Having issues with the wireless Internet can make a trip to the coffee shop a really unpleasant experience. In this article, we are going to look at some basic solutions that will likely help to rectify this problem.

Getting started.
Most problems oftentimes can be rectified by merely restarting your computer. Give this a try. If no success, keep reading. Running a firewall or Norton Internet Security? Disable it. Chances are this is your problem. Norton Internet Security is notorious for causing connection problems, so disabling this or any other firewall might help as well.

Still not working? Then keep reading…
Assuming you are familiar with connecting to wireless hotspots, look at the icon located next to your clock in the lower right corner of your screen. Are you seeing any bubble popping up with an error? If you are seeing ‘Wireless Network Connection is not connected,’ then start by clicking that bubble. That ought to bring you to a window that is titled ‘Choose a wireless network.’ If you are not seeing a network named ‘Cozy Corner’ listed here, then you need to look at the left side of this box under ‘Network Tasks.’ Now click ‘refresh network list.’ Chances are very good that it will popup at this point. Now you will want to click on ‘Connect.’ A new box opens and creates the connection. You may want to wait till ‘acquiring network address’ is gone and is then replaced with ‘Connected.’

Advanced issues.

If you are still not able to connect, then there is likely something wrong on your end as I would have received a call from the staff about the Internet connection itself being down by now.

Locate your connection icon next to the clock again. Right click and choose repair. Be patient as this can take a few minutes. Once ‘acquiring network address’ is gone and is then replaced with ‘Connected,’ you are then ready to go.

If this still does not work, try this: Click on the ‘Start’ button and then ‘Run.’ Type the letters cmd, press enter. This will bring you to a command prompt. Type this exactly as I show you here:

ipconfig

OK, now hit your enter key. At this point, you ought to be seeing something very much like this on the other page.

Belkin/Netgear/whatever
192.168.2(or 1). plus-some-other-number(s)-here
255.255.255.0
192.168.2(or 1).1

If instead, you are seeing something else… chances are that you need to try disabling your network card and then, re-enabling it. In some worst case scenarios, uninstall the network card completely from your device manager. Then reinstall it again.

Understand, if you are getting the numbers listed above and you are being shown as connected from the icon next to the clock – the problem is with your card somehow. Even if it worked fine an hour before someplace else, in some very rare cases there could be a conflict with our router and your wireless/network card.