Windows 11 Default Browser. Browse All Windows Articles. Windows 10 Annual Updates. OneDrive Windows 7 and 8. Copy and Paste Between Android and Windows. Protect Windows 10 From Internet Explorer. Mozilla Fights Double Standard. Connect to a Hidden Wi-Fi Network. Change the Size of the Touch Keyboard.
Reader Favorites Take Screenshot on Windows. Mount an ISO image in Windows. Boot Into Safe Mode. Where to Download Windows Legally. Find Your Lost Product Keys.
Make sure that the wireless router is connected to the power adapter and modem. Make sure the lights are on. Reseat all the cables, turn the power off, and then back on to power cycle both the modem and access point or router. It might take 30 to 60 seconds to re-establish a wireless connection. Step 2: Run the Vista diagnostic tool Vista monitors the network and Internet connections.
If it detects a problem, Windows Vista displays a no connection or limited connection message, and prompts you for permission to diagnose the problem. Click OK to allow Vista to diagnose the problem and restore the connection. No error message is displayed, but there is no Internet connection:.
Right-click the Network Connection icon in the notification area and click Diagnose and repair from the menu. Allow Windows to repair and reestablish the connection. Figure : Diagnose and repair. Click Start and type Network in the Start Search box.
Figure : Opening the Network and Sharing Center. In the Network and Sharing Center, click Diagnose and repair in the left pane. Read and respond to the windows that open. Figure : Diagnose and repair in the Network and Sharing Center. Step 3: Make sure the wireless network connection is enabled The connection to a wired or wireless network can be disabled or enabled.
To verify the status:. Right-click the Network Connection icon in the notification area and click Network and Sharing Center in the menu. In the Network and Sharing Center, click Manage network connections.
Check that the wireless network is disabled. Figure : A disabled wireless network. To enable the network, right-click the connection, and click Enable. Step 4: Make sure the computer is connected to the correct network If the computer has been connected to a network it has already detected in the past, it tries to reestablish the connection.
However, that connection might not be the correct network. To determine which network the computer is currently connected with and to select the network you want to use, do the following. Right-click the Network Connection icon in the notification area.
Figure : Network Connection icon. The Network and Sharing Center opens and displays the name of the network s and the types of connections. If the desired network is listed, but not connected, select it and click Connect. If the computer is connected to the wrong network, click Disconnect. Then select the desired network and click Connect. To prevent the computer from connecting to that network in the future, click Manage Wireless Networks. Right-click the network you want to change and click Properties.
Remove the automatic selection option and click OK to accept the change. Step 5: Minimize interference and move the computer closer to the router A wireless network router has a limited broadcast range.
The further the computer is from the router, the weaker the broadcast signal. Solid objects, such as walls, metal furniture, and electrical appliances might interfere with the signal and decrease the usable range. For testing purposes, move the computer closer to the router and minimize interference from electrical devices. If testing the connection with the computer near to the router proves that the wireless connection is working, you can move the computer to determine the range of the connection.
To extend the usable range of the wireless network router, consider purchasing a different antenna from the router manufacturer, or use a signal repeater. If the test fails with the computer and the router in the same room, continue to the next step to force the device to re-establish all connection values.
Step 6: Disconnect from the network and manually re-connect A common problem with a lost connection or poor network connectivity is accidental connection to the wrong network. It is possible to connect to a network that does not actually exist. For instance, an interruption in the power to a router or a modem, or a momentary loss of signal from the ISP.
These types of problems can be resolved by disconnecting from the network router and manually reestablishing a new connection. Use the following steps to disconnect from a wireless network, and then search for, and manually re-connect to the desired wireless network.
Right-click the Network Connection icon in the notification area and click Network and Sharing Center. Then click Network and Sharing Center in the Programs area. If any wireless connections exist, click Disconnect on each one. In a few moments the wireless networks disappear from the display. In the Network and Sharing Center window, click Set up a connection or network in the left pane. If the problem is an incorrect password or key index, this option reconnects with the wrong information.
