Networking Questions and Answers - Laptop Cannot Get Wireless Internet Connection

Paul writes in with a networking question:
Question: I purchased a Linksys wireless router which I hooked to my desktop. I have high speed directway internet service. I have linked two desktop computers and they work fine. I have a dell laptop (new) with a wireless card inside, I can connect to the router signal but I cannot get the internet to work. I have tried everything I know to do, the firewall settings are off, and I have tried setting up the connection but will not work. Any suggestions?

Answer: So I am to understand that you can see the router from the laptop but cannot get on the internet? First let me suggest looking at this page if you have not seen it already.

You may also want to try to setup the connection manually before trying to connect to it under your wireless connection properties. I’ve had to do this before. You need to put in the SSID name of the router and WEP key if you have it enabled. Then right click your wireless icon by the clock and pick view available networks and try to connect.

Is the router giving you an IP address? Go to Start, Run type in cmd and click Ok to bring up a command prompt. Type ipconfig /all and press enter and see if it gives you an IP address similar to 192.168.1.100.

Check your wireless connection properties under My Network Places. Right click the wireless connection icon and choose properties. From there make sure Internet Protocol {TCP/IP} is listed, highlight it and click properties. Make sure Obtain an IP address automatically is checked and Obtain DNS server address automatically is checked.

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