Jump to content
chris54

Laptop wont connect to the Internet.

Recommended Posts

My laptop wont connect to the Internet.

 

After much key pushing it came up with something about a gateway not working, got any ideas.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Chris -

Presumably this is a laptop that was connecting to the internet - not a new one that you've never connected before?

 

Is it a wireless connection, and if so will it connect if you physically connect via the router? Do you have a desktop PC connected to the router, and is that still connecting?

 

The 'Gateway' is basically your connection between the router's server and the rest of the internet. It is possible for the router's server to go down, but it's more likely to be that your laptop has somehow 'lost' the connection. If that's happened there could be a variety of reasons...

If the situation is as above - a previously connecting wireless laptop and a router connected to a desktop PC that is still working - you probably just need to 'find' your connection again. Hover over the internet connection icon in your task bar (or right click it) and a number of options will come up... choose 'diagnose and repair' or 'connect to a network' and you should get some clues as to how to proceed, one of which will be 'view wireless networks' where you can confirm your router is showing up and enabled.

 

If the router isn't working even when wired (for either laptop or a desktop) then you either need to set up the router again or just wait and see if the server comes back up again.

 

Hope that helps

 

L&P

 

BD

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for reply.

 

Other computers on same router are working fine.

Have tried connecting laptop direct to router but made no difference.

 

It happened whiles online, yesterday, I managed to fix it (Don't know how), but then when I went back to what I was doing, attempting to view a document on line (From what is a very safe source) it happened again.

Have tried to replicate what I did before that fixed it but am having no luck.

 

The laptop is connecting to the Internet but says No access to Internet.

 

It also keeps telling me it has fixed the problem but it hasn't.

 

Will have another go and see how I get on.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for reply.

 

Other computers on same router are working fine.

Have tried connecting laptop direct to router but made no difference.

 

It happened whiles online, yesterday, I managed to fix it (Don't know how), but then when I went back to what I was doing, attempting to view a document on line (From what is a very safe source) it happened again.

Have tried to replicate what I did before that fixed it but am having no luck.

 

The laptop is connecting to the Internet but says No access to Internet.

 

It also keeps telling me it has fixed the problem but it hasn't.

 

Will have another go and see how I get on.

 

 

Is it built in wi-fi or do you use a USB 'dongle'? Having said that, if it's not connecting via ethernet (plugged in to router) it doesn't sound as though the 'wi-fi' bit is the problem(?)

If you've got a newer operating system (vista or windows 7) I'd try going into network sharing on the PC and looking there... Is the desktop still 'finding' the laptop (i.e. is the 'home' network still working) or is that fubar too? Sounds daft, but have you perhaps accidently 'toggled' the internet connection off? Ben did this once on mine and I thought he'd broken it - up until then I hadn't even realised the laptop had an 'internet on/off switch'! :whistle:

 

I'm sure you've already taken Moss, Roy & Jen's advice and tried switching it off and on again, but hope you find a solution soon.

 

L&P

 

BD

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 

The laptop is connecting to the Internet but says No access to Internet.

 

 

 

???

 

What is the message exactly?

What does the network connection icon in the notification area of the task bar look like ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When I click on Internet icon (Bottom right hand corner) the pop up has a list of available routers. I click to connect to my one, it says "connected".

 

It also says at to off pop up "Currently connected to unidentified network" " no network access"

 

When I go onto diagnose and repair it says "The default gateway is not available"

 

The router is working as other computers connected to it are working OK.

Just to be on the safe side I have pressed the reset button a few time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think this is a total mess up with the network settings, best to start again which can be somewhat protracted.

I don't know what version of Windows you're running but this should work for all.

Go to the start menu and click into the "run" (XP,Vista) or "search" (7) box and type CMD and hit enter

You will be presented with a new window with a plain black background.

Type the following EXACTLY, a space is denoted by [ ] and don't type the brackets!

 

IPCONFIG[ ]/release

IPCONFIG[ ]/flushdns

IPCONFIG[ ]/renew

IPCONFI|G[ ]/registerdns

EXIT

 

The window will disappear after that last command.

This will clear all connections and links to the internet for those connections, then re-attach all networks, searching for internet connections.

 

The "gateway" messup can usually be solved by the procedure above, and the gateway should be the IP address of your router as this is the first "hop" in the internet chain. The router should have a list, or contain an IP address of another router with a list, of "Domain Name Servers" (DNS) which converts the domain name of the location you are looking for into IP addresses (which is why it's called a router!); without this the network can't access the location of the page you are looking for.

 

Let me know if this works.

Edited by GaryS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Chris -

 

It sounds as though your laptop may have found a neighbours router and somehow set itself to use that by default(?)

The pop-up messages you've got suggest:

 

"Connected" The status of your home router - it's currently up and working and the laptop has found it (but that doesn't necessarily mean your laptop is connected via it).