Figure : Set up a connection or network. In the Choose a connection option window, select Manually connect to a wireless network , and click Next. Figure : Manually connecting to a wireless network. Type the required wireless network information, and then click Next. Network name. Security type. Must be the same security as set in the wireless router. Figure : Network information. The information just entered replaces the previous values that are causing the connection problem.
After a few moments a message displays indicating that the computer is Successfully connected to the network. After the connection is made, place the mouse pointer over the network icon in the notification area to verify the Name, Speed, Strength, and Status of the connection.
If the connection is weak or slow, see Minimize interference and move the computer closer to the router. How to. About This Article. Written by:. Nicole Levine, MFA. Co-authors: 3. Updated: August 10, Categories: Network Security. Article Summary X 1.
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 6, times. Is this article up to date? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy.
Its our appartmenet network all can access but i can't Its unsecuired also. I can see it in the list but when I try to connect it not work. I have 3 computers in my house each one running windows Vista. One of them is running basic, One of them Premium and the last Ultimate. I can connect to the internet with all 3 computers but not to each other. Any help you can give me in this matter would be greatly helpful. Worked for me, thanks.
Already an aggravating start though, why the heck didn't it detect it? Ok — when i follow the advice to set up a wireless connection to my linksys wireless modem that has wep 64bite encrytpion. When I click on that box, I get a window that wants me to enter a user name, password, and domain name. Of which there is none. So the connection fails. This same thing happens any time I want to connect to a secure router, even other brands like Bilken.
The only way I can connect wireless is though a non secure system. I'm getting the "Windows cannot find any networks" message, so I clicked on "Setup a connection or network. So now what? Why isn't the network being displayed in the first place? The SSID is being broadcast. I can see it and connect to it with no difficulty from my MacBook Pro, but Windows can't see it? Maybe Microsoft has finally realized that the only way to make Windows secure is to keep its users off of networks.
It sounds like your making the connection, but what ever your connecting to wants you to authenticate before allowing access like a Private Network behind a Firewall, maybe a Neighbor's Network, etc.. I'm trying to connect my father-in-law's brand new Windows laptop to his wireless network. The network has no password, no encryption, and it's broadcasting the SSID.
I have no difficulty seeing or connecting to it with my MacBook Pro without authenticating. Check with the manufacturer to see if the latest driver is installed for your Network card. Also check the support knowledge base and forums of the manufacturer to see if other users are having the same problems.
You may find a solution. I spent about an hour online chatting with HP tech support. They kept giving me instructions that didn't make any sense for this model e. They sent me a bunch of urls to get the drivers, and I had to remind them that I couldn't download anything to the Compaq because it didn't have a network, and downloading them to my Mac wouldn't do me any good because I couldn't install them on the Compaq because I had no way to get them onto the Compaq because it doesn't even have bluetooth—not that I would be able to get it to work even if it did.
So then they said I should try restarting the Compaq and hitting F8 as soon as the red Compaq logo appeared to get some kind of setup menu. This turned out to be very amusing. First of all, can you believe how freaking difficult they've made it to find the restart command in Vista???? Holy crap! It took me about three minutes to find it! Then, after the reboot, the Compaq logo appeared, but it was white, not red.
So as I'm wondering when the red one is going to show up I realized that Windows was already starting up, so I have to restart it again. Windows starts up again. So another restart, and this time I try holding down F10, because there's a message on the screen that says something about holding down F10 to get some kind of setup menu.
So when the menu appears I start looking around for this "last known good configuration" thing they said to look for.
But it's nowhere to be found. So at this point I'd decided I'd wasted about enough time with Compaq tech support, who obviously haven't got a clue about how their products actually work, and with this cocked-up abortion of an operating system. So I told my father-in-law that the obvious solution to his problem was to return this POS laptop and go get a MacBook. The next time someone tells me they're having trouble with a Windows computer I'm just going to say, "I'm sorry to hear that.
That's interesting. I remember seeing that option somewhere, and it was checked, but I thought IP v6 support should be standard on any new laptop. Macs have had it for years. They're useless. They don't even list this model on their site. I swear there is no EF or EM on the sticker on this machine or in the system info in firmware.
