Hi. I recently purchased a new laptop with windows vista os. I have not been able to gain internet access through my wireless home network with this new system, with the classic 'local access only' as the network status. My wireless home network was set up with my xp running computer and is wep encrypted.

However adding to my confusion, there is an unsecured network probibally from a neighbour which my laptop picks a signal up for and ironically enough i can connect to the internet with perfectly fine with full access. In addition when i take my laptop to
friends for some LAN gaming it is fully able to connect to the internet there.

Any ideas to the solution, im thinking it may be router related but havent really got a clue. I can access my router through the stricken local access only computer in question and its a Speedtouch 780wl. Can anyone help?

It took me quite a while to play with all of Vista's settings and get my network functioning at home, both wired and wireless. However, if you are sure you have all your Vista settings correct, you can troubleshoot the router.

How many machines do you have in your network at home? I only ask because of what I am going to suggest just to try:

Please try these steps with caution. Everyone's experience level is different and if you aren't sure what you are doing, you may accidentally put yourself in a situation you are unable to troubleshoot your way out of.


Disconnect ALL computers from your network to keep them safe.

Connect to your Speedtouch using an ethernet cable and download the config file to a safe location. There is usually an option to save the config in the WebUI.

Then, erase your Speedtouch configuration back to factory defaults.

Setup your Speedtouch with no security and see if your vista machine can get out.

If it does, you have a config issue either on the router itself or with your WEP KEY you are using on your Vista Machine. If it does not get out to the internet, maybe its the hardware? Try a firmware upgrade of your Speedtouch?

Either way, baring any unforseen problems, you should be able to connect again to your Speedtouch and upload the config file you saved earlier and all of your machines should be back working on the web once you reconnect them.