Resolve Connectivity Problems on Windows 7 Laptop

If you are using a mobile computer to connect to the internet, generally you will be connecting wirelessly, as this is usually easier. Wireless connections give the ability to connect to the internet anywhere that has Wi-Fi available for public use.
There are a number of issues that may affect a mobile computer connecting to the internet wirelessly.
The most common one, usually on older laptops is that the Wi-Fi switch is not turned on, though more modern laptops have wireless connections turned on by default. The first thing you should do if you are having connectivity problems is check whether there is a physical wireless on/off switch on the laptop, and make sure it is on. If there is no switch it means the wireless is on by default.

If you see this symbol in your task bar it means that your Wi-Fi is switched on, and there are available networks, you're just not connected to one.


In order to connect to a wireless network you need to click on the symbol and select the name of the network you want to connect to and click connect.

Your laptop will then connect to the network

Once your laptop has connected the symbol at the bottom will look like this:


This is the simplest way of resolving any network connectivity issues, if you are still having problems and turning the laptop off and on again (the old IT failsafe) doesn't work, then you may want to try rebooting the router, failing that you may need to replace the router or wireless card in your laptop, but that's only very last resort stuff. This should solve any problems relatively easily!