Trouble With Vista And Wireless

[MosBen]

Ok, this is my first new PC in a long time and my first time dealing with Vista. I've got a wireless network in my house running from a Netgear D-Link Wireless N router. The network is open w/ no security. There is another (aged) PC laptop in the house which is able to connect to the network without any problems. The new computer attempts to connect to the network but fails for "unknown reasons". I am, however, able to connect to a neighbor's unsecured wireless network just fine.

So, little help here?

[KingGorilla]

Is this older PC running on 802.11 A, B, or G? What bands does your new computer support?

[MosBen]

Brand spanking new Dell with wireless N

[KingGorilla]

And the older one? Also, what is the model number of the router? My Hunch is that new Dell has a GN card in it, the router is BGN, and the laptop has a wireless card in it. Your router then defaults to B, and your desktop cannot interface with it.

[MosBen]

The old one is my girlfriend's ancient Toshiba laptop running XP. I *had* an old Gateway laptop up until a couple weeks ago (it fell...sigh) and it never had any problems with this network either. Actually, as a matter of fact, my network has been up and running for going on a year and has never needed to have the router power cycled or had really any kind of problem. As I say, the network seems to me to be working just as solidly as it always has, it's just that my new Vista system can't seem to connect to it, though it can connect to another nearby unsecured wireless network.

The router model is DIR-655.

[MosBen]

I guess I could also mention that I have an Xbox 360 that doesn't seem to have a problem getting on the network either.

[Slack3r78]

And the older one? Also, what is the model number of the router? My Hunch is that new Dell has a GN card in it, the router is BGN, and the laptop has a wireless card in it. Your router then defaults to B, and your desktop cannot interface with it.
802.11g is a superset of 802.11b. If your hardware supports 802.11g it is by definition 802.11b compatible.

MosBen, what model is the new Dell? Also, just for kicks, have you made sure that your router is running the latest available firmware? Just trying to get some things out of the way.

EDIT:
Same thing with the drivers for your wireless adapter.

[Ancalagon]

Ok, this is my first new PC in a long time and my first time dealing with Vista. I've got a wireless network in my house running from a Netgear D-Link Wireless N router. The network is open w/ no security. There is another (aged) PC laptop in the house which is able to connect to the network without any problems. The new computer attempts to connect to the network but fails for "unknown reasons". I am, however, able to connect to a neighbor's unsecured wireless network just fine.

So, little help here?

I remember having pretty much the same thing. I had a Windows XP Dell laptop (quite a recent one, it was a Core 2 Duo) that could connect to an unsecured wireless network just fine. My new Vista PC, with an MSI wireless card, couldnt. Never did it get it to work I'm afraid.

(Note: it wasnt my network so I couldnt check what router it was, or play around. We just borrowed a little bandwidth until our own internet was set up)