Laptop not connecting by Wifi at some places???

Just a quick query in case someone has any ideas...

I have my sisters laptop with me at the moment because she cannot connect to
her own network at home, despite both her sons being able to connect to the
very same system from their laptops using wifi. To ease the situation of
connecting to my wifi (when she visits) I have set the same WEP key on both
herwireless router and on mine (both routers are Netgear DG834G) and so when
she comes here, her laptop instantly connects to my network without any
issues. Despite both setups being identical, she cannot connect to her own
router to access the internet (web pages http), but she can access her email
(pop3) using her own connection.

This morning she went to McDonalds (who aparently have free wifi access) but
again she could only receive email but couldn't get any web pages up with
internet explorer. Last night I went round to a friends place and took
her laptop with me. He again uses the same WEP key because I use his
network when I am working there, and the laptop connected fine and allowed
full access to http and pop/smtp, no issues.

Despite all this proof that the laptop appears to be working here, she still
connect access web pages either at home or and McDs, using their free wifi
(both locations say she is connected and have good signals, but she can only
access pop, but no http web pages.

Does anyone know of a reason why this is happening, and why some places are
giving limited access to just pop and no http access?

Could it be something sinister going on in the laptop?

Thanks for your advice....
John

 

You could try a temporary disable of any firewall or anti-virus
software and see if that makes any difference.

A system restore back to a date before there were any problems would
also be a route to take.

 

Maybe that browser changed to Offline after some difficulty to connect.

Tony

 

Further to my first post, I have been doing some tests. It seems that my
sisters laptop always ends up with 192.168.1.2 as the IP address, even when
the router is set up to start its DHCP assignment at 192.168.1.3

Further checking, it says in the connection properties that 192.168.1.2 has
been assigned by DHCP. How can the laptop end up with 192.168.1.2, when the
range starts at 192.168.1.3 ???

Another test was to assign the MAC address of the laptop an IP address of
192.168.1.9, but the laptop still ended up with 192.168.1.2

Does this help with what is causing the problems?

Thanks again
John

 

Try: ipconfig /release
and then: ipconfig /renew

What IP address does the machine have now?

Phil, London

 

Although the IP address and DHCP issues need investigating, are they
stopping access to webpages ?
The laptop is connecting to a network and POP is working, therefore
there must be a working network connection from laptop to email provider
which suggests that DNS is also working.
Or am I missing something ?
I like the "working offline" suggestion.

 

Thanks Geo,

No shes not connecting to next doors router, because I have connected
remotely to her router and it actually lists her laptop MAC as being online
as an 'Attached Device'
If she switches the laptop off, she disappears out of the Attached Devices
list.

A quick check with Netstumbler, shows no other Wifi in range. Her nearest
neighbour is about half a mile away.