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I have had a wireless home network, which is secured (WEP), for couple of years now, with no problem, am using modem/router plugged into desktop PC (Win XP SP2) and two Sony Vaio laptops on wireless. My laptop VGN-SZ17 (bought it recently) could always connect perfectly, but 2 days ago when I switched it on, it gave me a message "Limited or no connectivity" and I can't get on the Web. I checked the other laptop and the wireless is working fine. I tried using the 'repair' feature, but it says it can't complete it because it is unable to assign an IP. Nothing has changed with my router for the past couple of years. I have tried the XP bug fix, the registry fix, the netsh fix etc. but this didn’t work. Oh, and I also tried using ipconfig refresh/renew, which also didn't work.
If anyone can help me I'd be most grateful, I'm really beginning to lose it now. Many thanks.

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and reported the same symptom: one laptop sees the wireless network but cannot obtain a working IP while other clients keep working. That pattern narrows the problem to two likely causes: the router’s DHCP service (or an access control on the router) or something local to the affected laptop (wireless adapter/driver, power/settings or encryption mismatch).

Try this focused diagnostic sequence (each step isolates the cause quickly):

  1. Quick static-IP test — temporarily set a manual address (example values) and test reachability:
IP:     192.168.1.50
Mask:   255.255.255.0
Gateway:192.168.1.1
DNS:    8.8.8.8

Then from a command prompt:

ping 192.168.1.1
ping 8.8.8.8

  • If the laptop can ping the router and the Internet with a static IP, DHCP on the router is failing. Reboot the router, check the DHCP lease table and MAC‑filtering list, ensure the DHCP pool isn’t exhausted, and consider a firmware update or temporary factory reset if settings look corrupted.

  • If the laptop cannot reach the router with a static IP, the problem is local to the wireless link or adapter. Check the wireless hardware switch, confirm the card associates to the SSID (correct encryption/key and key index), disable any vendor wireless utility so Windows manages the connection, and disable power‑saving on the adapter in Device Manager. Uninstall the wireless adapter driver and reinstall the latest driver from Sony; if available, test with an Ethernet cable or a USB Wi‑Fi dongle to rule out hardware failure.

Also check for blocking software (third‑party firewall/antivirus), look at router logs/DHCP client list for the laptop’s MAC, and examine Windows Event Viewer for DHCP/client errors. These steps distinguish DHCP-server problems from client-side faults and point to a targeted fix.

Member Avatar for paulsegreto

I have had a wireless home network, which is secured (WEP), for couple of years now, with no problem, am using modem/router plugged into desktop PC (Win XP SP2) and two Sony Vaio laptops on wireless. My laptop VGN-SZ17 (bought it recently) could always connect perfectly, but 2 days ago when I switched it on, it gave me a message "Limited or no connectivity" and I can't get on the Web. I checked the other laptop and the wireless is working fine. I tried using the 'repair' feature, but it says it can't complete it because it is unable to assign an IP. Nothing has changed with my router for the past couple of years. I have tried the XP bug fix, the registry fix, the netsh fix etc. but this didn’t work. Oh, and I also tried using ipconfig refresh/renew, which also didn't work.
If anyone can help me I'd be most grateful, I'm really beginning to lose it now. Many thanks.

I'm having a similar problem and can't connect. Help!!!

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