[fishchowder]

Hi!
I'm really excited 'cause I just bought my first wireless USB adapter for my laptop.
In the past, I've had bad experiences with these kind of things because my old laptop was, well, REALLY OLD.
I got a new one and it's a Dell Latitude CPi with Windows 2000 installed.
Today, I bought a Netgear Wireless-G USB 2.0 Adapter (54 mbps) and I have a Linksys Wireless-G (54 mbps) router that I know for a fact works because I've used it on other laptops with wireless connection.
I followed the instructions, installed everything, and my laptop says that everything is connected. It shows an active internet connection to my linksys router.
All of my other internet connections are disabled except for this one.
It says everything is working fine.
When I click to open Firefox, IE, AIM, anything... it says page cannot be found and service cannot be connected to.
Does anyone know what's wrong??

[Advertisements]

There are two aspects to connectivity with a wireless setup. First, the adaptor needs to be able to 'see' the router (that's where the wireless part comes in), but that alone doesn't necessarily mean you also have an internet connection, even though your router has.

Many routers (specially those provided by your ISP) come pre-configured with a wireless security code called a "WEP key" or "WPA key". In order for any wireless adaptor to use that router's internet connection it must know what that key is. You enter the key into the configuration software you installed with the USB adaptor, or optionally enter it into XP's built-in wireless configuration software. Without the key the adaptor can still 'see' the router but it won't be able to connect to the internet.

Edited by pip22, 25 March 2008 - 02:01 PM.

[pip22]

There are two aspects to connectivity with a wireless setup. First, the adaptor needs to be able to 'see' the router (that's where the wireless part comes in), but that alone doesn't necessarily mean you also have an internet connection, even though your router has.

Many routers (specially those provided by your ISP) come pre-configured with a wireless security code called a "WEP key" or "WPA key". In order for any wireless adaptor to use that router's internet connection it must know what that key is. You enter the key into the configuration software you installed with the USB adaptor, or optionally enter it into XP's built-in wireless configuration software. Without the key the adaptor can still 'see' the router but it won't be able to connect to the internet.

Edited by pip22, 25 March 2008 - 02:01 PM.