Unidentified Network

Hi I am in Australia and have a (non-tech savvy) friend in the Philippines with a curious network problem on her new Windows 7 (starter) netbook. It is giving an unidentified network error when she attempts to connect using her fixed wireless connection. The error/fault is the same at her aunts house but when she physically visited her ISP (SmartBro) the laptop happily connected (ostensibly using the same type of connection). I have yet to confirm with the ISP that the equipment they used to test her machine is the same as they have supplied to the two houses but assuming it is I am puzzled by the problem because -
1. her old desktop (running XP is happily using the connection at her aunt's house; and
2. her old laptop (also running XP) will happily use the connection at her own house (but the old Dell laptop has a video chip problem - hence the need for the new machine).

The netbook would happily connect to wi-fi in the shop she bought it from but there is no wi-fi hotspot within range of her house (so this is not a viable alternative).

The only conclusion that I can come to is that the equipment supplied to clients is different from that used to test at the ISP and that it is in some way not compatible with Windows 7 (starter edition). So far the ISP has been of very limited assistance and with only SMS contact between me and my friend checking settings, drivers and the like makes solving this problem quite difficult.

Sorry for the long explanation - Any ideas would be very welcome.

solving this

intuitas said:

Hi I am in Australia and have a (non-tech savvy) friend in the Philippines with a curious network problem on her new Windows 7 (starter) netbook. It is giving an unidentified network error when she attempts to connect using her fixed wireless connection. The error/fault is the same at her aunts house but when she physically visited her ISP (SmartBro) the laptop happily connected (ostensibly using the same type of connection). I have yet to confirm with the ISP that the equipment they used to test her machine is the same as they have supplied to the two houses but assuming it is I am puzzled by the problem because -
1. her old desktop (running XP is happily using the connection at her aunt's house; and
2. her old laptop (also running XP) will happily use the connection at her own house (but the old Dell laptop has a video chip problem - hence the need for the new machine).
The netbook would happily connect to wi-fi in the shop she bought it from but there is no wi-fi hotspot within range of her house (so this is not a viable alternative).

The only conclusion that I can come to is that the equipment supplied to clients is different from that used to test at the ISP and that it is in some way not compatible with Windows 7 (starter edition). So far the ISP has been of very limited assistance and with only SMS contact between me and my friend checking settings, drivers and the like makes solving this problem quite difficult.

Sorry for the long explanation - Any ideas would be very welcome.

solving this

As you suspected, either the router or modem aren't compatible or the driver being used isn't right for Widows 7. In either event you can usually fix the Unidentified network problem by typing in the correct default gateway manually into your IPv4 connection properties window. You need to make sure you are using the correct default gateway for your particular router. The link below shows you how.

You can look up this info for your router or you can try doing an ipconfig /all typed into your command prompt.

Windows 7 Unidentified Network, Limited Access, No Internet Connection Problem Resolved