all of your feedback - much appreciated. I will get him to follow through on these points and let you know - cheers :)

Re: Wireless connectivity problem to laptop
 

If you friend has connected to any other wireless network while he was away you might find that the Laptop is trying to connect to that, thinking it is the preferred network.

Right click on the wirless connection on the taskbar and select "View Available Wireless Networks", delete any connections in there that aren't the home connection you are trying to connect to.
Now highlight the network you want to connect to and click "Connect".

You should carry out the steps above regarding switching everything off and then back on again before you complete these steps.
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Don't forget to turn everything off and then back on before you attempt this step, the Modem will still be registered to the MAC of the router (probably) and therefore you probably won't be able to connect to it if you don't.