Laptop built in wifi probs

vinylmusic

I recently bought a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop with built in wireless networking.
I set up a lynksys modem router with which I am very familiar and find very reliable.
I successfully programmed the modem/router using a ethernet cable. disconnected the cable and set the laptop to search for available wireless networks.
Found only our one and connected to it.
Everything was fine until i shut down the computer and rebooted it.
The modem/router is always on but the laptop doesnt find it straight away.
Every time I turn on the laptop its a polava having to go through control panel > wireless networking.> signal search etc.

Can anyone tell me what I'm missing?
Surely with the modem switched on and properly set the computer should pick up the internet automatically. It never does

sinizterguy

Check you wireless card settings - see if it says automatically connect to preferred networks. Make sure your network is set as one on the list.

And update your drivers for the card to the latest before you do any of the above - as updating may wipe current settings with some cards.

vinylmusic

sinizterguy wrote:

Check you wireless card settings - see if it says automatically connect to preferred networks. Make sure your network is set as one on the list.

And update your drivers for the card to the latest before you do any of the above - as updating may wipe current settings with some cards.

Thanks
I already did that
Also I dont think I'll need to update drivers at this stage. The computer is brand new and fresh out of the box so my problem still remains

albertross_2

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471408&postcount=37

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2471410&postcount=38

see the sections starting with "Assuming", and IE settings, and try changing channels.

ABH_3

vinylmusic wrote:

I recently bought a Fujitsu-Siemens laptop with built in wireless networking.
I set up a lynksys modem router with which I am very familiar and find very reliable.
I successfully programmed the modem/router using a ethernet cable. disconnected the cable and set the laptop to search for available wireless networks.
Found only our one and connected to it.
Everything was fine until i shut down the computer and rebooted it.
The modem/router is always on but the laptop doesnt find it straight away.
Every time I turn on the laptop its a polava having to go through control panel > wireless networking.> signal search etc.

Can anyone tell me what I'm missing?
Surely with the modem switched on and properly set the computer should pick up the internet automatically. It never does

Might be worth mentioning that some of the Amilo range of fuji laptops don't support anything than WEP encryption. Luckily they have a PCMCIA slot, so you can get a Linksys card to slot in that does support WPA. I bought mine from ebay for about £12 when I had this same problem. You can ask here for support with your notebook\laptop http://support.fujitsu-siemens.com/forum/index.php?sid=ed7167ed1f9624893195875aac218812 though they aren't very forthcoming half the time. It's more a user helping user experience when dealing with feujitsu siemens.

HTH

bigdic

Ok a few things here, I had a similar problem.

1. Try not hiding the router, if it's encrypted then it doesn't matter if it's not invisible. If this doesn't work then try step 2.

2. Update the firmware on the router, I had to resort to this step after spending many hours on a new laptop which did exactly what yours does. Once the firmware on the router was up to date it's been working like a dream for months.

Need anything else just ask.

vinylmusic

bigdic wrote:

Ok a few things here, I had a similar problem.

1. Try not hiding the router, if it's encrypted then it doesn't matter if it's not invisible. If this doesn't work then try step 2.

2. Update the firmware on the router, I had to resort to this step after spending many hours on a new laptop which did exactly what yours does. Once the firmware on the router was up to date it's been working like a dream for months.

Need anything else just ask.

Thanks for that only I have just spent a good deal of time on the phone with Lynksys going over every setting and having inserted an ethernet cable to reprogram the modem/router I found I was back to square one.
Whenever I reboot I have to click on the wireless network icon, click find available networks. Then I have to hit fn+f2 and try again. It usually works after that.
I bought this for someone and set it all up for him
He, like me thinks that it should be as simple as switch the laptop on and open the browser. end of story.
Surely theres a fix for this otherwise its ludicrous
I shouldnt have to go buying extra adapters at £25+ a go

sinizterguy

Please do not assume that because the laptop is fresh out of the box, the drivers are up to date.

Have you tried running your windows update software to see how much new stuff you need to download ? The same applies for drivers and firmware.

UniqueEarthling

vinylmusic wrote:

Thanks
I already did that
Also I dont think I'll need to update drivers at this stage. The computer is brand new and fresh out of the box so my problem still remains

I also have a Fujitsu Siemens. It might be worth you checking out their website and running the auto driver update anyway. I know a lot of the drivers were different to the ones on my disk even though I'd bought a new laptop.

PS I even had to update the BIOS on mine to overcome a keyboard problem. I was doubtful that, that could be causing my missing letters but after trawling forums and getting the same advice I tried it. It worked a treat but I was very surprised to have to do it on a new machine.

Chippy_Minton

Some things to consider:

Make sure the Linksys router is using the latest firmware.
As another poster said, enable SSID broadcast on it, and change the SSID name.
On the wireless adapter, set Windows to configure the wireless network, rather than other wireless networking software which may have come with the laptop (e.g. Intel ProSet Wireless).
Having to press Fn+F2 suggests the wireless adapter is not enabled or not working properly, so update the drivers for it.

bigdic

Which model of Lynksys is it? I may have the latest firmware for it, it's a very quick and simple procedure to update it and it "should" solve the problem.