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Wireless and limited connectivity with Vista

I can't seem to get the DHCP settings on my laptop to work with my actiontec router. If i manually configure it, it works fine but since the laptop has to be transported to work everyday, that won't work out well. I tried everything Vista/DHCP related to fix this but i just can't get past the "limited/no connectivity" part. I even did some registry editing suggest by posts a few hours ago. I don't know what to do,and changing the ip settings everyday won't really work due to not all of the laptop users being technologically advanced

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Comments

MikeyB

By manually, do you mean that you create a static IP address in the router that gets assigned to the laptop based on the laptop MAC number? If you do something in the router, it should not affect the laptop when it connects to another network since the laptop always gets its IP address from whatever host it is connected to. The only thing I know of that you might ever have to do on the laptop is configure firewall software. If you have it running, you might need to create the trusted network to tell the laptop it is okay to connect to that network, usually just putting in the router address as trusted, 192.168.0.1 or .1.1

G-Pon

Different brands of computers use different wireless cards internally and the software that supports them (called “drivers’) will vary widly from one brand to another, the problem may not be specific to Microsoft Vista, but rather how well the computer’s wireless systems are working for you.
Generally right clicking on the wireless icon near the clock and selecting “View Available Wireless Networks” (or similar) then choosing an option to “refresh” the list should allow you to disconnect and connect to the variety of networks found in the list. The network name (ESSID) and pass-key (WEP Key) are found on a sticker on the Verizon router.
Here is a link to a good helpful set ideas:
http://netservices.verizon.net/portal/link/help/item&objId=15973
and
http://netservices.verizon.net/portal/link/help/index.jsp?epi_menuItemID=c567d167631f692124525d7253295c48&objId=16236

Some employers add security settings to use their wireless networks, if those settings are on the laptop, they may be inappropriate for Starbucks or Home. If this is the issue, you may be able to overcome it by using a different WINDOWS profile for home and work by setting Vista as if it was going to be used by different people, call one user profile “Home” the original “Work” etc. When you start the computer use the one for where you are at, the special security settings may not be present in the new user profiles you create. Naturally if this your employer’s computer check with them first.

Distance from the wireless router and things like cordless phones & other electromagnetic interference can be an issue too. Begin your attempts within 5 to 10 feet line-of-sight of the router until you get it going, then later after you get it connected see how far away it will work.

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