An Internet connection based on Wi-Fi wireless data transfer technology is most in demand among most users, since it does not have a clearly limited spatial reference (except, perhaps, only about the range of the router), and WiFi setup on a laptop with Windows 7 or similar OS It is produced very quickly and does not cause any difficulties even for the most unprepared users. Despite the simplicity of the actions performed, when creating and configuring such a connection, it is necessary to take into account some important aspects in order to avoid further errors and failures.
Introduction
It goes without saying that the implementation of all necessary steps to create a wireless connection, the user must have the appropriate equipment. A router is used as the main signal source, the role of which can be played by a router, an ADSL modem or a 3G / 4G modem of a mobile operator. Accordingly, when concluding a contract for the provision of Internet access services with a provider or mobile operator, you will be provided with all the settings and parameters that should be written in the options of the router used. There is nothing particularly complicated here. But the difference may be that, for example, when setting up WiFi ByFly on a laptop with Windows 7 or another OS, you will need to register the address of the operator’s server, while on ordinary routers you do not need to.
But special attention should be paid to enabling distribution on the router, because without this, the signal simply will not be heard.
However, further we will proceed from the fact that the parameters of the router are set correctly by the user (either manually or by a specialist from the service organization), and he only needs to configure the connection and connect to the created network.
Setting up WiFi on a Windows 7 laptop: where to start?
You should immediately pay attention to the fact that you can configure the connection in completely different ways. On the one hand, you can connect to the signal directly from the router. On the other hand, it is possible to make an additional access point (AP) from your own laptop, which itself will act as a wireless router.
To begin, consider the first situation and determine what steps to configure WiFi on a laptop with Windows 7 need to be performed in the first place. Based on the fact that almost all laptop models of the latest generations are initially equipped with wireless modules, the adapter must be turned on. If it is not included, the easiest way is to purchase an additional module that connects via USB. For those devices in which the adapter is initially available, it can be turned on in different ways. This can usually be done either using special switches on the side, back or front panels, or using combinations of function keys with the Fn button (function keys are always marked with the corresponding icon in the form of an antenna with a signal coming from it in two directions).
For example, turning on and setting up WiFi on an ASUS laptop with Windows 7 should be done using a combination of Fn + F2, for Toshiba models - Fn + F8, for laptops Samsung and HP - Fn + F12, etc. On most Dell models, there is a fader for this on the right side panel, and on Acer laptops the button is sometimes positioned directly on the keyboard panel.
Checking Wireless Adapter Drivers
In general, in theory, as soon as you turn on the wireless adapter, the available networks will be determined without your participation. If this does not happen, first check if the appropriate drivers are installed (or installed at all) using the most common “Device Manager”. If the wireless module is marked with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark, update or reinstall the management software. But it’s best not to trust the Windows database, but to install from the original driver disk, which is supplied without fail when buying a laptop.
If there is no such disk, download the necessary drivers from the official website of the laptop manufacturer on another computer or search for them on the Internet using the VEN and DEV identifiers, which can be defined in the “Device Manager”, as shown in the image above.
The nuances of configuring IPv4 for dynamic and static addresses
After you make sure that everything is in order with the drivers and the device is ready for use, you need to pay attention to the IPv4 protocol parameters. To do this, you can use the network connections section in the "Control Panel" or go to the section through the "Run" console by typing the ncpa.cpl command, after which you will need to call the connection properties, which are supposed to be used later.
When switching to IPv4 protocol parameters, you should immediately pay attention to the fact that in most cases, for wireless connection, automatic reception of all addresses and parameters is set. You need to enter options manually only if a static address is assigned to your laptop (this depends entirely on the provider).
Identify Available Networks
The next step in configuring WiFi on a laptop with Windows 7 (Lenovo will be either a model of any other manufacturer, in this case it does not matter), will be viewing a list of available networks. In principle, you can use the network connection point in the corresponding section of the "Control Panel", but the "seven" and newer systems are good in that when the wireless module is activated, the Wi-Fi icon immediately appears among the icons in the system tray.
Just expand the list of networks, select the one you need and click the connect button. If a password is set for the selected network, it must be entered in a special field. You can also immediately activate the automatic connection point, which will allow you to connect to the selected network when the laptop is within range, or to restore the connection when the connection is disconnected.
Activation activation
If your network is not displayed in the list, or connection for some reason is not possible, one of the probable reasons may be the disconnected state of the created network.
Go to the network settings section (ncpa.cpl) and through the PCM menu on the selected connection, activate the power-on point if the network is really disconnected. If this action does not produce an effect, use the automatic diagnostic tool in the same menu.
Configuring WiFi on a laptop with Windows 7 for distribution by means of the system
It seems that there should not be any difficulties with the main option for connecting. Now let's see how to turn your laptop into a wireless access point. You can configure WiFi distribution from a laptop in Windows 7 using the system itself. The easiest and fastest way to do this is through a command console running as administrator (cmd).
In it, you need to register only one command of the form netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode = allow ssid = "NAME" key = "XXXXXXXXX" keyUsage = persistent, where NAME corresponds to the name of the connection you came up with exclusively in Latin, and XXXXXXXXX is the preferred access password, which should contain at least eight characters. After appearing from communication about the successful creation of the network, it remains only to activate the command netsh wlan start hostednetwork. To disable distribution in the command, instead of the "start" operator, "stop" is written.
Additional programs for creating access points
If you don’t like the above proposed method, you can configure WiFi on a laptop with Windows 7 in order to distribute the signal using third-party programs that look simpler to use.
Almost all of them belong to the Virtual Router and Hotspot classes, occupy a minimum of hard disk space, are produced in a portable version and are fully automated in configuration.
The main types of errors and methods for their correction
If, during the process of establishing a connection, a connection error occurs while setting up WiFi on a laptop (Windows 7 cannot establish a connection), it will not be possible to consider all the reasons for this phenomenon simply physically. However, with a high degree of probability of correcting any malfunction, several basic techniques can be proposed:
- reset the router by completely de-energizing it for about 10-15 seconds;
- reset the settings to the factory state directly on the router and set the necessary parameters of the provider or mobile operator again;
- reconnect to the desired network;
- check the password is entered correctly;
- check the connection status in the available networks section;
- enable automatic assignment of IP-address and related parameters;
- instead of automatically setting up DNS servers, use free combinations from Google;
- disable the use of proxies for local addresses;
- check the status and relevance of the drivers of the wireless adapter;
- check the status of the Wi-Fi module and enable it in the "Device Manager" if it is disabled;
- deactivate device shutdown to save energy on the power management tab in the “Device Manager”;
- Diagnose network connections using system tools
- uninstall the latest Windows updates one by one.