COMCAST hookup to laptop question....

[BahamaMama]

okay, the kiddies have their laptops now, we have comcast already installed at the house to their desktops and my laptop (so router?? is in place)

their laptops come with built in ethernet cards...what do i have to do to make those laptops work with comcast now that we're home??


(and UGH what a drive thru ice in northern iowa..... sure glad to be home in one piece.)

and HOW 'BOUT DEM HAWKEYES???!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Penguinfan]

It's not an ethernet card that you need, it's a wireless reciever that has to be in the laptops. Do you have them, most newer laptops have them pre installed.

 

[BahamaMama]

LOL, heck...i don't know if they have those or not....i only asked about ethernet cards when i bought them...since that is what comcast told me i needed to buy.... maybe that is why they told me i would have to pay for them to come back when i was switching over computers

 

[Penguinfan]

Ethernet card is what you would use if you WIRED it to the router, if you are looking for wireless you need something to recieve the signal with. If these are newer laptops look for an on/off switch on the side of the laptop that your not sure what its for, that will be for the wireless connection. If you don't see that then you probably need to buy a wireless card that goes in the PCMCIA slot, the most popular are made by Lynksys and readily available at Best Buy.

 

[BahamaMama]

let me pull out the paperwork and see what i would need to post to give you better info......but i swear it says it is wireless ready.

 

[Penguinfan]

If it's wireless ready then there really should be an on/off switch for the wireless connection. If they have cards built in then they should find the signal all by themselves if the router is hooked up and has the software installed and aquired it's own IP address. If it doesn't locate the signal by itself and your sure it has a built in card let me know and we'll walk through the steps to get it.

 

[Penguinfan]

A good place to start on the laptop is CONTROL PANEL, NETWORK CONNECTIONS and tell me what is listed there.

 

[BahamaMama]

okay, here is a quote from the 2nd page of the networking manual....

"with some notebooks and computers, you have to purchase a special wireless component, but with your eMachines notebook, you can go wireless right out of the box!"

i also figured out how to turn it off and on (but can't tell when i have it on or off....LOL) it is FN+F2 (which must be kinda like looking for a switch on the outside of the notebook?)

anyway, it still doesn't show it connecting on it's own to the comcast, so there must be something else i need to do

 

[BahamaMama]

okay....getting a little further i think (clicked on one of the icons in the lower right of the monitor)

found a place to click on Wireless Network Connection under LAN or High-Speed Internet in the Connection Manager....

after clicking that it brought up something about a security-enabled wireless network....then a pop up box asking for the network key......

 

[Penguinfan]

"Network Key" :thinking:

Not sure I had to deal with anything like that.

I would say you have a card pre-installed so thats good news, I'm not sure about the network key thing. Maybe call the Comcast support line on that one in the morning. Wish I could help with that one.

 

[Penguinfan]

........

 

[BahamaMama]

here is the rest of what i've learned.... think i figured out my *network key* it was the same password they set up for my e-mail....but it still won't let me connect (although the message is different)

oh, and i think the network *key* aka password must have something to do with a firewall.

anyway, the final message i got after guessing the password is:


windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed:
Renewing your IP address

For assistance, contact the person who manages your network.



(wouldn't that be me? ) LMAO

 

[Penguinfan]

What kind of laptop is this and what operating system are you using? You just need to aquire an IP address at this point.

 

[BahamaMama]

it's an e-machine with windows XP (hope that is the info you were asking for)

 

[Penguinfan]

Also there should be a little computer monitor in the task bar with little signal lines coming out of it, double click on that and click the support tab and tell me what it says.

 

[BahamaMama]

it says Limited or no connectivity

You might not be able to access the Internet or some netork resources. The problem occurred because the network did not assign a network address to the computer

DETAILS

To restart the connection and try to establish full connectivity, click repair.

REPAIR

If cllicking Repair does not restore connectivity, the problem might be with the network, not with this computer. Contact the person who manages your network.

(again.....ME!!!!)


it was when i clicked on *repair* in this before that it gave me the info that i posted in post #12

 

[Penguinfan]

Annie, you just need to get the laptop to aquire an IP addrss from the router, without being in front on the computer it would be tough, you have two optios, either is simple if you wait till the morning Comcast support will help you (should be free) or you can go to your CONTROL PANEL and look toward the end of the icon list and you should see one called WIRELESS NETWORK SETUP WIZARD, if I remember corectly you will eventually come to an option that will let the computer automatically assign an IP address for the connection (I think), either way going through the wizard will probably get you up and running tonight, otherwise you'll need to call the help line or I can call you on my cell phone tomorrow and try to walk through it, I have to get the kids ready for bed now and such because the wife has the flu and PMS, a near lethal combination for me if I stay on the computer.

 

[BahamaMama]

thanks heaps for all your help penguin i'll try your latest suggestion after a couple of cocktails................if that fails, i'll see if comcast can make me figure out how to do it. and LMAO, it isn't a *near lethal* combination, you will flat out be a dead man typing

 

[Penguinfan]

The WIZARD should do the trick for you, have a good night.

 

[KMA]

Do you have a wireless ROUTER???