I feel like I ask too many computer questions but I keep having computer issues and everyone I know knows a lot less about computers than I do. And I always try googling first but it doesn’t always work.
Anyway, I just bought a new router and installed it using my daughter’s computer and it worked fine to connect her laptop and the tablet. But when I tried it on my own laptop, it just did the limited connection thing. I tried updating my adapter driver and uninstalling and reinstalling it.
I also tried installing the router again on my daughter’s computer and then I tried installing it on my computer. Won’t even install at all using mine, it says there’s no Internet connection. And even when I used a wired connection on my computer plugged into the router’s port, it wouldn’t work (it does work plugged directly into the modem). Oh, also, when I tried to install it, it said it detected that I was already using a router, which I wasn’t.
Also, my computer connects just fine to wifi at work. So, I know the router works and my adapter works…but they don’t work together. What could this be?
I think, regrettably, that even with all the standards and compatibility guidelines in place, some routers and devices just Don’t Get Along. I recently bought my dad a Kindle and was all set to show him the wonders of wireless downloading of books, but it absolutely refused to connect to the wireless network at home, which no other device had a problem with. The Kindle would very happily connect to the wireless network at a friend’s house, but steadfastly refused to connect to ours.
We tried everything we could, but eventually the only solution that worked was replacing the router with a model from a different manufacturer, which was known to work. A painful exercise, but it seemed that other people had the same issue with Kindles and this particular router. It might be worth seeing if there’s a firmware update for the router, or whether this particular combination of router and laptop are known to have problems - thank you Google! - but I’m afraid I don’t have more reassuring news.
In the meantime, suggestions that I tried were
- change the wireless channel on the router to see if that helps
- remove all security settings from the router and see if that works
- try different security settings (e.g. WPA, WPA2)
- keep the SSID of the router short and alphabetic only
- keep the network key short and alphabetic only
- reset the wireless adapter on the laptop
Man, I am having the worst luck with modems and routers lately! I’m going to try messing with it some more, but I don’t think it’s destined to be. The modem itself is new but not quite new enough to return and buy a modem/router combo like I wish I had in the first place.