More Wireless Internet Problems, Dell Tech made it worse

My wireless was working fine and then something updated and called for a restart. I did that, and now my wireless internet wont work in 2 of my classrooms. BUT, the wireless internet always works with my home wireless router, and in another classroom.

It'll find the wireless signal called AirBears. Then it will say it's connected at 5 bars and Signal strength is Excellent. It's a green line from the 1420 to the Network but there is a red X on the line that shows connection from the Network to the Internet. It wont pull up the log-on page that I have to put my student number and password in although it's connected to the Network! What's worse is that everyone around me using MacBoks, IBMs, and older Dells are on the internet while mine cant even find a connection. When I try to pull up "Connect to a Network" and "Manage Wireless Network" and change from Disabled to Enabled, it freezes! Or it says it has been Enabled but it still reads Disabled.

I called Dell to find a solution and the rep did 3 major things during a DellConnect. 1) she Unchecked internet protocol version 4 and just left IPv6 checked. 2) she checked boxes in McAfee to make my computer connect to the 4 ranges of IP addresses rather than only one 3) Did a system restore from about 1 week from that point (which I think undid steps 1 and 2?) Now the thing is worse off than it was before! Now the laptop wont even find any wireless networks in the classrooms I'm in. And obviously there is one cuz the guy next to me is on Gmail and the people in front of me are on Facebook.

Any ideas as to what may be causing this? And how would I fix it?

Thanks in advance.

 

id try uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it

 

are you sure the network you are trying to connect to is not protected, that from your original description sounds like it could be a issue

 

Could this be a Vista-related problem? Is anyone else in your class using Vista on their laptop and getting in OK?

 

maybe your classrooms wireless isnt the the right protocol for your laptop...... this happened to me i thought that i needed to fix something but i found out that my modem was using default for wireless b/g so i changed it to back wireless g than bg and now i can connect again

 

Zfactor, the network is an open network. Anyone who has a computer with a wireless signal can access the log-on page. In order to use it, you need a student ID and password. But Vista lists it as "Unauthenticated"

Chelet, yeah it probably is a Vista problem. In the 2 classes where my wireless doesnt work, no one around me is using Vista. Everyone has XP o MAC OS X running. The DellTech rep said to ask another person in my class what IP address they're using to connect. But I dont even know what that means, so I dont know if I can ask anyone next to me what it is.

JawBreaker, which wireless card did you get? I got the Intel 4965 AGN. I'm not sure how to change it back to wireless G.

 

I wonder if there is someone at your school who could help you -- maybe one of the technical staff who helped set up and maintain the wireless connections.

If you can remember where the Dell tech went to turn off IPv4, you might go back in there and make sure it's checked. Going back to the restore point should have set it back, but there's no harm in checking.

You might also check that the drivers for your wireless card are up to date in Device Manager.

 

It is very likely a Vista related problem. I am using multiple wireless router at home to increase the coverage of WiFi. I forgot to turn off the WAN port on one of the router for bridging. When my laptop connected to that router, the Vista will see 2 gateways (the primary router with DSL uplink and the router with the WAN port running) with one WiFi connection. This is fine with XP but Vista will not give the internet connection. It will show "Local only". It is likely your school has multiple access points linked together and your laptop sees multiple gateway.
After I turn off the WAN access of the bridging router, I don't have that problem anymore.