 

"Currently connected to an unidentified network" - this is possibly a neighbour's router, which is permanently on for (i.e.) interactive or subscription or 'catch-up' TV. It may be that your laptop is trying to connect through this, but it would only become available for internet access (rather than 'local') if and when the neigbour was actually online. That could explain the mixed messages you get about "unidentified network" and "not connected".

 

Most networks have a 'Pre-Set-Key' (PSK) for security these days, and if this is not entered you won't be able to connect to the network/router. Most routers have a default one, but these can be reset at the router's homepage. If you've pressed 'reset' then it should now be set to the default one. Some routers (esp if supplied by your internet provider) have that PSK on a label on the bottom, or you could find it in the router's manual /hompage. If your laptop has somehow 'lost' that you should get a message asking you to type it in, but if it has somehow been transposed or replaced you wouldn't get that message.

 

I've never had this problem with my laptop, but it used to happen occasionally with my son's old PC which had a USB 'dongle' rather than inbuilt wi-fi. The same has also happened with his X-Box, though I suspect that was HIS fault when he tried being clever and routing through a neighbours network when our router was temporarily offline. :lol:

 

You could try the steps GaryS has mentioned, but you might find, if windows has the (assumed) neighbour's router now set as it's default, that it will just find and default to it again. Also, if the PSK is corrupt it may not fix that...

 

Before that, I'd make sure by opening your wireless network settings that your router is set as the default connection, and once that is done that any PSK is set correctly.

 

I know you can copy the settings from (i.e.) your desktop to a memory stick and check/repair the laptop settings that way, but the method varies a bit depending on your O/S, so you might want to do an online search for instructions by O/S.

 

If your router came from your internet provider you might have a set up disc(?)

 

After that I'm out of ideas, purely because there are so many variables you can only really solve it by the 'fiddle and see' method.

 

Not the most likely scenario, but there's a possibility you've picked up a 'bug' from somewhere that tried to redirect your router to another (expensive) server and got caught in the act by your antivirus. If you haven't already, run a thorough virus scan to check there's not a bit of code left somewhere on your system that reruns every time you boot up the laptop.

 

Hop that helps

 

L&P

 

BD

Edited by baddad

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for replys.

Having got nowhere, I have asked someone to have a look at my laptop.

Their first impression is that its sypware.

Dont know if its part of the some thing but my internet security was turning off when I tried to run a scan.

Anyway its with someone now and hopefully will be sorted out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Update.

I had two computer experts pondering over my laptop.

 

They cant find anything wrong other than it dont work!!

 

They are going to take it back to the manufacturer spec and start again.

 

If that dont work it go to be a hardware problem.

 

And if that's the case its back to its maker.

Edited by chris54

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry for sounding suspicious but are these "experts" well recommended?

 

If the network is "connected" then it can't be a hardware problem. Once the network driver has initiated and hooked the physical hardware to the network "packets" that are flying around; from then on it is all software. If hard wired network, there are two ways this is shown; there will be a LED at each end of the wire, one at the PC another on the port you plugged into on the router (or switch). The second is on the PC, there will be an icon in the notification area showing that there is a connection made - this will also show on wireless systems.

 

Once the network protocol has been accepted and recognised (resulting in the above status) the PC will attempt to get an IP address from your router. Without this you will not be connected to the internet as the router won't know who is asking and can't send anything. There are three reasons you don't get an IP address - 1. The router is not set up correctly to issue IP addresses, 2. the PC is belligerently insisting on an IP address which the router is refusing to allow or 3. the PC is manually set to a IP address that has been used elsewhere and again the router is refusing to allow this. The next step is that the PC assigns a Gateway server which is almost always the router unless something very unusual is going on (in a domestic situation anyway).

 

I must assume the router is OK as you say other PCs are working OK (but see note below). The procedure I set out above will clear out the "preferred" IP address from the and thing should work again. If the PC is set to a manual IP address it is a simple procedure to change it. [ note: there are circumstances where the router can be fooled but this is usually malicious but always straightforward to sort out.]

 

If you have a unsecured wireless network then I suspect some kids has been playing around with your router - very easy to do if you don't set pass keys on the router - I've had a few instances of this and can get it expensive if the "computer expert" isn't.

 

As I said, if you are getting a connection to the network but no internet it is a very straight forward exercise (and shouldn't be that difficult even if there is no network access) and even if it is necessary to un-install networking components and reinstall everything it shouldn't take more than an hour so £40 or so max. However, it's not unusual for some computer shops to charge for complete software re-builds in these cases and miraculously they were able to recover all of your data and reset everything exactly the same as you gave it to them, minus the "complicated" fault. Strange that.:angry:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As far as how expert, they are the two local people that everyone goes to with their computer problems.

 

I can assure you that everything that has been suggested here has been tried. I know it is not a router problem as the problem persists when connected to other routers.

 

Will keep you informed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well its fixed now.

We still don't really know what caused the problem.

 

 

Iv come across 2 other people who are having the same problem so maybe its catching.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...