Strange laptop wireless issues

At our club there's BT Business broadband which those who are in the club's computer group have the access key to and can use the internet connection.

I was there this evening and my laptop (Win 7) connects straight away.

A few weeks ago one person's laptop - running Vista - decided it wasn't going to connect to the internet. It connects to the router but no further, the messages "Unidentified network" and "Local access only" are typical on the statues icon. The same laptop connects fine to the owner's BT Home Hub when he's at home. I'm pretty certain that he will not have done anything that has screwed it. Clearly the laptop is connecting to the router but won't go any further.

I've tried all sorts of things, e.g. deleted the network and reselected it; IPCONFIG shows only the basic MAC address data; /RENEW or /RELEASE has no effect; used Windows Repair.

As it's working fine at his home I clearly am reluctant to do too much, e.g. roll back network card driver and see if there's a new one, he's only at the club an hour or so a week so it's not a critical problem, but it is irritating.

I won't be there for a couple of weeks so I won't be able to try anything for a while.

Any thoughts?

not getting an IP address - any scope for error in the encryption key ie upper/lower case etc.

If IPCONFIG shows only the MAC address and not an IP I don't see how it can "connect to the router" ??

Check he hasn't hard-coded IP addy in TCP/IP Properties of its Wireless Connection. Should be "Obtain IP Auto".

How'd you know it connects to router? What's ipconfig /all show?

In reply to a post by yarwell:

not getting an IP address - any scope for error in the encryption key ie upper/lower case etc.

If IPCONFIG shows only the MAC address and not an IP I don't see how it can "connect to the router" ??

Indeed - by far the most common problem, especially with Vista due to the "manage wireless connections" being a little bit more hidden than on any other version. Delete the wireless network profile from the laptop and try reconnecting. This catches a lot of people out.

In reply to a post by cheshire_man:

I've tried all sorts of things, e.g. deleted the network and reselected it;

Start - control panel - ensure it's on control panel home - network and internet - network and sharing centre - change adapter settings - right click the wireless one - click properties - click internet protocol version 4 (tcp/ipv4) - click properties - ensure obtain an ip address automatically and obtain dns server address automatically is selected - click ok.

I am tipping manual address has been set in this setting.

Should work fine now if I'm right.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Wed 12-Jun-13 00:37:34)

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Should work fine now if I'm right.

Or if I'm right.

I'm pretty sure I've done that but will check next time I have the chance.

I'm at the club now connected and waiting for the guy to arrive. I can then try the various things that have been suggested and we'll see what's what

Have fun!