It's not. I can see it on the Mac in the Airport menu. I don't even have to run Kismet to see it. But in Vista, it keeps telling me that the settings aren't valid for a network. Vista cna see the network but not connect to it. It really wants me to import the settings using a USB flash drive, so I did that.
I also tried every entry manually. The settings that work on XP and are exported to my flash drive or printout for manual entry are:. In Vista, however, these options aren't selectable this way. For instance, with an open network authentication type, WEP is not a selectable option. Key index is driven to 1, 2, 3, or 4, but not a zero or blank.
How can I connect from Vista to a working encrypted wireless network, that it can see, that my XP computes can connect to? I've tried every option of every menu multiple times. I even tried to reset my router back to store values to start unencrypted and start fresh, but I could get it to that either. I was lucky to get back to where I was. Windows Zero Connect was no help either. Any ideas?
As many things can contribute to wireless connection issues, the most commoon items I found that causes wireless problems are:. One of the most common sources of wireless connection problems is interference operating at the same frequency as cordless phones, baby monitor, etc….
If you are running a firewall make sure it's not blocking access to the router. If it is, enable it so Vista can see it. XP and Vista are not the same. If you had a wireless card that used to work on XP and now it won't work on Vista, it may be incompatible with Vista driver only works on XP. Try using a different adapter.
I fixed it! Thanks for the tips. I had pretty much checked all this but it inspired me to run a step-by-step systematic diagnostic of my own. Maybe this will help someone else. I connected the laptop to the router with a hard LAN cable so I could maintain control of the router while troubleshooting the wireless connection.
First I disabled all firewalls to confirm that there was no interference, which there wasn't. Then I took the router down to an unencrypted basic state to confirm it would connect via the wireless adapter, which it would. I then turned back on the Norton Internet Security firewalls, and connectivity was still good. I then increased encryption on the router one step at a time, matching the settings on the wireless network properties.
I went to WEP with a hexadecimal key, and got good connectivity. I then increased to digit WEP and reestablished a good connection. I then went to WPA personal successfully. The frustrating thing was, aside from the time I spent figuring this out, was that nowhere did I see this idea of step-by-step increases in encryption or suggestions to reduce it.
No user guides, no help pages, not the manufacturer. The best help was this forum and the Linksys router guide I downloaded. Thank you. I have solved my problem and hopefully someone else will benefit from my experience. That's great news! The valuable information you provided, should help out a lot more Vista users with wireless network problems.
As you experienced, sometimes it just takes a little more digging to solve these pesky problems. I have a desktop running XP and a laptop running Vista.
The desktop is wired to the Netgear router and the laptop connects wirelessly to the router. The two computers share a printer and this works too. It all works but when I click on the little icons on the Vista laptop to see what wireless networks are available, there appears to be two. The other says it is an un-named and unsecure network. There is nothing I can do to connect to this unnamed network.
If I turn off the wireless operation of my router, both these apparent networks dissappear. I have WEP security enabled. What is going on? What is this second network? And can I get rid of it. It must be coming from my router I guess.
More than likely the 2nd network is from your neighbor and somehow your Netgear router is picking it up. When I see odd things like that on my Network, I know it's time to change all security settings on the router…you may want to do the same thing. Nope, I do not believe is not a neighbour. I do see other networks, but this unsecure un-named one dissappears if I turn off the wireless operation of my router.
Surely that means it is something to do with my router. Any external network should still show up on the laptop shouldn't it? I think it's the remnant of when you had your network up before. I found that when I changed the name of my network, the old name stayed as a viable option to select — even though the router was no longer transmitting that name. Try turning on broadcast mode again until you have everything solved.
Change the name to something else so you can tell which is which, and use WPA. Then, if you find an old network that isn't "real" anymore, delete it by using the REMOVE option when you have all available networks showing. Ken Croft — look like you are not the only Netgear user who has encountered this. Disabling SSID broadcast only disables broadcasting the name.
0コメント