Cannot see my wireless network, but can see others

Question

I have a dell inspiron 1520. I connect to my home network wirelessly.  A few nights ago we lost power.  Since then my laptop has not been able to see my network.  Observations by me: (1) I can see my neighbours networks.  (Obviously I don't know their passwords etc so I haven't tried to connect to them).  This makes me think my network adaptor doesn't need to be replaced. (2) All the other devices in my house can still see and connect to my home network.   Therefore, there is nothing wrong with my modem/router. (3) I can connect to the internet if I use an ethernet cable.  What have I tried? I have reset my modem/rotuer several times to no effect. I have uninstalled and reinstalled my network drivers several times. I have checked that the button on the side of my laptop for the network adaptor is on.  (It must be on because it is seeing my neighbour's networks). I have tried pressing fn+F2 as I saw in some other posts this fixed problems for other users.  It didn't help me. I was going to restore to an earlier restore point, but I don't seem to have any.  (Not sure why!) Here is a picture of the results of ipconfig/all:   The last option I can think of is backing everything up and then wiping and reinstalling everything on my laptop.  I really want to avoid this if I can because it will take me a whole weekend :(  I'm really hoping someone will have the solution.  Any suggestions???

alyshat1981 · Accepted Answer

I've found the answer.  I had to change the channel of the modem/router.  It was set to auto, which has never been a problem as it normally uses ch 6 but it had changed to ch12 and apparently Dell doesn't see ch 11 or 12.

alyshat1981 · Answer

Thanks for the support Dell :(

Dell-Rajesh R · Answer

Hi alyshat1981,

I regret for the delay in response.

Check the wireless connection in Safe mode with networking (restart the computer and tapping F8 on dell logo. Select Safemode with networking).

Also, type " ncpa.cpl " in command prompt and right click on wireless network and click on connect.This would pop up all the available networks.Check if the Home network comes up.

If the issue persists, try updating the update the wireless router's firmware to the latest available.

For more information, I have provided a link below which can fix the issue:

http://dell.to/K96578

Below mentioned link would also help you with the settings for wireless internet:

http://dell.to/ZKyq8W

Please let me know if you have any other queries.

PudgyOne · Answer

alyshat1981,

Power off your ISP modem/router and your wireless router(if any) for 30 seconds. Then power on the ISP modem/router. Wait 15 seconds, then power on the wireless router(if any)

Restart the computer and try to connect.

What happens?

Rick

alyshat1981 · Answer

Safe mode with networking didn't work.

Tried ncpa.cpl but that couldn't see the home network either.

I also tried resetting everything.

I think I'm going to have to back up everything and restore my laptop. Oh well.

Thanks for trying.

PudgyOne · Answer

alyshat1981,   Can you run Finding System Information REMOVE YOUR PRODUCT ID and REGISTERED OWNER, if using XP, run an ipconfig /all log and post it back here.     Rick

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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