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sony a series - connecting to internet wifi?

post #1 of 16
6/29/04 at 4:06am
Thread Starter 
hi all...

my first post, ive been following this forum for a while to help me choose my laptop, and just want to say thanks to all posters for helping me decide.... i chose the 17" a series vaio from sony.

i will post a review shortly --- basically its great and the screen has to be seen to be believed!

however... a question. i was keen to try the wireless internet function so i went to a hotspot and switched the wireless switch... i connected to a network but when i open internet explorer to surf the net, it asks me to connect via dial up... so i cant surf.... ? i could start to receive windows updates wirelessly (or so it seems), but cant actually surf or use outlook express... it always asks me if i want to connect via my dial up???? any suggestions????

hope somebody can help, its really bothering me!

thanks
krlock
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post #2 of 16
6/29/04 at 4:54am
try this, it most likely will not work but you can get rid of that dial up thing :P

goto IE>tools>options>connections

then select the radio button that says "Never ask for dial up connection"

look around there and make sure your LAN settings are set up. If you can get updates, your network is working, so it must be some setup issue elsewhere.
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post #3 of 16
6/29/04 at 5:03am
Thread Starter 
thanks sir.....

im pretty sure i tried that..... i think my laptop then said something about proxy settings (... but im not sure).... anyhow it sadly didnt work.!!!

anything else??? when i connect to wifi hotspot, should i be able to surf immediately??

thanks
krlock
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post #4 of 16
6/29/04 at 5:04am
WHoa he said "Sir" !
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post #5 of 16
6/29/04 at 5:17am
details about this hotspot? Is it in your house/a friends house?
If its just some random cafe, it might be secured with passwords and whatnot.
If its at work, it might have security and require a proxy as well.

I'm not sure if I can offer much help because I have no access to a computer with wireless in it as of this moment. Try going to your network settings Start>control panel>network settings and find your wifi card.
right click>properties on it and poke around in there. If I remember correctly windows has a built in router searching thing, make sure its connected and all the security settings are in line with what the hotspot is.

Same with the proxy stuff in IE. just go in and turn it off, that is unless you're sure you'll need a proxy for surfing the web. I've never encountered this except when working through office connections.
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post #6 of 16
6/29/04 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 
thanks mr ender.... i will try to follow what you said.... though im a complete newbie with wifi!!!!

details about this hotspot.....
i have an apartment without wifi, but my computer picked up 2 connections which it said i could share. secondly i have one in the office which said something about a password or something.... the IT guy is away so couldnt ask him.... also tried at a cafe which said was a hotspot, but couldnt find a connection???

what is a proxy then? im afraid i dont know.....

any other things i should know??

thanks
krlock
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post #7 of 16
6/29/04 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
and i also dont know where to turn off proxy for internet explorer... is it under internet options??? so many options there....
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post #8 of 16
6/29/04 at 8:04am
Thread Starter 
ok... more news... the IT guy at my office arrived and managed to connect me wirelessly to the office network..... cool.... but he had to put in a lot of numbers into an address field ... stuff i didnt really understand.... and he also turned off the 'dial when connection present' field like mr ender said to...

apparently there is something called a DHP connection (??? not sure if its exactly that???) which other hotspots use and then u dont have to type in all those numbers???

anyhow, hopefully my laptop will work in some other hotspots....
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post #9 of 16
6/29/04 at 11:20am
DHCP...Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol...it's the pimp !@#$ lol
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post #10 of 16
6/29/04 at 1:14pm
yes, DHCP is a popular setup for routers because the routers hand out IPs. Whereas with a static IP config each user has to individually enter a whole lot of numbers into the local network things.

to turn off proxy goto Tools>options>connection again. and open up the button on the bottom that says something like "Lan Settings"
make sure everything is blank and unchecked, and then your proxy is off.

so did you get it working after the IT guy helped you out? (at the office)
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post #11 of 16
6/29/04 at 1:34pm
Another thing you can do is double click the icon that comes up in your taskbar when you turn on your wireless. Most of the ones I have seen will have a lock next to the network name if there are security measures like needing a key or password.
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post #12 of 16
6/30/04 at 4:18am
Thread Starter 
thanks guys....

yeah the office network worked fine while i tried it.

so i went home and to my surprise found out that my machine picked up a network somewhere close to my house called WLAN....

i tried this and could connect to the internet and it was really quick. however, the signal strength never seems to last more than a few minutes.... is this perhaps because i am too far away from the base station?

the vaio support page has a patch to improve wireless performance (some intel driver i think) so i installed this to the best of my ability, however i dont notice any changes.

so with this wifi technology, is it normal that signal strength can vary like this?
and am i actually doing something illegal by connecting to this mysterious network?
and finally, am i actually opening myself to security risks by using a network in this way? should i turn on some kind of firewall and if so will this help?

what does anyone think??

thanks
krlock
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post #13 of 16
6/30/04 at 12:37pm
Thread Starter 
anyone know...

1) unauthorised use of network illegal?
2) how stable signals are
3) any security risks with wifi?

thanks
krlock
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post #14 of 16
6/30/04 at 1:48pm
I don't think its illegal. I mean, you read on many websites about people "wardriving" (driving around town looking for open connections) and they don't really keep it a secret :P

I heard someone once say its legal because if the owner wanted to, he could turn on security features. But I don't know how much of a justification that is
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post #15 of 16
7/1/04 at 5:31am
Thread Starter 
thanks again mr ender.

on another note, i unplugged my cordless phone system in the house, and it seems like this improved the situation where i was periodically losing the wifi signal.

however, this is just speculation since i have only had my laptop a matter of days.

krlock
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post #16 of 16
7/1/04 at 11:40am
I'm assuming you had already gone through the Internet Connection setup in IE before you tried connecting at the hot spot. (If not, do that, using line connection if you have to just to get it out of the way and try again.)

Then, go download Netscape 7 (or Mozilla, or if you're really feeling good, Firefox) and install it. Close IE and never open that POS again. Then try again and see if you have problems.

Seriously, though, I've never seen that where it looks for a dial-up or modem connection after the intial setup has been walked through and then disabled. There might be a sequencing issue where you have to turn on the wireless first, then open a connection, then open your browser. Not sure though because I haven't been lucky enough to play with a VAIO in depth (yet).

Keep us posted!

Sey
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