Adding another laptop... please help!

[FluffyBoots]

Hello - I very much hope that someone can offer me some advice here... there is every chance that I am doing something totally daft, but I've been at it all day and am getting nowhere.

I have a new O2 broadband connection - using the O2 wireless box etc. and all seems to be OK. I have a desktop which is connected to the O2 box by ethernet and 2 of my kids have laptops which are happily accessing wirelessly. I have not altered the name of the network or the WEP password.

My third son now wants his laptop connected - this is an older machine which has a Netgear WG511T wireless card. I have set this up and the Netgear software says that the laptop is connected to my O2 wireless network - good signal strength. However, I have no internet access - the O2 box does not show this laptop as an attached device.

How do I persuade the O2 box to acknowledge the new laptop?

Many thanks!

[Saturday]

Originally Posted by FluffyBoots

How do I persuade the O2 box to acknowledge the new laptop?

Sounds like it's not being given an IP address by the router. The most likely cause of this is that the laptop has been set to a particular IPaddress outside of that in use by the router rather than being set to use whatever IP the router assigns. Go into the laptop network settings and ensure it is set to aquire an IP address automatically.

Instructions can be found here (first part, ignore the advanced/DNS bit).

If that's not it then double check you have input the network key in the laptop wireless settings correctly (i.e. correct case and not transposing 0 for O and 8 for B etc) and you are using the same encryption (i.e. WEP and the right bits etc).

HTH

[FluffyBoots]

Saturday, you are a total star - it worked!! Thank you so much!

[Saturday]

Thanks - I take it you found the problem?

[FluffyBoots]

"I take it you found the problem?"

Yes, I guess I did! Not sure what it was... but I must have found it. I took something off a network bridge and diddled with the protocol.....?!

Works like a dream now....

(And it's been a big day cos I re-formatted the hard drive first..... spooky!!)

Thanks again!