Wireless network not visisble

[Paulm101]

Hi

I`m writing on behalf of my son who is at college and seems unable to see ( or connect to) the wireless access point at college using his compaq laptop.
The college have just had a new LRC and since this has opened my sons laptop cannot access the network although he had no problems with the old LRC.
When find new networks at college a couple of BT homehub networks (secured) show up but not the access point.
A friend with a HP laptop also has the same problem and also has built in wireless adaptor. Another student with a different make of laptop can see and logon to the system OK.
They are actually in the LRC so I assume range is not a problem.
We have a wireless system at home that was b and now upgraded to g spec and he has had no trouble with either of these. He can also see nearby (neighbours) wireless systems.
The tech people at college are not very helpful and take the stand that the access is working OK and its a problem with your computer and don`t seem to want to help any further.
The laptop runs on Vista home premium and is about 12 months old. Don`t know much about the college hardware.
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas?

Big thanks for reading this.

Paul

[DABhand]

Vista is horrible for WAN setups.

If he goes to start > connect to network, let him then see if it will pick up automatically.

Also have the college techs put any security on the WAN connection, like WEP security etc, if so he will have to get the security key/pass. If not it should see the line and connect with no problems.

It is also be possible with hardware conflicts, the WAN card in the laptops may not be compatible for whatever router they use.

[Paulm101]

Hi Thanks for the reply.

His comp works fine at home and on the previous college setup - he has tried the connect to network but nothing is visible. Its been suggested that as both comps that don`t even see the network are HP ( I believe compaq is part of HP) that it could be an issue withte onboard wireless adaptor - I think I may buy a USB dongle and give that a try.
Will keep you posted with any progress.

[Paulm101]

Hi Folks

Again thanks for the help and guidance.

We bought a external USB wireless adaptor, Linksys WUSB300N, from 5Tek on Ebay. It arrived next day and total cost was around £23.
It worked fine with my home setup and we are pleased to say worked great with college setup.
We had no problems quick installation and the college network was visible with out a problem. Result!

Cheers

Paul

[Luciel]

Was going to say, and realised i was right looking at the dongle you bought, it´s because the college upgraded to wireness N, so old b+g wireless adaptors would not detect it, they provably upgraded to N so they could have a wider range : )

[Paulm101]

Not sure why the Dongle worked - just know it did.
As you said the network maybe all N now and the built in adaptor on his laptop is only G. He`s had no problems since and logs on first time every time.

Cheers

Paul