Cannot connect to the net

Have just done up one of my older machines (Compaq SR1915AN) and given it to a friend. Now she has bought on of those wireless broadband devices and I cannot get it to connect except for my cable connection.
I was thinking that this computer had a wireless capability built in but it hasn't and a Google has thrown up a USB device or a Pci card adaptor.

Now my query is which one do I get as the HP site is not terribly informative, and I really am at a loss as to which to get ? maybe both and hope?

Hi ICit2lol,

Where is your friend trying to connect to? Is it her own router? Is it a secured network? What is the O/S of her computer?
Did the driver correctly installed? You may check the Device Manager for any symbols ? X or !

If everything looks good in Device Manager, she may try changing the network security (WEP, WPA, WPA2). Although WEP is not too secured, you may have her give it a try to connect to a WEP security up to WPA2.

If she is still have trouble connecting, please have her give you an ipconfig /all output on a .txt file. Also, have her give you a screen capture of the Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector Tool and upload both of them on your next post.

Please keep us posted.

John, I just had a thought, does she have the subscription up to date and paid for? It's monthly I'd assume, like a cell phone.

Sorry for late reply - power outage for a few hours.

Now the device she had I can only liken to a cell phone that picks up the signal from the provider (our national one) and then transmits it to the computer.

Now I am now pretty sure that the machine doesn't have a wireless capability so it has no way of receiving the signal. So have got a D-Link DWA-125 locally as they didn't have any adaptor cards for putting on the mobo. I was just wondering which would be the best type to use.

It has Windows 7 Home premium on a new hard drive I put in and I set the whole thing up using my own modem.
Now I don't know what she has done in the meantime as Telstra (the carrier) have been less than helpful and they have given her instructions to "set up" the wireless device and it goes straight to "Connected" but I am assuming that they have also told her how to set the machine up and now it is not even connecting via my modem - well I can get Google up with no fancy colours but it will not do a search - I was going to look for drivers for any wireless connections.
There is nothing in device manager except in Network adapters - Nvidia nforce 10/100/1000 Mbs Ethernet (driver is current) and under Modems there is PCI Soft Data Fax modem with Smart CP. - no yellow? in either.
She is not very computer literate and may have carried out the carriers instructions which have resulted in the pickle it is now in.

I am going to try the dongle out and see what happens.

John do the steps 2xg had there, she can maybe find some help with ipconfig /all text.

That dongle, does it connect directly to the computer via USB?

I agree with the USB Wi-Fi adapter, this is a lot less hassle to install as long as she doesn't have too many USB devices plugged in the computer that might create conflicts. Personally I never had any major issues installing the USB wireless adapter. If you encounter issues installing, I'd suggest to download the latest driver from the manufacturer's site.

I"d go with a USB one. They are easier to install than a pci one because you just plug them in.

Yes please an ipconfig /all might help. We need to see if she's getting good IPs or not. Thanks.

Britton30 said:

John do the steps 2xg had there, she can maybe find some help with ipconfig /all text.

That dongle, does it connect directly to the computer via USB?

Yes mate it connects via a USB and the "modem" is sitting right next to the dongle (on an extension lead) on top of the computer.

I loaded the software as per the instructions with it and took out the Ethernet cable but it will not connect. Have tried it three times now using the WPS set up wizard as the other option of manual set up I don't understand.

Perhaps the "modem" and receiver dongle are just not compatible? and just maybe it would be better for her to get a straight [plug in dongle and avoid using the "modem" type?

2xg said:

I agree with the USB Wi-Fi adapter, this is a lot less hassle to install as long as she doesn't have too many USB devices plugged in the computer that might create conflicts. Personally I never had any major issues installing the USB wireless adapter. If you encounter issues installing, I'd suggest to download the latest driver from the manufacturer's site.

I"d go with a USB one. They are easier to install than a pci one because you just plug them in.

Yes please an ipconfig /all might help. We need to see if she's getting good IPs or not. Thanks.

Sorry 2xg must have cross the posts - I cannot get the ipconfig to come at all - if you mean type in ipconfig it comes with an open box that disappear shwen I click on it.

Should I ping the ip in command prompt?

Here's a tutorial on how to run and post the ipconfig /all.

Also, can you try a different computer, Tablet or Smart phone and see if you can connect to the Telstra Modem?