Help needed for wireless connection

stulaunch

Have set up main computer with wireless router and working fine.
I am now setting up Laptop for wireless connection.
It is connected, says signal is strong and is downloading MS updates.
Took ages to get Internet Explorer working and it did get Internet Explorer run and i downloaded avira to put on.
I closed IE down and cant remember what i did to open it previously.
I get Dial up connection box and put Username and Password in, but it wont connect.
Avira wont let me set it up because it cant connect to Internet, even though Laptop tells me its connected and MS is still downloading updates.
What am i doing wrong?

scotsbob

First thing that springs to mind is that you may be confusing connection to network with connection to Internet.
On my computer I would go to settings/control panel/network. Then view computers and devices and right click on the router. Open properties and then open device web page.

Of course this assumes you are running Vista

stulaunch

Thanks
No i'm on XP

Have got it working again in IE tools / connection / settings i ticked Automatically detect settings

I still get TalkTalk connection box, but if i cancel that and type an address in IE it goes there.

What should i be doing in XP to connect through a Router?

espresso

Control panel, Internet Options, Connections Tab, Check Never dial a connection, Apply, OK.

If you set the wireless up correctly, it will automatically connect to your router, so you should not have to do anything to connect.

Remember to encrypt your wireless using WPA as a minimum with a long random passphrase e.g. from here.

stulaunch

Its running fine now, thanks.

I've set it up using wep, is it easy to change it to wpa, I struggled a bit to get laptop to connect, would i need to go through setting up procedure again?

Rock_Bottom

stulaunch wrote: »

Its running fine now, thanks.

I've set it up using wep, is it easy to change it to wpa, I struggled a bit to get laptop to connect, would i need to go through setting up procedure again?

If you upset your settings you will have to re-set but after a normal start up then everything should be fine.

espresso

stulaunch wrote: »

Its running fine now, thanks.

I've set it up using wep, is it easy to change it to wpa, I struggled a bit to get laptop to connect, would i need to go through setting up procedure again?

You should not use WEP as it was replaced by WPA, WPA2 years ago due it being very insecure and easy to hack. Do the job properly, it takes no more effort, only takes minutes and then it's done!