My Laptop Can Not Access Internet Using Wi-Fi

My laptop has a problem connecting into the internet via WiFi the other day. It can connect brieftly but after a second or two, the connection drops. Although access via wire is OK.

There are many things that can cause this problem and it  includes the internet connection, the device itself, or a specific software that has something to do with the Wi Fi feature. Here's the list of solutions I did in the past to restore internet connectivity but this time it seems like a new source is causing the problem.

Check internet connection.

If all of the devices that are connected into the internet have a problem in connecting to the internet, then there might be a problem with the router, the telephone line or the internet provider.

• Router.

Check the pilot lamps if there is a red, yellow or amber colour, see below picture. These warning colours usually tell something is not working. You need to check the internet light if it has these warning colours. Green, or white colour, depending on the brand of your router, usually telling everything is working fine.

• Telephone Line

If there is a warning light colour, then check if the telephone cable is connected properly. If the problem is just the connection, the internet light should change into green or white, depending on the model of your router.

• Internet Provider

If it is connected properly and the internet light is still red, then you can call your internet provider and ask them to check your internet connection.

Check the connected devices.

If all of the router's lights are OK, check if you can connect to the internet. This is to determine if a certain device is the problem.

• Use wired connection.

It is better to check internet access with a wired connection, like a laptop connected to the router with an RJ connector. If you can't connect into the internet using this method, call your internet provider.

Check WiFi connection

If you can connect to the internet using wired connection but can not connect using WiFi even with the correct security keys, try other WiFi devices if any can connect.

• Check the distance

You need to be at the same spot where you are checking the device that can not gain internet access. If the other devices can connect, try moving closer to the router.

• Clear cache

If it still can not gain internet access, turn off all WiFi devices except the one you are testing. Clear all the internet cache and try again.

• Restore registry (skip if you're not using registry cleaner)

If it still can not connect, and you have been using registry cleaner before you noticed the problem, try restoring the registry by double clicking the saved registry entry. Then restart your computer. You can skip this step if you are not using this.

• Check programs related to Wi-Fi

In my laptop, there is a program named Intel My WiFi Technology that is off on default. I can not remember ever turning it on or off. In fact I have not noticed this since I have my laptop. The network and sharing center and the WiFi button can be opened and working very well even if this is disabled. 

As any of the above solution that has worked in the past seemed not doing anything, I tried to access it by clicking the expand button at the systems tray(1), the status of the program(3) can be seen when the mouse is hovered over it's icon(2). Interesting to see that the WiFi button (4) looks OK and connected. Right click the icon and choose enable(5). I did not need to restart the computer and the internet access has  met it's  cure at last!

DIY How To Share Your Hotel's Wired Internet

Myself having a flu did not stopped the family's day out.  It was booked and well planned in advance and the kids are excited to move out from the over staying winter weather in the UK, only to find out Czech Republic has the same weather condition as well, -3 celcius centigrade.  The travel is not really smooth, well not for me. At Heathrow, my backpack was swabbed twice when I was  checking in, and randomly frisk checked  again at Oslo. I blamed my flu and cough!

The accommodation, Roma Hotel,  is within the heart of Prague, very near to tourist attractions like, Prague Castle, St Nicholas Cathedral, Infant Jesus of Prague and many more. I can say that these attractions are within walking distance from the hotel. Most establishments within the vicinity offers free wi-fi, that's Hotel Roma included. It says in their website and services that they offer it free. The annoying part is the connection doesn't have no internet connection. I can connect my laptop and the other gadgets wirelessly but doesn't give us internet. I was tempted to call the customer service about this until  I discovered an RJ45 dangling at a wall socket. Tried it on my laptop and viola, it has an internet connection! Now the next task is to share it with my son's iPad, wife's iPhone, daughter's S2 and my S3.

This is one of the moments that I missed my HTC phone, to use it's internet passthrough service and create a hotspot to share the connection. Problem is, I did not brought it. iPhones, iPads, and Galaxy's have no reverse tethering capabilities! Then I got curious at Intel My Wi-Fi Utility program of my laptop, (dropdown menu at control panel, network and internet) and discovered that I can automatically share my internet connection in just a few clicks. No need to create adhoc connections, which is rather fiddly. 

At the utility interface, just click enable and your wired internet connection is ready to be accessed wirelessly. Click profile, click edit and change the wireless security code. Why? The natively assigned security code is quite very long!

 Press OK and your connection will be transmitting wirelessly waiting for your devices to connect with the correct security code.

To connect on your device, just go to the wi-fi connection window and choose the name of the network, key in the code and your device is online in no time. Faster than having to call customer service to fix their wireless connection!  Believe it or not, it only took me at least two minutes to set this up.

