urgent network help needed

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Rikkitic

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#230517 27-Feb-2018 17:05

we are having a small emergency. i need to get wi-fi access working on very old vaio laptop running xp. computer sees correct network and i have ssid and security key. no problem connecting from my tablet but laptop doesn't connect. it just says waiting for network and never goes farther. i am no network expeft and don't know what to try. can anyone help? this is important. no lan connection, only wi-fi.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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343 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1965258 27-Feb-2018 17:18

What wifi security protocol are you trying to connect to? is it wpa2 and what can the wifi card of the laptop handle? If it's an old enough model then it may not support wpa2.

dryburn

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#1965259 27-Feb-2018 17:23

have a spare wifi dongle laying around? you will probably need to download drivers for it

yitz

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#1965310 27-Feb-2018 18:11

Depending on driver you may need to manually specify WPA2 Personal vs. Enterprise.

networkn

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#1965312 27-Feb-2018 18:15

I assume you can't download updated drivers from another computer and load them onto the device that won't connect via USB stick? We have had issues with customers a few years back with older notebooks trying to connect to newer access points. Updating drivers almost always fixed it.

deadlyllama

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#1965313 27-Feb-2018 18:16

If the vaio is old enough it may only support WPA1 or even just WEP. Temporarily turn off your wifi security.

networkn

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#1965329 27-Feb-2018 18:37

deadlyllama: If the vaio is old enough it may only support WPA1 or even just WEP. Temporarily turn off your wifi security.

Yup also a good idea.

Though you should be warned, putting an XP PC on the internet is quite likely going to end up with you doing malware removal soon after.

andrewNZ

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#1965335 27-Feb-2018 18:48

networkn:
deadlyllama: If the vaio is old enough it may only support WPA1 or even just WEP. Temporarily turn off your wifi security.

Yup also a good idea.

Though you should be warned, putting an XP PC on the internet is quite likely going to end up with you doing malware removal soon after.

Or google
XP POS ready registry

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Rickles

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#1965343 27-Feb-2018 19:16

1: Check that the laptop can connect to another, maybe free wifi (library, café etc)

2: Check that router hasn't got MAC control set on to allow recent devices only.

cadman

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#1965370 27-Feb-2018 20:03

Router set to 802.11N only? Probably needs 802.11G.

Lias

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#1965396 27-Feb-2018 21:52

cadman:

Router set to 802.11N only? Probably needs 802.11G.

Plenty of older XP era laptops were only 802.11A/B

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deadlyllama

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#1965397 27-Feb-2018 21:57

Lias:

cadman:

Router set to 802.11N only? Probably needs 802.11G.

Plenty of older XP era laptops were only 802.11A/B

quibble: you probably mean 802.11b. 802.11a is the 5GHz version of 802.11g...

I cobbled together a Wifi network at VUW back when I was a student (2003?), using old PCs and 802.11b PCMCIA cards with a wacky Linux driver that let them work as access points. We had coverage of parts of the computer science labs, and the quad!

yitz

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#1965398 27-Feb-2018 21:59

Many systems were sold/pre-installed or reconfigured to XP as late as 2011/2012.

Rikkitic

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#1965400 27-Feb-2018 22:04

Hi guys,

Thanks heaps for the great responses. We finally got it (sort of) sorted. I am visiting in Oz. My stepdaughter's business laptop went south. Much panic and improvisation. I have a tablet that isn't working very well. She has a phone that is limited in its usefulness. She pulled an antique laptop out of a closet with XP on it but we couldn't get it on-line. I finally discovered a sticker that was hiding the LAN port. Then all kinds of nightmares with out of date security certificates that wouldn't let us access any site. Jeez, what is the point of security that locks you in instead of locking bad guys out? Anyway, I finally got it to work by disabling most security and downloading Firefox (when I was finally able to download anything). So everything is sort of working at the moment. Very temporary. We picked out a new notebook today, will probably pick up tomorrow.

Thanks again for the help.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

yitz

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#1965402 27-Feb-2018 22:11

Yes as you have found out even if you do manage to connect the default Windows XP cipher suites are mostly out of date. Makes it no good for browsing and most things really.

networkn

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#1965443 28-Feb-2018 00:16

Since this is for a business, may I suggest you start with a notebook that comes with Microsoft Windows Professional on it as a starting point and an SSD. They maybe aren't as cheap, but they are designed for business, have a few less bells and whistles but are usually built on a better platform. HP Probook and EliteBooks (strong preference because of the much better warranty and lighter weight form factor).

I would typically advise clients to avoid retail chains like Harvey Normans or Noel Leeming. Those devices with a few exceptions are consumer grade hardware. Expect return to base warranties which typically have long waits.

A few hundred extra at this end can save you significant money at the other end.

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