Wireless Connection

Question

I have and Inspiron 600m. I'm sure you will want information about the type of wireless card I have, but I don't know how to find that. If you could explain that along with the rest of your response I would appreciate it. When I go to places with wi-fi, my computer will tell me the wireless has excellent strength, but when I try to get on the internet it says I'm not connected. Once in a while it works, but most of the time it doesn't. It happens at home and in public places. Most of the time it doesn't connect at all. Other times it will connect after 20-30 minutes of being on. Frequently it will connect and disconnect with no rhyme or reason. This only started after I installed wireless DSL at home. Before that it would pick up even weak signals and connect without my doing anything. I have tried reinstalling my drivers. Thank you in advance for your help. In your response, please assume no computer know-how.  Krista

volcano11 · Answer

To find out which wireless card you have, open Device Manager, expand the listing for Network Adapters and see what it says about your wireless network adapter.   How did you manage to reinstall the drivers if you don't know which wireless network adapter you have?   Steve

kmd236399 · Answer

Where do I find 'Device Manager'? A friend reinstalled my drivers. But that was all the more he knew to try. Krista

volcano11 · Answer

Right click My Computer, select Properties, click on the Hardware tab and then on the Device Manager button.   Steve

kmd236399 · Answer

Thanks for the clarification.   Under Network Adapters it lists Broadcom 570x giagbit Integrated Controller and Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN mini-PCI card.   Krista

kmd236399 · Answer

What do I need to do next?   Krista

volcano11 · Answer

To help troubleshoot this problem, go to Start > Run and type cmd then click OK. In the command prompt window that opens, type ipconfig /all then hit the enter key. Write down the output from this command or select it and save it to a txt file, then copy this output into a reply to this message.   Steve

kmd236399 · Answer

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\Documents and Settings\Krista>ipconfig/all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Kristas_Laptop Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated Con troller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-DB-DF-33-B7 Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini-PCI C ard Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-B2-27-C0 Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.3 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.1 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, February 23, 2007 1:04:02 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, February 24, 2007 1:04:02 PM

volcano11 · Answer

Your ipconfig output shows that you are connected to the router and the wireless adapter has obtained a valid IP address from the router.  It should be connecting unless the router is not making a connection to the dsl modem.  Do you have other computers on the network (either connected to the router by a wired connection or by a wireless connection) that can connect to the internet?  Have you tried shutting everything off, turning on the modem first, then turning on the router and then the computers?   Steve

kmd236399 · Answer

When I sent you the information in the previous message, my computer was in fact connected wirelessly through my home router. Sometimes it connects and sometimes it doesn't. It almost never connects when I am in a public place w/ wi-fi despite the fact that it tells me I have excellent strength. The other computers at home w/ wireless cards all connect without a problem. A while back I tried turning everything off as you suggested. It didn't make a difference at home, and unfortunatly it's not an option at the library, school, or coffee shops.

volcano11 · Answer

Intermittent problems like this one are the most difficult to solve. All I can suggest at this point it to install the latest drivers from the Dell web site. You can download them from HERE   Steve

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Wireless Connection

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