Internet access difficulty

I just gave my grandson a new laptop as a graduation present. This laptop
uses the Vista Home Premium operating system, and is a Gateway MT3418.
Before turning this laptop over to my grandson, I installed all of the
latest updates from Microsoft and was able to run it on my home network both
wirelessly and with an Ethernet cable. My home network uses a broadband
(cable) modem and a Dlink DI-714P+ wireless router with 4 Ethernet ports.

Unfortunately I was unable to get an internet connection at my grandson's
home. His Mom's desktop computer was connected directly to a cable modem. I
disconnected the Ethernet cable from the modem (the other end is connected
to the desktop), used another Ethernet cable to connect from the cable modem
to a wireless Linksys router's LAN port, and then connected the Ethernet
cable coming from the desktop to one of the ports of the router. The desktop
computer was then able to gain normal access to the internet.

Then I used another Ethernet cable to connect from the laptop to a second
port on the router. All I got was a "local" connection, but no access to the
internet. I went through many procedures to try and gain Ethernet access,
but nothing I tried would work.

This is a new experience for me. Every time I have previously tried an
Ethernet connection on other desktops or laptops, internet access was always
immediate - and without setting, or tweaking, any parameters. Is being
unable to gain Ethernet access to the internet something that could be
attributed to the Vista operating system? Could it be that this particular
router is not compatible with Vista machines?

After throwing in the towel on an Ethernet connection for this Vista laptop,
I tried connecting wirelessly (this laptop has a built-in wireless device).
Again, no success - even after many hours of trying all procedures offered
by Vista HELP.

Any suggestions are most welcome. My grandson lives 200 miles away, though,
so I can only relay your suggestions to him. He will be going to college in
the fall, so I suggested waiting until then to get internet access. As some
of my older college-attending grandchildren have told me, gaining internet
access can be daunting and too time consuming for busy students - so most of
them rely on the network experts in their computer science departments for
assistance.

Sounds like DHCP issue. This link may help,

Vista: DHCP FailsAlso remember that originally on vista i was able to get a dhcp address. only one of the updates? broke it. Now this morning when i logged in, i got a dhcp ...
http://www.chicagotech.net/netforums...e3f7adcb7f093f


Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"Retired" <retired@my.hom> wrote in message news:%23Z3TXrkoHHA.4120@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
I just gave my grandson a new laptop as a graduation present. This laptop
uses the Vista Home Premium operating system, and is a Gateway MT3418.
Before turning this laptop over to my grandson, I installed all of the
latest updates from Microsoft and was able to run it on my home network both
wirelessly and with an Ethernet cable. My home network uses a broadband
(cable) modem and a Dlink DI-714P+ wireless router with 4 Ethernet ports.

Unfortunately I was unable to get an internet connection at my grandson's
home. His Mom's desktop computer was connected directly to a cable modem. I
disconnected the Ethernet cable from the modem (the other end is connected
to the desktop), used another Ethernet cable to connect from the cable modem
to a wireless Linksys router's LAN port, and then connected the Ethernet
cable coming from the desktop to one of the ports of the router. The desktop
computer was then able to gain normal access to the internet.

Then I used another Ethernet cable to connect from the laptop to a second
port on the router. All I got was a "local" connection, but no access to the
internet. I went through many procedures to try and gain Ethernet access,
but nothing I tried would work.

This is a new experience for me. Every time I have previously tried an
Ethernet connection on other desktops or laptops, internet access was always
immediate - and without setting, or tweaking, any parameters. Is being
unable to gain Ethernet access to the internet something that could be
attributed to the Vista operating system? Could it be that this particular
router is not compatible with Vista machines?

After throwing in the towel on an Ethernet connection for this Vista laptop,
I tried connecting wirelessly (this laptop has a built-in wireless device).
Again, no success - even after many hours of trying all procedures offered
by Vista HELP.

Any suggestions are most welcome. My grandson lives 200 miles away, though,
so I can only relay your suggestions to him. He will be going to college in
the fall, so I suggested waiting until then to get internet access. As some
of my older college-attending grandchildren have told me, gaining internet
access can be daunting and too time consuming for busy students - so most of
them rely on the network experts in their computer science departments for
assistance.