Gateway 6723 problems

Ok, I thought I found the deal of the year for the Gateway 6723 laptop. Office Depot had it on sale for $499 after rebates. Took it home with me...and they were flying out the door too. They just got new stock in and they were moving quickly.

anyway, although I didn't find the computer, or the manual, for that matter, exceedingly intuitive, I was able to get it up and running pretty quickly, connected to my cable Internet connection via a wireless router I purchased along with the Gateway. Great, right? NO. Later on in the evening the first day, suddenly I couldn't get it to connect to the wireless network even though it showed a strong signal. Apparently, either I 'forgot" my password, or this thing just lost its settings. anyway, no matter what I tried...I tried every password I have ever used, to no avail....perhaps I "typo'd" when I set up the "password". In any case, one would think you wouldn't need to "type in a password" to connect to the darn network I had just set up and had working fine for hours. And for the life of me, I could not find a way to simply "start over" or log in as a new user with a new network.

After a frustrating day the next day...(reliving the late 1990s when I had a Gateway with frustration after frustration), I finally took the thing back. Very disappointing. I've never owned a laptop nor a wireless router, so maybe all of that is just over my head. I thought once you set it up....then you just turn the thing on and it automatically would connect with the router. But no. And don't think for one second that Gateway "service" is going to get you anywhere except frustrated and ready to throw the phone at the wall.

 

have you tried resetting the wifi in the laptop? like right click and diagnose. and reset the internal wifi?

where are you connecting? sounds like your getting your wifi off somewhere you cannot reach the router? i wouldve tried resetting the router. or your leeching off someone elses internet? they couldve blocked you OR change the password.

 

I was using my OWN cable Internet connection, thank you, with a new Linksys Wireless Router that I bought to go along with the laptop. I took the Gateway back the next day after fiddling with it for hours to no avail...I don't have the time or patience for products that require troubleshooting / reconfiguring out of the box, or within hours.

It did occur to me later, however, that perhaps the problem was simply that after "updating" (and restarting) at least twice, a firewall was put on and/or needed to be reconfigured.

In any case, I sure wish the thing just worked....it did for a while...until after one of the restarts, that is. I'm still looking. The Asus EEE PC looks like a possibility due to its extreme portability and attractive price. I need Internet browsing capability primarily. Bells, whistles and pure computing power are way down on the list of priorities.