[RESOLVED] Laptop sees network, but can't get on internet...

My son is in Japan for 2 weeks. I'm in Louisiana. He borrowed a friend's computer to say he can't get his Dell Inspiron windows Vista laptop on the wireless internet. His friend did not have any trouble. My husband talked to him (skype) because I wasn't home. I THINK he said he could see the networks, but wasn't able to get on the internet. This is what I told him to try:

1. Maybe friend has xp instead of vista and there's an issue there?
2. Try to connect to exact same network that friend did.
3. Try to disable firewall--at least temporarily. If it works, figure out how to allow network using firewall.
4. Make sure the default connections are not blocking the new connection. You may even want to delete any networks not being used, such as "home", "school", etc. This will allow you to start from scratch.

That's all I can think of. Since he's a world away from here, I'm hoping it's something easy. I'd really like him to be able to use skype to call us or at least get our emails without being dependant on friends' computers. Please let me know if there is anything obvious to do. He'll be calling or emailing tomorrow. I'd like to have any easy fix if possible. Thanks!

crowland2,

If your son cannot get certain programs that connect to the Internet then I would look at a firewall program. However, if he cannot get connected at all to the Internet then it wouldn't be a firewall issue. If this is the case, I would start with troubleshooting wireless issues. Is the network that he's trying to connected to a secured-enabled network (encrypted)?

There a number of problems it could be but without more information, I would be guessing. Because you said he was using Skype, maybe he can try these suggestions.

I am having trouble signing into Skype, what can I do?
https://support.skype.com/faq/FA589/...mpage=category

Since I was unable to talk to him, I'm limited in the information, too. I'm assuming the network is not encrypted. Even if the network IS encrypted, his friend was able to get on so that information should be available. What I understood is that he cannot get on the internet--including skype. (He used friend's computer and his own skype account.)

I was just hoping it was something simple that I was missing. Hopefully he'll get to try the things I emailed him, and that will fix it. I'll tell him to make sure and try the troubleshooting wireless issues. I was just looking for anything I might have missed.

Thanks for the response!

All is well! When he tried to get on the network the next day, he was able to. He doesn't know what he did, though. He was able to call us last night using Skype and his video cam. Isn't Skype awesome! Thanks for the response!