Wireless antenna question for computer people

weekapaug19

Sorry, not very good with computers but figured some of you might be. I have a HP dv6449 laptop and the wireless antenna just stopped working, I can't get it to turn on. I've done alittle research and it looks like this is a problem with a lot of HP laptops that came out the same time I got mine (Aug 07). Some people found a workaround to get it working which is to uninstall the wireless assistant, then reinstall it, but that didn't work when I tried it. Anybody have any ideas how to fix this? Thanks.

BinFrog

Have you tried updating the firmware/drivers?

weekapaug19

BinFrog wrote:

Have you tried updating the firmware/drivers?

not really sure what that means, sorry, I'm not that good with computers. is this an easy thing to do?

81

drivers are pieces of software that control hardware

most times, you can go to the manufactures website and download the dirvers. in your case, you can check hp's website

http://www.hp.com/#Support

click download drivers
put in your laptop model number
click go
on the next screen select your operating system
click next
uner driver - network you will find the drivers for your computer
i'd start with the broadcom wireless lan driver and go from there

basically, when you click the link, you should get a file to download. download it to your desktop, then open it and run it. it should self install itself.

all this assumes a software issue. if you have a hardware issue, you may have to open and replace something.

weekapaug19

I'll try that tonight...thanks for the help

weekapaug19

sorry....another question i just thought of.

can you split the internet like you can with cable? example, have one internet cord going directy into the computer (instead of going wireless) and have another going directly into an xbox? or do you need two internet lines going into your house?

BinFrog

weekapaug19 wrote:

sorry....another question i just thought of.

can you split the internet like you can with cable? example, have one internet cord going directy into the computer (instead of going wireless) and have another going directly into an xbox? or do you need two internet lines going into your house?

you can definitely split. For example in my office I have a cable splitter that goes to the cable modem as well as to the TV. I've also at points (but not now) had an ethernet cable going from my modem to a computer, and another to a router.

81

my set up was, cable intenret to modem

ether net cable from modem to wireless router

my router had connections for 4 eithernet outs as well as the wireless out function

weekapaug19

81 wrote:

my set up was, cable intenret to modem

ether net cable from modem to wireless router

my router had connections for 4 eithernet outs as well as the wireless out function

i'm going to check out the router tonight, I never even though of that (it having several outputs). Thanks

Get_Right

make sure your wireless is turned on (on the computer)
usually the fn key and f2
sometimes I accidentally turn it off when I am typing very fast

weekapaug19

Get_Right wrote:

make sure your wireless is turned on (on the computer)
usually the fn key and f2
sometimes I accidentally turn it off when I am typing very fast

ya, I checked that, I have a switch that is orange when it's off, blue when its on, and basically even though the switch is turned on, the light is always orange so my computer thinks its turned off.

Get_Right

weekapaug19 wrote:

Get_Right wrote:

make sure your wireless is turned on (on the computer)
usually the fn key and f2
sometimes I accidentally turn it off when I am typing very fast

ya, I checked that, I have a switch that is orange when it's off, blue when its on, and basically even though the switch is turned on, the light is always orange so my computer thinks its turned off.

do you have an icon in the lower right of your screen?
right click and try to repair