The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Unable to connect to an unsecured wifi network | Plz Help

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by troubleshooter27, Jul 11, 2010.

  1. troubleshooter27

    troubleshooter27 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi, I've purchased a new Lenovo laptop with Windows 7 pre installed in it. An unsecured wifi network around my vicinity. When I click Connect, it gives an error.

    Since Laptop is new, so I think all the drivers are up to date.

    Plz Plz Help

    Thanks
     
    troubleshooter27, Jul 11, 2010
    #1
  2. namaiki

    namaiki "basically rocks" Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    3,905
    Messages:
    6,116
    Likes Received:
    89
    Trophy Points:
    216
    One thing needs to be clarified. Is this your network, or do you have permission to connect to it?
     
    namaiki, Jul 11, 2010
    #2
  3. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

    Reputations:
    2,291
    Messages:
    3,023
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    106
    That is a pretty generic Windows network error. I tend to get it when I connect to neighbors networks that are *just* out of reach. Basically when Windows doesn't get an IP address served to it, it throws that error and doesn't connect to the network.

    This isn't a hardware or software problem, it just means the network you are trying to connect to won't let you connect. Besides being possibly out of range, you would get that exact error if the operator of that network used a MAC address whitelist. If you weren't predefined on that list your machine will never be able to connect regardless of being secured/unsecured.
     
    dietcokefiend, Jul 11, 2010
    #3
  4. troubleshooter27

    troubleshooter27 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    But my friend is able to connect to that effortlessly and he is using Se7en
     
    troubleshooter27, Jul 12, 2010
    #4
  5. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    7,857
    Messages:
    16,212
    Likes Received:
    58
    Trophy Points:
    466
    I would ask the owner of the network to help you out with it.
     
    Greg, Jul 12, 2010
    #5
  6. sama98b

    sama98b Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    40
    Messages:
    435
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Unsecured doesn't mean it's fully unprotected ... it's just not encrypted ;)

    It can be mac address locked, it can have dhcp disabled and ip ranges locked/changed, can be honeypot ...

    If know how .. then you can connect to it less then a minute just like all wep encrypted ones.


    But likely you are just out of range to be able connect ..
     
    sama98b, Jul 12, 2010
    #6
  7. woofer00

    woofer00 Wanderer

    Reputations:
    726
    Messages:
    1,086
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Long time ago I used to leave a wireless router like this to drive visitors nuts. One guy eventually broke it (I left it running logs) only to discover it was connected to absolutely nothing.
     
    woofer00, Jul 15, 2010
    #7
  8. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    801
    Messages:
    3,881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    honeypots are fun to run, lets you easily ID the local idiots.
     
    newsposter, Jul 15, 2010
    #8