Limited connectivity on brand new laptop

I just purchased a lenovo w520 with Windows Pro. 7 64 bit and an Intel Ultimate n 6300 card.

For some reason, I get "limited connectivity" when I try to connect to my router. How do I fix this? I noticed that of all the networks in my laptop's range mine is the only "g" rather than "n" network. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

are the networks around you using N routers ?

 

All of them except for my own, which is 802.11g.

 

1. Unplug the power for your wireless router and cable modem.
2. Turn off your laptop.
3. Plug in the power for your cable modem and wait 5 minutes.
4. Plug in the power for your wireless router and wait 2-3 minutes.
5. Now, turn on your laptop.

The reason we are doing this is because the wireless router might not be assigning an IP address to your laptop.

Also, what wireless router do you have? It might help to know.

 

still no luck. I'm using the verizon fios router seen here Actiontec MI424WR Verizon FiOS Router Revision F

 

Maybe the Verizon router does not like your computer. My sister got Fios and three of the four computers at here house hooked up great and ran with good speed. Her desktop with its wireless adapter was doing pretty much the same thing you are describing. Her room mate had the router locked up in the other room. I setup my sisters laptop as an access point using connectify and the desktops wireless adapter had no problem hooking up to it. If somebody finds a solution to your problem maybe I can fix it at my sisters place the next time I am there. If I can get into the other room.

 

run an ipconfig /all on your laptop and tell us what IPv4 addresses the wired and wireless connections are getting.

 

took me a while to handcopy these since I can't find a USB around, but here is the whole ipconfig /all:

Hostname: thinkpad
primary dns suffix:
node type: hybrid
ip routing enabled: no
WINS proxy enabled: no

wireless Lan adapter wireless Network connection 3:
Media State: Media disconnected
connection-specific DNS suffix.:
Description: Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter #2
Physical Address: 00-24-D7-D2-75-29
DHCP Enabled: Yes
AutoConfiguration Enabled: Yes

wireless Lan adapter wireless Network connection 2:
Media state: Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS suffix:
Description: Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address: 00-24-D7-D2-75-29
DHCP Enabled: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specifc DNS suffix:
Description: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Physical Address: 00-24-D7-D2-75-28
DHCP Enabled: Yes
Autoconfiguration enabled: yes
Link-local IPv6 Address: fe80::31b5:d67:9fb:ed2a%15(preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address: 169.254.237.42 (Preferred)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway:
DHCPv6 IAID:369108183
DHCPv6 Client DUID: 00-01-00-01-15-AA-45-BA-f0-DE-F1-69-70-41
DNS Servers: fec0:0:0:ffff:1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff:2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff:3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip: Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State: Media disconnected
Connection-pecific DNS suffix:
Description: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address: F0-DE-F1-69-70-41
DHCP Enabled: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.(c54bdc25-f6a4-4005-ba7c-13911361d6d5):
Media State: Media Disconnected
Connection-pecific DNS suffix:
Description: Microsoft ISAtAP Adapter
Physical Address: 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled: No
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.(bcf2e669-06ed-4f5b-9bf8-a9b2defdf012):
Media State: Media Disconnected
Connection-pecific DNS suffix:
Description: Microsoft ISAtAP Adapter #2
Physical Address: 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled: No
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connectionx 12:
Media State: Media Disconnected
Connection-pecific DNS suffix:
Description: Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address: 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled: No
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.(437ef7b6-67b1-460c-84c8-a91415920109):
Media State: Media Disconnected
Connection-pecific DNS suffix:
Description: Microsoft ISAtAP Adapter #4
Physical Address: 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled: No
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Media State: Media Disconnected
Connection-specific DNS suffix.:
Description: Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address: 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled: No
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes

 

Any time you get 169.xxx.xxx.xxx it means that you are not getting an IP address from the wireless router. Follow the steps from my previous post and type this in the "command prompt" for the laptop.

ip config /release
ip config /renew

Then type "ip config /all" and it should show you that you have a new IP address from your wireless router.

 

when I try that I get the messages: No operation can be performed on Wireless Network Connection 3 while it has its media disconnected
No operation can be performed on Wireless Network Connection 2 while it has its media disconnected
No operation can be performed on Local Area Connection while it has its media disconnected

followed by the same contents as the original ipconfig /all

 

You should only worry about Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: since that is the one with the Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN.

What does it say for that wireless network card? and what IP address are you getting for it? You might want to restart your computer for the /release and /renew thing to take into effect.

 

it has a 169.254 address even after the restart. there are no changes, i assume, since the ipconfig renew isn't working as the cmd prompt responds with "no operation can be performed etc etc." as I wrote previously

 

That's all I can think of right now. Sorry, I couldn't be of much help. Do some research on Google and you might find a solution. Good luck.

 

I suggest you unplug the ONT and router. Disconnect the ONT backup battery. Wait 15 minutes. Connect backup battery. Plug in ONT. Plug in router. See if you can get a full connection now.

If not, then there is either a key mismatch between the notebook and router or there is a subnet mismatch. You will have to correct this using a wired connection.

Also the Actiontecs are known to have signal issues. They are the worst of the worst routers available.

 

If you go here do you see the network you want to connect to ? Control Panel\Network and Internet\Manage Wireless Networks
You may just need to add it and configure the 6300 so it has the proper settings to match the router.
If an entry exists for it, delete it and set it up again.

 

got it to work. This is how:
Connected my ethernet cable to my laptop (thanks @metril), which was followed by a few loading bars indicating that an IP was being assigned, and then the internet turned on. I then disconnected the cable, after which my wireless still didn't work, so I went into Control Panel>>Network and Sharing Center>>Manage Wireless Networks.. I highlighted my network, clicked remove. I then reconnected, entered the WEP key, and now it works.

Not sure what was the key to making the connection click, though I suppose it may have been connecting by ethernet and having an IP assigned directly, but all that matters is that everything works fine (rebooted just in case). Hopefully this helps someone!

 

How big/wide is the dhcp pool on the router? If it's too small and fully committed, new devices will have a problem getting addresses.

I use dhcp reservations on my home router; the dhcp pool is about 25 addresses wide, but because of mac address reservation I only allow 3 'roaming' devices to connect via wired or wireless. ANy more than that (friends/relatives over for dinner, impromptu lan party, etc) and I have to jump into the router to up the limits.

 

it's definitely pretty big because I've had several people come over at a time and connect without a problem

 

@OP

Your issue most likely occurred due to a key type mismatch. You can specify the wireless network settings on the notebook manually or have it find the settings automatically once you provide the network key. However, once the security protocol is established, the key protocol must also be established. A key protocol mismatch can occur due to dropped packets between the notebook and router during the initial setup.

When you removed and added the network, you restarted the initial connection sequence and this time, the protocol was detected correctly and configured properly.