XPS loses connectivity?

Open IE>click on Tools tab>Make sure work offline is marked with a red X.If it is not,click on it.

EDIT: If this does not work try hard booting the router and modem.Unplug the modem first,then the router.Wait 60 seconds and plug them back in modem first(wait until the modem cycles and lights are lit),then plug in router.Signal should be picked up now.

Thanks,

Under which tab would I fing the red x please? I got as far as Tools then went to Connections.

The XPS troubleshooter is now telling me: "Wireless Network Connection doesn't have a valid IP". Whatever that means - the laptop or the router?

Can't switch off the router, it doesn't belong to me - someone else's desktop is plugged into it :-o

Might using an ethernet cable for the XPS get round this issue for me please?

Thanks again.

ps, have been using this Netgear wireless connection for about a year now & never had any trouble with it up until today.

As soon as I got connectivity back McAfee tried to do an Update: should I lose McAfee before I lose my connectivity again? I have used Avast in the past without too many worries?

Thanks.

Troubleshoot -- don't guess!

Many times were this happens (i.e., Full signal strength, but not connecting to the internet), you or your router have lost internet signal briefly (i.e., brownout) and even through you got it back you lost internet connectivity.

You can try a number of things:

1) Go to an elevated command prompt and do and ipconfig /release /renew to restore the connection.

2) Reboot the machine - this essentially does the same thing. (this is the most common fixed to a dropped connection when signal is good)

3) Turn off the machine, turn off the router, turn off the modem, turn on the modem, turn on the router, turn on the machine (if the problem is related to the modem of the router, this will fix it.

4) If the problem if internet connectivity staying is not fixed, try the following:

* Delete and recreate the wireless profile (sometimes these get correct) -- Note: * this is the most common fix of intermittent wireless drops

* Update the driver.  If the drivers from the dell page don't work, try the intel site.  I have definitely seem where the intel drivers fix something that dell's don't.

Thanks,

How do you go to an elevated command prompt and do and ipconfig please?

I knew the router was ok because a desktop was running through it, something must have happened to the settings on my XPS?

It would be helpful to know what to look for on the XPS - with kind help I tried a lot of things under the IE tabs but I was more or less in the dark, despite some helpful guidance :)

You should not hold it against techs for not walking you through every single keystroke they make. I have worked many types of IT jobs and many were jobs I was dispatched to and I had usually around 5 businesses that I had to go to and solve the issues that day. I was on a time schedule and if I held your hand and explained I would never get home, nor would you understand what I was even telling you.

Don't get me wrong I am not trying to bash you b/c it is fine to make small talk with a customer but at the same time most of the companies I worked for would fire me for telling a customer how to fix something b/c it would cause them to lost your business. In a few very large hotels some idiot tech told the maintenance staff to unplug the switches when they had problems. Then I would have to travel 50 miles in bumper to bumper traffic b/c a idiot maintenance man unplugged the equipment and forgot to plug it back in.

At the same time I have a very hard time explaining IT stuff in layman's terms. You would not understand a word I said. For example in your case you could have a bad port on your modem with your wireless router plugs into (if that is your setup) or you could have an all in one modem and wireless router combo that is having a NIC go had on the WAN side causing severe latency or even causing tons of L3 packets to flood your outbound WAN connection or it the latency issue could cause 75% packet loss. Do you understand what all that means? What if it were a policed circuit and you maxed out your bandwidth, what would happen?

It is not as always easy to explain to a non-techie things like this. You also can't blame a tech for doing repeated tasks over and over and not be fast at it. If he/she were not fast at fixing the problem they probably would be out of work quickly.

kr236rk,

This was a recent update from McAfee. The board got swamoed with members not being able to connect.

Rick

kr236rk,

Many mambers having issues, all had McAfee. Must have been an update that caused the connection problems. I'm sure McAfee released an update to correct this.

Take care,

Rick

Many thanks but cripes - at least I am back on line. I am away from my desktop and trying to use the laptop to submit  documents to a project then suddenly - nothing. I recognise a word here and there on how to check connectivity but not enough to make a difference. I rely on this laptop when I'm away from my desktop, consequently I have no paperwork to help me like tag numbers and stuff like that, that I am likely to be asked for, it's with the desktop, in a desk. Anyway, many thanks I have my connection back and have been able to tie up some lose ends, but if I knew what sent my connection down I could watch for it next time. But I don't. Or do I? Will it be in a log somewhere please?

Thanks Rick. Thought I'd freaked my connection by opening too many browsers / uploading too much data, but it seems I am not to blame.

Thanks again! :)