I have an HP laptop that's about a year old. When i try to use it ,it tells me i'm not connected to the internet. I have a router that my son uses all the time with his laptop. I took it to a repair shop to get checked out. They said it was fine and didn't charge me anything. I get it home and it does the same thing. I've even taken it to some places with free internet and it doesn't work either. Any ideas?
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
My daughter and son in law were having nothing but problems hooking up with my wireless. I'm hard wired on the desk top but they would keep dropping off . I would unplug router for a few seconds, let it boot back up and they would go for a few minutes and then drop off. My router has a about a 4 inch antenna so I clipped on one of my three foot long test leads to the router and they never dropped off again. Most likely not your problem but just thought I would throw that out there.
Chris Jones
Member
Honestly Ray it sounds like you never told the computer to connect to those networks. It doesn't do it automatically. You have to tell it to connect and most likely enter a password. If it's your home network when you first connect to it you'll also tell it to automatically connect to the network when in range.
Lastly even if you've done this before occasionally for some reason you need to do it again--it's part of the magic
Lastly even if you've done this before occasionally for some reason you need to do it again--it's part of the magic
Mark - IN.
Well-known Member
Try powering down the router and powering it back up. I have one that reads the MAC Address of the last NIC it was connected to, then won't connect to anything else until its powered down, and powered back up. If that turns out to be the case, stop off and pick yourself up a cheap, unmanaged 5 port Netgear switch from Best Buy or so, connect it to your router, power down your router, power it back up to see the NIC on the switch, then plug your lap tops into the switch from then on.
One other thing comes to mind. Internet Explorer by some chance? I've totally given up on IE and its updates. I've quit using it all together. I use Firefox now.
Good luck,
Mark
One other thing comes to mind. Internet Explorer by some chance? I've totally given up on IE and its updates. I've quit using it all together. I use Firefox now.
Good luck,
Mark
Janicholson
Well-known Member
I use HP laptops (on one now) On the back edge of the keyboard surface there is a row of buttons one of them looks like a little antenna with little ((l)) symbol on it. It should be turned on (usually blue on the last 4 I have used) if it is on, and still does nothing, go to the control panel and select internet connections. On that tab should show a tag that says "set up a wireless connection". follow the directions. You will need the security key from the wireless router to fill in a blank. If your router is unsecured, anyone can use it within about 100 yards. Set the security password. (in the directions that came with it, or on line for that model. Jim
smallercrawler
Member
Started having connection problems a few days ago on ISP router that was about 4 years old, would randomly drop out and show infrequent red lite on unit. Replaced router with a new unit from ISP provider, still doing similar with 2 laptops. (Computers work normally on mobile hotspot from another supplier.) Noted several more connections "available" when connecting to my router. Local wisdom is that the service provider has severely oversold bandwidth on old unlimited use plans and can't accommodate today's greater service load. Several customers are complaining of like problem.
I've got a few year old hp laptop.
The guys are on the right track.
You have to tell it in Windows to look for, and auto hook onto, your router. The first time you need to enter the password of your router, assuming its password protected.
Its possible your router is super protected and doesn't appear even to your laptop - in hidden mode. You need the router and laptop see each other the first time if this is the case.
One of the oddball keys has a pin light on it, that needs to be pressed right so your antenna is working. Most models have this.
There is also a software on/off setting for the antenna. It likely is on, but.....
If you are finding an 'airplane mode' that I is turning off the antennas so they don't interfere with the airplane. You don't want that mode on.
Any one step is easy to do, don't let it scare you. See if you can narrow it down some as to what it is stopping things up?
Windows 7? What model router?
Paul
The guys are on the right track.
You have to tell it in Windows to look for, and auto hook onto, your router. The first time you need to enter the password of your router, assuming its password protected.
Its possible your router is super protected and doesn't appear even to your laptop - in hidden mode. You need the router and laptop see each other the first time if this is the case.
One of the oddball keys has a pin light on it, that needs to be pressed right so your antenna is working. Most models have this.
