Laptop not connecting to internet

Nargleblast

Hello techies.

Yesterday I changed internet provider (from Talktalk to YouFibre) The installation went smoothly and everything in the house has connected to the new network without problems.

Everything, that is, except my son's laptop. (Personal laptop, not used for work). It doesn't even have our new network in the list of networks. We have tried switching off the laptop and the router then rebooting both, without success. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Neil_Jones

Couple of things:

1) If the new router is 5Ghz wifi only and the laptop is 2.4Ghz only (because its older), it won't see the new network.  You may need to enable 2.4 in the router control panel.

2) If the network name and key is the same (and the laptop can see the network but can't connect to it), then just remove it from the list of known networks and reconnect again.

neilmcl

I'm surprised that the laptop can't see the new network SSID if others have been able to. Bring the laptop closer to the router just in case and try again. You've not done anything special to the laptop's wifi such as setting it to 5ghz only? Can it currently see any other networks?

Is the network SSID the same as your old network? If it is you'll probably need to forget and reconnect the network using the following instructions:

https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/207613186-I-m-having-trouble-connecting-my-Windows-device-to-my-eero-network

Nargleblast

Thank you, we'll have a go,

Nargleblast

We've tried temporarily disabling 5 GHz, without success. Rebooting router and  laptop hasn't helped. In discussion with YouFibre, we've managed to get the laptop connecting via an Ethernet cable, which will do temporarily. In the meantime YouFibre are raising the issue with their tech team and will get back to us. I suspect it's the age of the laptop, he's had it at least five years.

Thanks again for your replies.

neilmcl

Nargleblast said:

We've tried temporarily disabling 5 GHz, without success. Rebooting router and  laptop hasn't helped. In discussion with YouFibre, we've managed to get the laptop connecting via an Ethernet cable, which will do temporarily. In the meantime YouFibre are raising the issue with their tech team and will get back to us. I suspect it's the age of the laptop, he's had it at least five years.

Thanks again for your replies.

Did you follow the instructions to forget and reconnect to the network?

Grey_Critic

My Virgin router was replaced at the start of the month and this is what I needed to do. You need to do the same for any other devices as well - TVs for example. The computer cannot automatically select the internet provider you need to logon to it.

Click on the internet icon at the bottom of the page - that should show a list of available networds. Select the NEW router and enter the key/password that came with the router. Also keep iy somewhere safe in case you need it

CoastingHatbox

Grey_Critic said:

Click on the internet icon at the bottom of the page - that should show a list of available networds. Select the NEW router and enter the key/password that came with the router. Also keep iy somewhere safe in case you need it

Err....

Nargleblast said:

Everything, that is, except my son's laptop. (Personal laptop, not used for work). It doesn't even have our new network in the list of networks.

CoastingHatbox

At 5 years old, I doubt it's the age of the laptop that is a concern.
And even if it is a hardware incompatibility, it is possible to change the WiFi PCIe card on most laptops.

It might be useful for us to know the make and model number of the laptop; The model number is usually on a sticker on the base of the laptop.

Is the laptop listing any networks in the list of available networks?

It might be worth disabling and re-enabling the WiFi adapter in the laptop:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-enable-or-disable-wi-fi-and-ethernet-network-adapters-windows-10

Could you also please let us know, from doing the above, what WiFi adapter is in the laptop.

Are you able to find out the make and model number of the router your new ISP has provided? Again, most likely a sticker on the base.

Finally, if you run a WiFi analyser app on your phone, do you see the your new WiFi network on both 2.4Ghz and 5GHz bands? Note down the channels. Are there any other WiFi networks on the same channels?

Nargleblast

Grey_Critic said:

My Virgin router was replaced at the start of the month and this is what I needed to do. You need to do the same for any other devices as well - TVs for example. The computer cannot automatically select the internet provider you need to logon to it.

Click on the internet icon at the bottom of the page - that should show a list of available networds. Select the NEW router and enter the key/password that came with the router. Also keep iy somewhere safe in case you need it

Yes, this worked fine  with everything else, just not with the laptop. 

Nargleblast

neilmcl said:

Nargleblast said:

We've tried temporarily disabling 5 GHz, without success. Rebooting router and  laptop hasn't helped. In discussion with YouFibre, we've managed to get the laptop connecting via an Ethernet cable, which will do temporarily. In the meantime YouFibre are raising the issue with their tech team and will get back to us. I suspect it's the age of the laptop, he's had it at least five years.

Thanks again for your replies.

Did you follow the instructions to forget and reconnect to the network?

I think my son has tried  this but will remind him again.