Access Point Working/Wireless Adapter Working: But Cannot Connect to Internet

[30'06]

The wireless internet aspect of my daughter's laptop failed. It is a system board malfunction. Runs Vista 32 Home Premium

I purchased a USB wireless adapter to overcome the issue and after installation it immediately connected to the access point which is connected to my wired Linksys router. Signal was strong and she could connect to the internet easily. A few days later...

Cliff Notes:

1. Went to connect wirelessly in another room. No connection.

2. Unplugged the power to router, modem, and access point for 15 seconds in order to reset. Did not resolve the issue.

3. Access point is recognized by the laptop and shows it connected and signal good.

4. Wireless adater in device manager recognized and fully working. It is "Device funtioning properly."

5. Attempted to do a repair several times but here is the repeated message: "Cannot connect with DNS server. Network Diagnostics pinged the remote host but did not receive a response."

So, Access Point is functiong and recognized by the laptop as connected and signal is good. The wireless adapter is recognized as fully functioning. Yet I can't receive a response.

Advice please. Networking isn't anywhere near a strong area for me. Thanks.

* One other thing. My old Toshiba laptop connects with its a/b miniwireless card.

[noorman]

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I 've also done a 'first' (private) setup of a Sitecom N300 series Wireless Kit.

Also had trouble reconnecting after a reboot (every time).

Just needed to create a Profile for the router to startup with, including the WPA + AES (in my case) key to create a safe (encrypted) connection to the router.

So, check your original setup guide and repeat what it tells you to do and afterward, when connections have been established, make sure to create a FULL Profile for the setup so that on boot or reboot, the Wireless system can initiate communications as before ...

Make always sure to create a connection with WPA2 (if possible) and a high grade encryption with a key with variations in its characters !
( for your data safety and to disable easy robbery of your data volume and Internet connection by outsiders (sometimes from a car and a laptop) !


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[noorman]

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I guess there were no (Network) settings changed in that laptop, but best to check (maybe).

You could check if the default settings (in network card properties) are set, all 'Auto' for DHCP and DNS server info, etc..
Otherwise, the laptop will not be able to get an IP address and that means NO connection too


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[30'06]

noorman, I really appreciate your reply. It is truly appreciated. Just to update you, after all kinds of work and tweaking, etc. the issue came down to the wireless adapter itself. Once we moved the laptop to another location where it was more in line of sight of the AP the connection was strong again.

So simple...

Obviously this TP-Link adapter isn't all that great but at the moment it is functioning well.

If you have any suggestions for a good wireless USB adapter please let me know.

Thanks again.

[Mjölnir]

If you have any suggestions for a good wireless USB adapter please let me know.

There are three ways to go about this. You could try a cantenna:
Google Search: Poor Man's Wifi
Google Search: Cantenna

You could by a different adaptor - in which case I recommend the Netgear WG111

You could replace the WLAN card in the laptop. This is almost as easy as swapping a stick of RAM.

[30'06]

Thanks for the suggestions. I already attempted to replace the laptop's wifi card (didn't work) but after doing extensive diagnostic steps from HP including advance advice fro HP's teach support they concluded it is a system board failure.

We purchased the laptop back in 2007 and at the time we didn't know that HP's DV6000 series would have a major failure rate due to the Nvidia G31/34 chipset that had serious heat issues. I personally know several people who purchased the DV6000 series around the same time and every one failed within two years all due to the system board.

One of the first signs that the board is beginning to fail is the wifi card going. My daughter will be entering her senior year in college and if I can get one more year out this laptop I will feel most fortunate.

*** I'll look into the Netgear WG111