Can't connect to Wireless at home

My daughter has a netbook, with Windows 7 Starter Edition that would not connect to our wireless router (Netgear) at home. We wiped her computer and put Windows 7 Enterprise on it yesterday and it still won't connect, wirelessly. She detects the wireless network, but cannot connect to it. I've tried it with WEP; with open authentication, no password, etc. and nothing. The other 2 computers at home are running Vista and connect just fine. Her netbook connects just fine to other wireless routers at friends houses, my office, etc....just not at home. I cannot figure out why. She does connect just fine when she is connected with an ethernet cable.

I don't know a lot about Windows 7 and I'm not sure if her inability to connect wirelessly has anything to do with the other computers at home running Vista...? Maybe? I can't think of anything else.

HELP!!!

If your netbook only has WEP encryption and your router is configured with WPA encryption, you may not be able to connect.

Which encryption method is your router set with? (WEP, WPA, WPA2)
Which encryption methods does your netbook have?

I just checked the router and the netbook and both of them are set to "none" in regards to encryption.

If you don't set an encryption for your wireless router, anyone nearby can login to your network. You are essentially leaving the door open for them to use your network.

WEP is the weakest encryption and can be broken by those who know how within seconds. However WEP is better than nothing and will keep the average person out. WPA is stronger and can still be broken within minutes if the attacker knows how. WPA2 is the strongest and so far as I know it has yet to be broken.

With all this said; if you set your router to one of the encryption methods, all of your devices must also know how to communicate through the selected encryption. Its up to you, leave the door open for everyone to use your network or select an encryption that all your devices support.

P.S.
I'm not absolutely sure what your troubles are yet. I am however trying to steer you in the right direction.

I hope you had more than connection problems as a reason to install enterprise on a netbook. One of the reasons starter is on a netbook is because they are slower and normally have a smaller HD so Aero etc are overkill wasting space/ram on a limited machine.

The most likely cause is your router, not her computer; since you say she connects fine elsewhere. Who set up your router? It may be using mac addresses, in which case unless you add her computers mac address to the routers approved addresses it will constantly ignore her no matter what the encryption or even none. That isn't proof but would fit with her being able to see it and still not connect.

You should be using WP2 if your router supports it, for security as Clifford mentioned. This is not just to keep people from stealing your bandwidth, it is also to keep them from reading your personal information. People can actually park on the road nearby and "listen" to your transmissions and maybe see your online banking/Paypal/Social Security numbers, etc.

She actually had a ton of problems on her netbook (total waste of a computer, if you ask me....but I didn't buy it). It's running a lot better now, except for the wireless issue of course. I actually set up the router and it worked fine in our last house (she didn't have her netbook then) and it works fine with all the other computers (nothing has been entered into the router manually). I'll double-check that though. Thank you.

And, as soon as this is fixed, I'll definitely use WP2, per your suggestion. I have it unsecured now, just because I'm continuously trying to work on this issue.

Could you specify the router Brand/model?

If mac addressing is enabled it would only affect wireless connections but her computer should work if hardwired to the router.

Here is an example of mac filtering with a Linksys router. And Here are instructions on how to get the mac address of her netbook so that if you do have mac filtering enabled (and I do encourage this for added security) that you can add her computer to the list.

Another possibility, do you have a "dual-band" router that is NOT "simultaneous dual-band"? If so then if a wireless device is using the 5MHz band then she cannot connect at 2.4GHz or visa versa. But if this was the issue then if you turn off all other wireless devices, then she should be able to connect.

Personally I wouldn't use the Enterprise version on a netbook. It chews up too many resources, i.e. RAM. Netbooks usually have only 1 GB installed. Windows 7 Starter was designed specifically for netbooks and their limited hardware capabilities. Were you able to get an activation?

As Cliff stated, using WEP protocol on the router is just asking for trouble. WPA2-PSK is your more secure method for sure. Do the MAC filtering too as TM suggests, that will ensure a good solid connection.