In reply to a post by _ben:

Its definitely not DHCP related, the laptop can see all the neighbours networks and they aren't assigning it an IP address.

I apologise; I originally read your post incorrect thinking it was a wired Ethernet problem. I now read it as a wireless connection problem.

Try; configure the laptop with a static IP address for wireless, to see if it improves the connection.

I noticed a small programme on the �Port Forwarding� website, which enables the switch from static to dynamic with one click. This is ideal for laptop computers due to their portability. When at home use static, when using away from home switch to dynamic.

Warning
Watch-out for it wanting to load the rubbish tool bar trick un-check the selection.
http://www.portforward.com/store/Portforward-Setup-S...

http://portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm

Try disabling the wireless card, uninstalling it, deleting any current drivers and then installing using the latest driver set.
Has this laptop had problems with any other networks? Is the card capable of using the encryption level set by by the SH?

Edited by Deadbeat (Wed 17-Oct-12 21:05:51)

A static IP is NOT a suitable solution for a portable ccomputer and, as has already been said, it's hiding the problem not solving it.

Agreed! I never understand why E7er is so keen on promoting static IPs for all PCs everywhere. It's so non-portable, inflexible. unnecessary, onerous and unhealthy.

EDIT: Static IPs should just be needed where the PC acts as a server.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Thu 18-Oct-12 00:13:38)

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Agreed! I never understand why E7er is so keen on promoting static IPs for all PCs everywhere. It's so non-portable, inflexible. unnecessary, onerous and unhealthy.

EDIT: Static IPs should just be needed where the PC acts as a server.

I use static IP address(es) on my network, because it puts me in control of the network... not some willy-nilly DHCP server.

You have a static IP address on your network it�s your router, if you want to access your router you type in the static IP address at the browser address bar.

In reply to a post by E7er:

..... You have a static IP address on your network it�s your router, if you want to access your router you type in the static IP address at the browser address bar.

It's my router anyway and if I want to access it, I enter the IP of the gateway. Static IP's don't change that.

Static IP'ing is fair enough on a very large network where a map is needed to keep track of things. Even then, portable devices are allocated dynamic IP's but within a limited range.
It's simply not necessary and can lead to confusion on the average home network.

I put the router's IP in the Hosts file on my PCs, so I don't even have to remember the #s.

That's your preference and choice, but I don't see why you need to encourage ordinary home users, who may not be as computer-literate as you, to do the same, for the all reasons stated here.

A good few routers have their own name too for this exact reason, people remember names better than IP addresses (well some people anyway).

Static IP - I have used it for fixed machines where I would be port forwarding to, but for the general laptop/tablet/phone dynamic is the way to go.

If the DHCP is so slow in allocating an IP, then I would suggest the router has other issues too.