Assuming you had an internal wireless network adapter, then the first thing to do would be to look in under the MiniPCI Card door on the bottom of your computer and see if the wireless network adapter is insalled there.  If it is, make sure it is securely seated and the antenna wires are attached correctly.  See the following:

 

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1300/en/sm/upgrades.htm#wp1105550

 

Steve

If it is a driver issue,  how do I know which driver to download?

Yes, that is ok.   When the guy worked on my computer he took everything off of it.  Just didn't reinstall the Dell wireless card utility, therefore I can't connect to the wireless.  Thought I would try this before I took it back to him.   Thought I might just need to install a driver or something. 

Do you have the Intel wireless card or the Dell wireless card.   You would need to know which of these you have, then you can download the appropriate driver.  If you don't know, you can get a hint if you go the following site, enter your Service Tag number then click on the Original Configuration tab.

 

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/details?c=us&l=en&s=gen

 

Steve

This is the type of card I have

 

 

T9016 CARD (CIRCUIT)..., WIRELESS..., MINI PCI CARD..., 1370, BROADCOM CORPORATION...

You have the Dell wireless card.  The drivers for that card can be downloaded from:

 

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R140747&SystemID=INSPIRON1300/B130&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8911&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=9&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=187881

 

If you didn't do the reinstallation, if would be a good idea to make sure that the Notebook System Software and Chipset drivers were loaded first, as you will have lots of problems installing other drivers if the correct order is not followed. 

 

All other drivers can be found at:

 

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=INSPIRON1300/B130&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

 

Instructions on installing drivers and the correct order of installation can be found at:

 

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&docid=1A0C0937D62A8739E0401E0A55174744&journalid=4F1F82483DC811DBAE564F9328EE04A4&l=en&s=gen

 

Steve

Thanks Steve for all of your help.  I was wondering if I requested an installation disk from dell, would that reinstall the driver that I need.  My laptop (the one not working) can only connect to the internet through dial up, which makes the download take like 3 hours.   So I was hoping that the disk would reinstall it so I could connect, then maybe I would be able to update the driver.    Will this work??

Kristy

You can always try to get Dell to send you the Drivers and Utilities CD for your system, but a better solution would be to download the drivers on a computer with a working high speed internet connection then copy them to removable media, like a CD-R or USB flash drive, then copy them to the computer that needs the drivers and run the installation files from there.

 

Steve

I just wanted to thank you for all of your help,  I downloaded the driver on another laptop, saved it on a disc and installed it on my computer, which I am now on,  and it fixed my problem.   Thank you so much...

Kristy

Glad to have helped.  Thanks for letting us know that your problem is solved.

 

Steve