Ask A Geek

Q: I have a presario F730us laptop. For the past few weeks the light in the front that shows the wireless is on (orange if off and blue if on) was orange and not reading the wireless card no matter what. But it would be off and on, sometimes working sometimes not. All the sudden a week ago it just went out all together and nothing will fix it. I did everything HP told me to like updates, update the drivers, take the plugs out of the wireless card and re-plug them and nothing worked.

They then told me the wireless card was bad but tonight I took it to get a new one and they put one in there and it still would not work. They tried a few other things (not sure what) and still nothing would make the wireless work what so ever anymore.

The drivers would say Microsoft adapter ISATAP not working error 31. But nothing fixes anything and I did everything Microsoft and HP said and still nothing.

Q: We have WiFi at work. One IT guy said if signal is weak can cause slow access to net and other issues like firewalls, band width etc. The other IT guy said not true only band width causes slow access. which is true?

Q: I have a Sony component system inside the house. I would like to add wireless weather resistant outdoor speakers so that I can listen to music outside as well. I would prefer the ability to have the music playing outside only, inside only, and inside and out at the same time. I would like to do this without drilling holes in the exterior concrete walls, and running wires from the outside to the inside. Please tell me if this is possible, and what I need to buy.

Q: I’m having a wireless connectivity issue with me WG311v3 netgear pci wireless card. At first when I originally purchased this card (prior to my upgrade) I had NO issues with it. None.

After the dreaded upgrade (nothing phenomenal. Entry level board, standard cpu blah. Had a crappy dc5100 brd before ;not std ATX )! Anyway, now I’ve installed my wireless card, but it doesn’t pick up any wireless networks? Used to! It keeps scanning but, alas, to no avail.. It will pick up ONE, every now and then, connect to it. Then drop it after like 10 seconds.

Do you think I might need to download latest driver? I dunno! That’s why I’m asking the pros.

Please guys! Its probably something really simple that I overlooked. Any help will be appreciated.

Q: My broadband is ice broadband. I want to get my iPhone Internet access on it but have misplaced the start code/enter code. Any tips?

Q: I have a Dell Latitude D410 laptop computer that has built in WiFi. The windows program crashed and I downloaded a different windows cd operating system into this laptop and got my windows operating system back up and running. I do not have any WiFi capabilities anymore and am wondering how do I restore the WiFi on my computer? I use this computer for my business and now I am dead in the water. Please help me out. I do not have any restore disks for this computer.

Q: I have a computer with built in wireless but the closest WiFi hot spot is about 3 miles away. Is anyway to get the WiFi signal to travel 3 miles?

A: Technically it is possible to transmit a WiFi signal 3 miles because the record for the longest transmitted WiFi signal is 238 miles. In the real world a few hundred feet is much closer to the maximum that you will ever see and even then it is limited by any obstacles that are in the way. Maybe some day our WiFi equipment will get better but until then it will just be geeks with too much time on their hands sending WiFi signals long distances.

Q: Is it possible to use a USB wireless adapter with my laptop that already has wireless built in?

A: Yes you can use a USB wireless adapter with a laptop that has wireless already built in. Some of the reasons you might do this would be that your internal wireless isn’t working anymore or maybe you need to connect to two networks at the same time. The setup is fairly easy on most computers but I do suggest reading the instructions. Sometimes you have to install a driver first and other times you can just connect the USB wireless adapter and it will just work.

Q: My netbook won’t pick up a wireless signal in certain rooms of the house where my laptop has previously. There is either a ‘very low’ signal or none at all but it works in other rooms of the house. my netbook is an asus eeepc, is it just this netbook that has problems with wireless? Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Q: I have an HP “everyday” laptop. It has a wireless card installed. However, I am doing a presentation at a facility which does not have wireless available and at which I have failed to be able to connect to a public wifi before. I would like to be able to connect and use some training information that is available online. I do not have – nor do I want – one of the “do everything but be a phone cell phones.” I would like to be able to access a wireless network anywhere, anytime with my laptop. What do I need to have?