System: HP G7064EA laptop, Vista Home Basic, Xbox 360
Q: My problem is trying to get my laptop connected to my games console either wired or wireless, any way will do me just fine. Connecting the laptop wirelessly to the console with the help of an Xbox wireless network adapter didn’t do the trick. But I bought a Belkin wireless-G router, it does not seem to connect to the Internet on my laptop either. My broadband ISP is Tiscali. I have tried out the ICS sharing options but no luck. Yes, I have spoken to the help lines of Tiscali (and Belkin), but they are convinced it is the IPCONFIG section on MS-DOS — if that makes sense! I don’t get a proper CMD command on there. I am sure my laptop has built-in wireless, but what am I doing wrong? All this just to get Xbox Live. I hope this all makes sense and perhaps you can stop me tearing my hair out!
A: Although you can connect an Xbox to a PC to get online in bridge mode, if you have an Xbox wireless adaptor and a router you shouldn’t need to. To access Xbox live you should be able to connect the console directly to the router without getting the PC involved at all. There’s a useful video tutorial on how to do this at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BXKNlahy8w.
Similarly you will be able to connect the laptop directly to the router. Your laptop model should have built-in Wi-Fi, check that the wireless light is showing blue when the system is powered on. If it isn’t there should be a switch somewhere on the machine to allow you to turn it on — sometimes this will be a keyboard sequence, consult your manual to find out. Note that some HPs show an amber light when wireless is deactivated. Once you’ve verified that the adaptor is active go to the Vista Network and Sharing Center and click Connect to a network on the left-hand menu. The PC should now find any wireless LANs within range and allow you to connect, prompting you for security keys as required. Provided the router is online (its status lights should tell you if it’s successfully connected to the DSL) you should then be able to access the Internet.
If you can connect to the router but can’t get online, eliminate the possibility that it’s a wireless problem by connecting an Ethernet cable (routers are normally supplied with one) between the laptop and the router and see if that gets you on the Web. If it doesn’t then it may be that IPCONFIG is at the root of the problem. Go to the Start menu and type cmd into the search box to open a command console. Type ipconfig /release to drop the connection, then follow that with ipconfig /renew to reconnect and refresh the IP address.
Vista’s Network and Sharing Center should help you locate and connect to an available LAN
Originally featured in PCU122
