NO Internet Explorer after setting up wireless network

Question

I have a Netgear WNR834B....that DELL sold me when I ordered my Inspirion E1705.  I have a Dell 1500 Draft 802.11n (specs on dell site said it picks up abg as well).    I had had a signal from somewhere (belkin54g) and was able to open IE.  After setting up the router (am able to access internet from wired desktop that has router hooked up to it) I am unable to connect with any signal on the laptop.  I keep getting an excellent signal message but can't get on the internet.   Using the help files, I've tried a myriad of different things none of which seem to work.  When I contacted dell's tech they told me I had to do ANOTHER system restore (already had a mess of a separate issue).  I asked if they were familiar with wireless networks.........ignored my question and prompted me to do a bunch of steps (wasting yet another 45 minutes of my time)  that had minimal if any relevance to networking .........asked them again about their experience with wireless networking and they told me they had none and tried to give me a number to call (this was via chat).  I am very tired of dealing with the 'tech' dept at Dell and am hoping that someone from here will be able to help me get this set up.  Thanks!

volcano11 · Answer

First of all, the draft N specification is not a standard and different versions of N may be incompatible with each other at this stage of the game. Perhaps in a year or so when every manufacturer agrees to a standard, they will all work with one another. My advice to anyone else reading this - Do not go with these pre-N or Draft-N devices. First of all they will not make browsing the internet any faster, as internet speed at this point is time is limited by broadband providers to generally well less than 15 Mbps, so a network card that runs any faster than that is really not needed. Second, stick with the protocols that are standardized and accepted by all manufacturers. There are no standards at the present time for devices running faster than 54 Mbps. (i.e 802.11g).

Having gotten that off my chest, have you tried, as a troubleshooting step, disabling all modes except 802.11g? Have you tried, again as a troubleshooting step, disabling any software firewalls that you may have running?

Steve

MizzCue · Answer

I have not tried disabling all modes except 802.11g.  I'm not sure how to do that.  Could you give me those instructions?  I have disabled my firewall, but I'm not sure where I should do that.  I have seen the option in several places.  Is there a particular way I should go about disabling firewalls?  Thank you for your response and I wish I would have come across your info when I was researching the whole wireless issue. Jennifer

volcano11 · Answer

The variety of option available on your card should be accessible through Device Manager.  Open Device Manager, click the + sign next to Network Adapers, right click on your wireless adapter and select Properties from the drop-down menu.  Then click on the Advanced tab.  The most probable cause of firewall problems is with the Security software that comes with your computer (not the Windows Firewall).  Most new Dell computers ship with some kind of security software, probably McAfee Security Suite, but a user could order the computer with other options.   It is the Firewall in McAfee that is usually responsible when there are problems.  Since I don't allow McAfee near my computers, I can't tell where to look to temporarily disable the firewall, but it should be pretty evident when you open the program and look at the options.   Steve

volcano11 · Answer

You will need to experiment.  Write down the settings that you change so that if they don't help or cause other problems, you can change them back. Steve

MizzCue · Answer

Then click on the Advanced tab. After that do I select the IBSS Mode and select 802.11g Mode for the value?  If so do I need to do anything with the IBSS Allowed option? I've disabled the firewall on McAfee are there any other settings I should change on McAfee

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NO Internet Explorer after setting up wireless network

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