How do I set up the internet?

Question

Ok. My friend has a Inspiron 1100 and she is trying to get on the internet. She clicks on internet exploror and it it comes to nothing. It says this page cannot be found. It is not that the website is not real, because we tried going to google.com and it still did not work. The laptop is connected to a router and it is still not working. Can someone who knows what they are talking about, please help us!!!!

Answer 1

Is the 1100 connected with an ethernet cable or is it using a wireless connection?

Select Start button, Run, then type cmd in the box.  Type ipconfig /all

to find out if your router is automatically assigning your laptop an IP address.  It should be like a 192.168.1.x address.  If it starts with a 169.x.x.x then the network card is not communicating with the router.  Was there a cd that came with your router that needs to be configured on the laptop?

Try another ethernet cable.  Try another port on the router.  If neither of these work, you may have a faulty network adapter in the laptop.  If you are still in your Dell warranty period, contact them for troubleshooting assistance.  If not you will have to decide whether to purchase a wireless adaptor and switch your router over to a wireless model.

If you have a wireless adapter in the laptop see page 67 in the document below to ensure correct configuration.