At the My Wifi Utility window in your laptop, you can see the connected devices. From there, you can block a device from getting an access or you can unshare your connection at any time.

My basic Fujitsu laptop served as the most valuable gadget for this vacation,  not only because of it's backward compatible with the RJ45, but it's ability to create a hotspot powering up the shiny gadgets. Though mobile phones and tablets are becoming more popular, this experience has made me think otherwise  that there is no real substitute to a full size computer that fits to all possible connectivity interfaces. And yes, it can also double up as a multiple charging station, from apple to android, all you need are the USB cables of your gadgets. 

Simple Fix For Internet Connectivity

There's nothing more annoying than an internet connection not working. Like the annoyance of a power cut in an early evening or TV signal is off when a favourite program is on,  what makes it really annoying is it coincides when you're doing something important or real urgent. Although the interruption is not permanent, sometimes it is enough to ruin your day waiting for the service to resume.

I really do not know the real reason behind it as to what causes the problem but there are situations that I noticed to contribute to the non connectivity. And maybe you experience the same situations, too.

1. Am I Connected or Disconnected?

One situation is when the power of the laptop is low. The connectivity button icon looks like it still connected but when you open up a page, it says "check internet connection", the page does not load and the usual animation of blinking lights between the two computer screen icons is static.


 

 What happens when the laptop is low in power is it tends to conserve the remaining battery and in effect, wireless connectivity is affected, thus losing internet conectivity. The icon might not change or shows an X for no connection symbol.

To avoid this problem, you can change the power saving option so that the laptop will not turn off the wi-fi signal when it is low in power. 

 

Click >Start>type in Device Manager>click the + at the Network Adaptors>right click Wireless Adaptor> click Properties> Power Management>untick Allow computer to turn off the device to save power>click OK

 



2. Can't Acceess Particular Sites

 

Sometimes, even when you are sure and have no doubt that your laptop is connected to your router, you can not open up a particular web page, but has no problem accessing other sites. It seems like  it got stuck particularly at that page. Like when you are logging in into a social network but it seems like it's forever loading the page. The social network profile update doesn't seem to be happening, or downloads and uploads seem not going anywhere.

The simple solution for this is to empty the cache of the browser.

During web surfing, the computer saves a copy of the webpages you visit in the browser's cache for later use. This makes pages load faster as the computer fetches data within the cache and not from the site. But when the copy of the site is already outdated and the data that were stored are no longer available, the computer makes an "unreachable" call and comes back with an error message.

To empty the cache in internet explorer, click tools>internet explorer options> under browsing history, click delete> tick Temporary Internet Files>click delete.

In Google Chrome, type in chrome://chrome/settings/clearBrowserData at the address bar and tick empty the cache>click Clear Browsing Data.

3. One of My Devices Can Not Access the Internet

There are also times that the router restricts a device to get an internet connection. Whilst everyone is enjoying the internet with their devices, it seems like my laptop or smartphone can not get an internet  signal, even when it says, it is connected to local and internet access.

What I do to fix this is to disconnect then reconnect again to my router. If this does not work, click diagnose and repair. The computer usually fix any connection problem.

Another solution for this problem is to forget and re add the network.


Goto control panel> network and sharing center > click manage wireless networks> highlight your wireles network> click remove

Once you've removed your network, reconnect to it by right clicking at the wi-fi connection icon (previous screen shot 2 above)> connect to network, you need to re-enter your network key.

4. Router not working, or the lights on the router do not blink.

 

When all of a sudden, all of your connected devices can not access the internet, you noticed your router stops blinking and it's internet lights turns amber rather than the usual green(or blue on other brands), there might be a problem with your connection! But before calling your internet service provider you can do the following.

 

 

 

Turn off your router and wait for sometime before turning it on. If there is no on or off button, you can just remove the mains plug from it. If the colour of the internet light turns out to be normal, then you can try to see if it can give you internet connection.

 

 

If the internet button is green but not blinking and you can not access any web page, then it is worth disconnecting and reconnecting your filter. This is a small device, that splits the telephone socket into two, one for your telephone and one for the router. check your other cables connected to the router as well for breakage. If you are using a long extension cable from the main telephone socket into the filter and router, try connecting without the long extension cable.

 

You can also reset your router into it's factory default, but be sure to re enter your internet security key on it's web interface.

 

 

If you've checked all of these and still your router's internet button is not greenish in colour or intermittently turning from green to amber, then you should call your internet service provider for assistance. It might be just a case of transient signal failure from their side!