Issues Connecting an oldish laptop to Secured Wireless

TheMatt1984 · Nov 4, 2014

ok so my friend asked me to help her redo her OS (vista home premium x86)
and i did. but i've run into a little snag...
i got her wired up and running fine...
i got her wireless only 1/2 working though
it can connect to a unsecured wireless connection but when i try to connect it to mine it says "can't connect due to timeout" or something along those lines
i've tried messing with the security settings but to no avail
and i don't know any other secured connections in my area;s passwords
but here's the thing... MY even OLDER laptop can connect to it just fine...password or no
so i'm a little confused as to why this is happening
any help will be greatly appreciated
thanks!

Kursah · Nov 4, 2014

What kind of security are you using for WiFi? Are you managing your router for WiFi or is someone else controlling it and just gave you an access code? Is it a WPS code? Or are you using WEP or WPA?

Any more specific details you can provide?

How is the wireless only 1/2 working? Do you just mean it see's the SSID of the WiFi network you're trying to access?

Make sure you have the correct drivers installed for that WiFi device...something Windows can get finicky with...sounds like you do, but worth a double check.

Aquinus · Nov 4, 2014

It sounds like one of the old laptops is hearing the SSID broadcast for your network but doesn't support the revision of 802.11 your wi-fi is running at. A 802.11B device might hear a 802.11G network but it won't be able to do anything with it. Some older wi-fi cards were also really picky about which channels the network was on. Without knowing more about the wi-fi card or the router's wi-fi config it will be hard to say for sure.

TheMatt1984 · Nov 4, 2014

@Kursah my security is WPA
it does indeed "see" my wireless and all those in range
but i don't know the passwords to any others save mine
and i'm positive i installed the right Wireless Drivers (though granted took some process of elimination...to find the right ones <.< which that might be the issue)

@Aquinus how i check all of that? (revision and what not)
cause i don't wanna give this back then have them tell me they can't get on the net via wifi
though they did say there's no rush... i'd like to get it done asap y'know?
i'll try searching google for the problem too
thanks again

flmatter · Nov 4, 2014

What are the system specs for the laptop? Make & model#? What router are you using? Make, model# and firmware revision? Which network are you broadcasting on? a, b, g, or n? 2.4 or 5 ghz? Some older adapters will only go up to wireless g protocol but they can see n just not connect to it.
Have you tried making your network open ( ie no password) to test and see if the laptop connects to your network without a password? Just remember to set/secure your network once done testing.

TheMatt1984 · Nov 4, 2014

ok after a bit of tweaking with my routers settings i was able to get it to connect successfully

thanks for helping guys appreciate it

remixedcat · Nov 5, 2014

What settings did you tweak and what router do you have. Please let us know to help others that come on this thread due to search.

TheMatt1984 · Nov 9, 2014

remixedcat said:
What settings did you tweak and what router do you have. Please let us know to help others that come on this thread due to search.

<.< i don't remember honestly but now it doesn't matter as it stopped working again *eyeroll*
gonna try a couple things after a fresh os reinstall
i'll keep you guys posted

TheMatt1984 · Nov 10, 2014

ok it's official... i'm stumped...
now i can't get it to connect to the net with anything other than wired
this is seriously annoying
btw it's an oldish toshiba Satellite L305D-S5900 laptop
i checked the toshiba site and they have drivers... it's just there's like 5 or 6 DIFFERENT wifi drivers
and there seems to be little support for vista os
not sure what to do...
the person i'm doing this for needs it to have working wifi as they don't have a cord long enough to reach (come to think of it... i'm not even sure where they usually put the laptop)
gonna try some more things... but i'm prolly gonna have to contact toshiba directly as have them help me cause i'm stumped
thanks for trying to help guys

MASSIVE UPDATE!!!

FREAKIN A!!!!
I FINALLY GOT IT WORKING!!!!
toshiba's drivers were ALL useless...
i managed to come across this thread from google http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/51371-35-l305d-s5900-vista-success-story
i could make a small rant about this....i won't... but i could! lol
i'll just say... WHY would you make a laptop then NOT have the correct drivers listed for the blasted thing. gah!!!
thanks for the support guys.

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System Name	Omega
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 1600 6 Core
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-AB350-GAMING 3
Cooling	Air
Memory	CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) 2666mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 12G
Storage	1TB SSD (OS drive) 2TB ssd, 2x 3TB HDD, 4tb m.2 ssd, 4,8 and 14tb usb 3.0 external
Display(s)	Dell S-Series 27-Inch Screen LED-Lit Gaming Monitor (S2719DGF); QHD (2560 x 1440)
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Power Supply	OCZ 750w
Mouse	Logitech G502 hero
Keyboard	Steelseries apex 7

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Issues Connecting an oldish laptop to Secured Wireless

TheMatt1984

Kursah

Super Moderator

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man

TheMatt1984

flmatter

TheMatt1984

remixedcat

TheMatt1984

TheMatt1984

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