WiFi laptop not connecting to internet - pls help

I have just purchased and set up a Belkin wireless router to my desktop PC.
My laptop is Wifi enabled.
After setting it all up, I tested my laptop which connected to the internet
with no problems.
I then added a passphrase (128 bit WEP) onto Belkin's online Gateway Setup
utility which went ok.
On trying the laptop again, I was asked to enter in the encoded passphrase,
which I did.

Now my laptop won't connect to the internet. It is saying that is is
connected to the network with an excellent signal strength. Al I get is the
standard "page cannot be found" message. If I type in an email address, I
get an error message saying that Windows cannot open the page.

Can anyone help with this problem? If you can, pls be aware that I am not
totally computer literate, so easy to follow instructions required!

Thanks in Advance

"gyzmo" wrote:

> I have just purchased and set up a Belkin wireless router to my desktop PC.
> My laptop is Wifi enabled.
> After setting it all up, I tested my laptop which connected to the internet
> with no problems.
> I then added a passphrase (128 bit WEP) onto Belkin's online Gateway Setup
> utility which went ok.
> On trying the laptop again, I was asked to enter in the encoded passphrase,
> which I did.
>
> Now my laptop won't connect to the internet. It is saying that is is
> connected to the network with an excellent signal strength. Al I get is the
> standard "page cannot be found" message. If I type in an email address, I
> get an error message saying that Windows cannot open the page.
>
> Can anyone help with this problem? If you can, pls be aware that I am not
> totally computer literate, so easy to follow instructions required!
>
JUST TO UPDATE: I have turned off the WEP security encryption and the
laptop is connecting fine. Bu I am worried about security - is there
something else I can do to enable security?

> Thanks in Advance

gyzmo wrote:
>
> "gyzmo" wrote:
>
>> I have just purchased and set up a Belkin wireless router to my desktop PC.
>> My laptop is Wifi enabled.
>> After setting it all up, I tested my laptop which connected to the internet
>> with no problems.
>> I then added a passphrase (128 bit WEP) onto Belkin's online Gateway Setup
>> utility which went ok.
>> On trying the laptop again, I was asked to enter in the encoded passphrase,
>> which I did.
>>
>> Now my laptop won't connect to the internet. It is saying that is is
>> connected to the network with an excellent signal strength. Al I get is the
>> standard "page cannot be found" message. If I type in an email address, I
>> get an error message saying that Windows cannot open the page.
>>
>> Can anyone help with this problem? If you can, pls be aware that I am not
>> totally computer literate, so easy to follow instructions required!
>>
> JUST TO UPDATE: I have turned off the WEP security encryption and the
> laptop is connecting fine. Bu I am worried about security - is there
> something else I can do to enable security?
>
>> Thanks in Advance
First of all, you should be using WPA (or better, WPA2) rather than WEP
for wireless security. If you are using WIndows XP sp2 and still don't
see an option to use WPA on your laptop, go to the laptop manufacturer's
website and see if there is a more recent driver for your wireless
network card.

The reason that you are not connecting is because different
manufacturers generate WEP keys from "passphrases" differently. If you
must use WEP, copy the first HEX key that the router generates after you
put in the passphrase, and enter that in your laptop -- NOT the passphrase.