There is also a software on/off setting for the antenna. It likely is on, but.....
If you are finding an 'airplane mode' that I is turning off the antennas so they don't interfere with the airplane. You don't want that mode on.
Any one step is easy to do, don't let it scare you. See if you can narrow it down some as to what it is stopping things up?
Windows 7? What model router?
Paul
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
First off, if the router has an ethernet jack, plug your laptop into that and see if you can get a connection. If you can't get a wired connection, WiFi isn't going to work. The reasons it might not work over ethernet aren't worth getting into just yet, but if it does work that will give you a good assurance that most of the internet stuff is working, particularly DHCP and DNS.
Once you have it working over a wired connection, you can unplug it and try to get WiFi working. Probably the tips you've already received here will get you going. If not, it's possible the router is not broadcasting. That's a setting in the router. Using the ethernet connection, you can log into the router and check or change the various settings. The manual for the router (which should be available on-line) will tell you what to do.
A couple of tips: The default password for most routers is printed on the bottom of the router. You don't want an unsecured WiFi. WPA2 is normally the preferred setting.
Once you have it working over a wired connection, you can unplug it and try to get WiFi working. Probably the tips you've already received here will get you going. If not, it's possible the router is not broadcasting. That's a setting in the router. Using the ethernet connection, you can log into the router and check or change the various settings. The manual for the router (which should be available on-line) will tell you what to do.
A couple of tips: The default password for most routers is printed on the bottom of the router. You don't want an unsecured WiFi. WPA2 is normally the preferred setting.
Take it back to the computer shop that told you it was fine and ask them to SHOW you how to do it.
Or, ask your son to SHOW you how to do it.
It is very difficult to describe how to do something especially when we don't know exactly what you have.
On my computer, there is an icon in the lower right corner of the screen that looks like cell phone signal bars. I click on that, select a wireless network from the list, and hit the "CONNECT" button. It may be different if you have other versions of Windows.
Or, ask your son to SHOW you how to do it.
It is very difficult to describe how to do something especially when we don't know exactly what you have.
On my computer, there is an icon in the lower right corner of the screen that looks like cell phone signal bars. I click on that, select a wireless network from the list, and hit the "CONNECT" button. It may be different if you have other versions of Windows.
Ray:
Look on your keyboard for a little Icon that looks like a little radio tower that's bracketed with parentheses, push it & a little light should come on - depending on your computer you may have to also push a Control or Function Key at the same time.
You can download a PDF file - HP Mini User Guide at the following URL.
HP Mini User Guide
http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01688088.pdf
The following is quoted from that User Guide -
(Page 20)
Using the wireless switch
The device has a wireless switch, one or more wireless devices, and one wireless light. All of the wireless devices are enabled at the factory.
The wireless light indicates the overall power state of your wireless devices, not the status of individual devices. If the wireless light is blue, at least one wireless device is on. If the wireless light is amber, all wireless devices are off.
Because the wireless devices are enabled at the factory, you can use the wireless switch to turn on or turn off all of the wireless devices simultaneously.
DOWNLOAD THE USER GUIDE & READ IT!
HTH
Doc :>)
HP Mini User Guide
Look on your keyboard for a little Icon that looks like a little radio tower that's bracketed with parentheses, push it & a little light should come on - depending on your computer you may have to also push a Control or Function Key at the same time.
You can download a PDF file - HP Mini User Guide at the following URL.
HP Mini User Guide
http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01688088.pdf
The following is quoted from that User Guide -
(Page 20)
Using the wireless switch
The device has a wireless switch, one or more wireless devices, and one wireless light. All of the wireless devices are enabled at the factory.
The wireless light indicates the overall power state of your wireless devices, not the status of individual devices. If the wireless light is blue, at least one wireless device is on. If the wireless light is amber, all wireless devices are off.
Because the wireless devices are enabled at the factory, you can use the wireless switch to turn on or turn off all of the wireless devices simultaneously.
DOWNLOAD THE USER GUIDE & READ IT!
HTH
Doc :>)
HP Mini User Guide
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