Laptop boots PC off wireless internet

princessamy86

Hi everyone
Everytime I connect to our wireless internet on the laptop, it boots the desktop PC off the connection. Shouldn't they both be able to run side by side? I appreciate it might be a little slower, but is there some kind of setting I need to change?
Thanks
Amy

FireFox

Could be DHCP/IP address issue -
Go to Network Connections folder (Start > Control Panel > Network Connections).
Right click on the connection you're using (Wireless Network Connection?) and select 'Properties'.
On the 'General' tab there will be a list of connection items. Scroll down to 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)', highlight it then click on 'Properties'.
In the pop-up that opens - on the 'General' tab make sure both 'Obtain IP address...' and 'Obtain DNS...' are set to automatic.

Do this on both PCs

princessamy86

Thanks FireFox I'll give it a try when I get home tonight

princessamy86

Not worked I'm afraid! Anybody know anything else I can try?
Thanks

fwor

What make/model of router do you have, and how is the desktop PC connected to it?

Some routers which have both ethernet and USB ports are not capable of running both at the same time (I found this out the hard way a while ago...)

princessamy86

It's a netgear router, and the desktop PC is connected with a wireless USB key. Laptop has wireless built in. Neither is physically connected. Very confusing!

Duk

Still seems like an IP Issue. Have they ever been working. If not then this seems like a NAT (Network Address Translation) issue. You will need to ensure NAT is enable to your router depending on what router you have.

Another way to check (This could work depending on how to the NAT is fowarding) is to check your IP address on the machine that is connected to the network to see if its an internal range or an external range. To do this go to run/start seach at the bottom of the vista start bar and type "cmd" once you are into the CLI type "ipconfig" this will list all your interfaces on the computer.

if your IPv4 address is 192.x.x.x, 10.10.x.x, 172.x.x.x then you have an internal range and could be that there is another problem (still possibly NAT though) if it is other than this 94.x.x.x etc etc as an example then it looks like your router is natting your public IP to the pc interface.

I have tried to explain this as simple as possible but it is 5:53am :P hope it helps out

princessamy86

IP address for laptop starts 192.
What do I need to do to sort it out? Not sure I really understand the mechanics of it but if you just give it me step by step I'll be able to follow it.
Thanks

princessamy86

Bumpity bump, anyone got any ideas?
Thanks

FireFox

In case you didn't get this sorted...

It looks like you're laptop's at least getting its IP (192.xxx...) from the router.
You could try the same (ipconfig) on the desktop when its connected and make sure its IP is different from the laptop.
They'll be similar but shouldn't be the same. For example the Laptop may be something like 192.168.1.101 and the desktop 192.168.1.102.
When you do 'ipconfig' also make note of the 'Default Gateway' value - something like '192.168.1.1'. You'll need this to log on to your router setup page.

You'll get more help here I'm sure if you give more info (that applies to everyone posting on this board!) e.g.
1. how you're connected - ADSL/cable broadband?
2. the model number of your Netgear router?
3. the OS on each of you're PCs (XP/Vista and their relative Service packs)
4. whether you have an ethernet connection you could use on either PC.
edit - oh and also whether you have Firewall software running on either PCs e.g. Zonealarm

Just a bit of a bump really as a lot of people seem to be having similar Wireless issues and it would be good to get to the bottom of it for you.
I'm sure someone here will be able to offer more help

Duk

Bit of a long shot but i had this problem in work yesterday.

Check that the MAC address' on both network cards are different. You can do this by going to startmenu --> run/startsearch --> type in "cmd" hit enter and running "ipconfig /all"

the MAC Address is something like xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx