I have had many problems with internet connectivity on my dell studio laptop. I am a college student that lives with three other roomates, all of which have perfect internet connectivity. My computer is able to identify the network from the college, but the access is "LOCAL only." I used to be able to fix the problem with diagnose and repair/reset network adapter "wireless internet connection" which would return my internet connection. But that no longer works. Using an ethernet cable does not fix the problem either. As yoy could imagine i'm very frustrated and haven't a clue of what to do. I would greatly appreciate the help. Thank youWhat's the make/model of the laptop?

To help determine if this is a hardware or software problem, generally the first thing I do, in this situation is boot into Safe Mode with Networking... 

Restart the computer, and tap the F8 key until you come to the Advanced Boot Options menu..  Select Safe Mode with Networking.

When it boots up, see if you can connect to the Internet, by wired or wireless..

It MIGHT be a little tricky connecting by wireless in this mode because Windows doesn't load some of the convenient icons that it would load NORMALLY..

In Windows Vista, if you get lost, go into Control Panel (make sure it's "control panel home")Click on the green Network & Internet icon, then under that category, click "connect to a network", to find the wireless network you wish to connect to...

I appreciate the reply! It's a dell studio with windows vista. I logged onto safe made with networking, and i was automatically connected to the internet. Whats the next step?This means that your problem is software-related..

Next thing I would do is be sure your computer is free of viruses..

I could RECOMMEND some scans myself, but the virus forum here at CH would do a more thorough job...

Post here next, before posting read the pre-posting intructions..  If they they are able to remove any malware, and it fixes your problem then congratulations..  If they remove malware and it does not fix your problem, or they don't find any malware, then just post back here and we'll continue looking for culprit software... After booting the computer back up normally after the internet working in safe mode, the internet remained working. I downloaded an antivirus software (i did originally have avast) that found a lot of infections, so hopefully that takes care of that problem. A second problem i've always had since arriving on campus, that none of my roomates have had, where my internet goes down and SAYS it cant communicate with the dns server. I simply click to reset it, and it works again, but it still always ends up going down again. Could you please help me out with that?Download Malwarebytes  anti virus and run another scan...

If you found a lot of infections, then chances are good that there are more in your system..   I'm not an expert at removing malware but some viruses are missed by any given anti-virus program and, one anti-virus program will find what another does does not find... 


Be sure you update malwarebytes to the latest definitions, before you run the scan.