Internet advice

[Rob MacLennan]

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Will I be able to d/l driver onto a usb from my pc and then add it to his laptop, if that is what the issue is?

As Matthew said, yes. Some manufacturers only package the driver and you'll have to go into the area I specified in my previous post, select either "update driver" of "install driver (depending upon the actual cause of the problem), and then point to the folder where the driver files were unpacked after download. Other manufacturers have an installation programme that will actively find the hardware in question, then install the appropriate driver for it.

 

[Xhumeka]

If it was working fine one day and not the next, I'm tempted to think it might be hardware related too unless someone messed with your software. Some laptops have a physical switch on them that will turn on/off the wireless adapter, check that too!

 

[TwistedKestrel]

Some laptops have a physical switch on them that will turn on/off the wireless adapter, check that too!

Good point, sometimes the switches themselves fail but the WLAN card itself is fine (some laptops will let you bypass the WLAN switch in the BIOS)

 

[Joe Bass]

Go into Control Panel, change the view in the upper right corner to either small icons or large icons, then click on "System." Click on "Device Manager" in the upper left corner of the System window. Look for "network adapters" and/or "other devices." If there are exclamation marks showing there is either something wrong with the device, or its driver. Odds are you will have to reload the driver for the network adapter. Go to the manufacturer's website and download the most recent version for that notebook. Manufacturer's frequently make changes to the basic design of equipment that result in only their driver working properly.

No exclamation marks.

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Bass]

Did he drop the laptop and knock the card slightly out of its socket?
Check the software first, as it's easier, and more likely.

A Cat 5 cable is an Ethernet cable.

My modem is in the basement. I drilled a hole in the ceiling and the router is on the main floor, a 100 ft cable runs to another hole in the ceiling for a second router, since my bedroom wasn't getting a strong signal from the first router.

Gonna join the cat5 at the electrical panel and use that for his internet.

Kinda weary of opening the laptop to see if the card is loose. He just said he didn't drop it. But he's 12. Probably lying.

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[Joe Bass]

Good point, sometimes the switches themselves fail but the WLAN card itself is fine (some laptops will let you bypass the WLAN switch in the BIOS)

If it was working fine one day and not the next, I'm tempted to think it might be hardware related too unless someone messed with your software. Some laptops have a physical switch on them that will turn on/off the wireless adapter, check that too!

The switch is on.
I hate computers.

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[TwistedKestrel]

Uhhhh... there's something funky going on here. Don't mess with any drivers (yet), if the wireless worked out of the box with Windows 7 then it's better to leave it alone (some vendors will have customized firmware on their stuff, basically meaning that the drivers you can download will just break everything).

Maybe the networking stack is borked somehow? It'd be like finding a cheese sandwich under a distributor cap but nothing's impossible.

Try this: Open a command prompt (Windows key + R, type "cmd", hit enter) then enter ipconfig /all and share what it says (right click on the window, click "Mark", drag it over all the text then post it at www.pastebin.com)

 

[Rob MacLennan]

No exclamation marks.

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk

Does the antivirus list anything in the logs as being found? Some adware replaces the DNS settings or adds an internet proxy, and poorly designed antivirus programmes will kill the adware without first resetting the DNS. In Control Panel click on "Internet Settings", then "Connections", and finally "LAN Settings." If the box next to "Proxy Server" is checked off, uncheck it.

After that open "Network and Sharing Center" in Control Panel. Click on "Local Area Connections" in the upper left. Click on the "Properties" button that appears after that. Open "Internet Protocol Version 4." The radio buttons "Obtain an IP automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" should both be selected.

 

[Joe Bass]

Uhhhh... there's something funky going on here. Don't mess with any drivers (yet), if the wireless worked out of the box with Windows 7 then it's better to leave it alone (some vendors will have customized firmware on their stuff, basically meaning that the drivers you can download will just break everything).

Maybe the networking stack is borked somehow? It'd be like finding a cheese sandwich under a distributor cap but nothing's impossible.

Try this: Open a command prompt (Windows key + R, type "cmd", hit enter) then enter ipconfig /all and share what it says (right click on the window, click "Mark", drag it over all the text then post it at www.pastebin.com)

How do I post it to that site w/o internet? Copy to a stick and then my pc?

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Bass]

Does the antivirus list anything in the logs as being found? Some adware replaces the DNS settings or adds an internet proxy, and poorly designed antivirus programmes will kill the adware without first resetting the DNS. In Control Panel click on "Internet Settings", then "Connections", and finally "LAN Settings." If the box next to "Proxy Server" is checked off, uncheck it.

After that open "Network and Sharing Center" in Control Panel. Click on "Local Area Connections" in the upper left. Click on the "Properties" button that appears after that. Open "Internet Protocol Version 4." The radio buttons "Obtain an IP automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" should both be selected.

Network and sharing center does not have a LAN in the upper left

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[Riceburner]

Why not try uninstall and then re-install.

 

[Joe Bass]

Why not try uninstall and then re-install.

Gonna be my last resort, as I will have to ask someone to do that for me.

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[Riceburner]

right click on the Broadcom Network Adapter in the list you showed. Click Uninstall. Then right click on Network Adapter heading and click on scan for hardware changes. It should find it and re-install.

 

[Joe Bass]

right click on the Broadcom Network Adapter in the list you showed. Click Uninstall. Then right click on Network Adapter heading and click on scan for hardware changes. It should find it and re-install.

Ok. Will try that now. Thanks.

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[TwistedKestrel]

How do I post it to that site w/o internet? Copy to a stick and then my pc?

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Oh... right. Take a picture? Give Riceburner's suggestion a try first, that's relatively low impact and might rejig things enough to work

 

[Joe Bass]

Oh... right. Take a picture? Give Riceburner's suggestion a try first, that's relatively low impact and might rejig things enough to work

Ok. Brb.

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[Joe Bass]

right click on the Broadcom Network Adapter in the list you showed. Click Uninstall. Then right click on Network Adapter heading and click on scan for hardware changes. It should find it and re-install.

Did it. Still says no network hardware.

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[Joe Bass]

@TwistedKestrel @riceburner

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[Riceburner]

Might have to go the manufacturer site to find the latest network drivers. Copy to a stick to transfer them to the laptop. Either run the drivers or do a driver update and add the location to where it can search for them to install. What brand of laptop is it?

 

[Joe Bass]

Might have to go the manufacturer site to find the latest network drivers. Copy to a stick to transfer them to the laptop. Either run the drivers or do a driver update and add the location to where it can search for them to install. What brand of laptop is it?

Acer Aspire One, that was reloaded with Windows 7

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