My Dell Inspiron is telling me that no wireless connection is available

[Mimi58]

but I'm typing this message using my old ibook G4 via the wireless connection to the router that sends the little 0's and 1's through the internet. I don't get it.

I tracked down Microsofts instructions on how to set up a wireless network. It gave instructions on how find your wireless adapters. The dell says I have one and it is installed properly. I've done some different troubleshooting steps on the dell that I found on the internet (with the ibook) which all lead me back to the message message loops: "You are currently not connected to any networks"  "Not connected" "No connections available"

I have both laptops on right now. The dell is still telling me there is no connection available as I'm finishing typing this post on my ibook. I have no clue what to try next.

Any suggestions about what to do to get the dell to recognize the working wireless network or router or whatever it needs to do to get online?

Sure glad I hung on to my old ibook even if it is slow as molasses.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Lip Service]

Mimi,

Since your iBook is working but not the Dell then it is not the router.

Adapters don't wear out, it is a chip an antenna and the software. Maybe the driver was updated recently and the new version is not as good as the old. Find the model of your adapter and also your router and google it to see if there is a particular combination that is error prone.

The button that you are using disables and enables the adapter again which resets the driver and is like a reboot of the Dell. It is not that the adapter goes off by itself, the firmware probably gets in a bad state and pushing this button is like rebooting it. You get the same thing by doing Start->Control Panel->Wireless Network Setup

It can also be that the antenna of the Dell is not as good as that of the iBook, if that is the problem (but I don't think it is) then getting closer to the router you get better connection.

Some drivers can connect to the router but loose the lock after a while.

See if there a version of the driver that works better