I work as a field engineer for the largest provider of WiFI Internet access 
to the hospitality industry.

We have had many wifi issues with Dell laptops.  The drivers for the 3com 
card will not get an IP address, most notably the gigabit cards (although I 
have seen it with the 10/100 cards as well.  I actually carry a Cisco 
Aironet card along with an older 3 Com 10 Mbs card for just such 
occurrences.  Dell is aware of this and has written new driver for this card.


The only workaround I'm aware of is:
1.   to buy an add in NIC
2. Go to Dell's website and download new drivers.

Hope this helps.

Jerry Marcus



At 09:40 PM 12/22/2006, you wrote:
>I have a pretty decent working knowledge of personal computer operation, 
>but am a newbie in the wireless networking world. I have been having a 
>myriad of problems with this world, but my most pressing one is connecting 
>my Dell laptop with the Internet. I have attempted to connect in various 
>wi-fi hotspots in hotels, airports and even on a relatives wireless 
>network. I can readily connect with the SSID, and the "status" shows 
>excellent signal strength, but I continually get  the message, (after a 
>lengthy attempt to connect by my laptop) "This connection has limited or 
>no connectivity. You might not be able to access the Internet or some 
>network resources. For more information, click this message". It then 
>tells me that " this problem occurred because the network did not assign a 
>network address to the computer." I ran "ipconfig" get the IP address 
>info, ping it and it's fine. I clicked "Repair" to have Microsoft restart 
>the connection and try to establish full connectivity. No luck. "Cannot 
>complete renewing your IP address" is all I get. checked all TCP/IP 
>Properties, (all set for obtaining automatically), tried all trouble 
>shooting recommendations in Help Support, etc. Laptop is Dell Inspirion 
>B130 with Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network Connection, (Even when I try 
>Linksys Plug In same results), Windows XP OS. If I go Local area 
>Connection with Network Cable hook-up at home or office, Internet 
>connection works fine. Help. Makes me feel insufficient, when someone sits 
>down next to me at a wi-fi location, starts up their computer and boom 
>they are in, as they give me a sympathetic, but condescending smile.
>
>Thanks ,
>Maurice Reid
>
>               The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
>                      support at our newest website:

         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml