Networking help needed

[Slick5150]

I just purchased a new VPR Matrix 170B4 laptop, and installed a Dell Truemobile 1150 802.11b PCMCIA card to connect it to my Speedstream wireless router. The card installs fine, finds my network and connects to it (shows excellent link quality), but I can't browse the network or get access to the internet.

I've run the network setup wizard in WinXP several times, trying a few different setup options, but none of them seem to work. It looks like it may not be getting assigned a proper IP address, but I have "obtain an IP automatically" checked under TCPIP, and the DHCP sever is enabled on the router. I have my desktop connected to it via ethernet cable, and it works fine. But the laptop will look like its connecting with the router, but something isn't going right. Any suggestions as to what I'm missing here?

 

[Freejack2]

Iirc, if you are using wep encryption, you can't enter the passphrase on the notebook. You have to enter the key. Once you do that everything should work.

 

[Slick5150]

I'm a little confused as to what you mean. I have to enter the WEP hexidemcial key manually on the laptop? I tried doing that, no go. I even tried shutting WEP off completely, no go. Or am I missing your point?

I had previously tried running a Belkin wireless card on the laptop, which didn't use the Windows wireless connection wizard for configuration, and it would work, but had problems with reception and staying connected (which I read that model does) so I took it back and got this one. I'm assuming it has something to do with configuration within Windows, since the Belkin didn't use the Windows tool and worked ok, while this one won't.

 

[Slick5150]

Now, oddly enough, if I hook my laptop directly to the router via an ethernet cable, that's not working either, though it was before. I tried rerunning the network setup wizard in a couple different configurations, and it still won't work (wireless or ethernet). When I click repair on the network bridge, it says that the follwing failed: Renewing the IP address. But the DHCP server on the router is on, and works fine for my desktop, and obtain IP address is checked on the laptop. So, I'm sort of at a loss at the moment. Any other ideas are certainly appreciated.

 

[Freejack2]

Hmm, try manually setting the ip address. If you access your router at say 192.168.1.1 try setting your notebook to some 100 # like 192.168.1.108
Don't forget to set your default gateway (the router's ip) and your dns servers.