Wifi/wired Conns

[sad old git]

Hello. A couple of weeks ago I was given for my birthday a Kindle Fire HD.At present I cannot get it to connect to any wifi stations. My computer is a desktop and fairly old 7 yrs and connected to my router with an ethernet cable. My router appears to have a wifi connection also which I thought would connect to my Kindle but this is not happening. Does this mean that my old machine is not compattible with wifi and that the wired and wireless connections cancel each other out? I contacted my IP provider with this problem and they said I needed an upgrade but they would wouldn't they. Thank you all who are reading this and any advice is gratefully appreciated.

[Huderon]

Your old machine is compatible with wi-fi, but to use that you would need a dongle - I've used one in the past on a desktop older than yours.

The first thing to do is to have a look at your router ans see if there are any stickers on it. What you are looking for is one which mentions SSID and Passphrase (or similar), and make a note of both of them.

If no stickers are on the router, then follow Methyl's advice and let us know the make and model of the router (they will be on it somewhere), then someone can help you set up security on the router and tell you how to connect the Kindle to it.

The next part is a bit general. I don't have a Kindle, though my wife does have a Fire HD but, as I am very attached to various bits of my anatomy, I make sure I don't touch it.

If you do find a sticker with the SSID and Passphrase on your router, start your Kindle and at the top of the screen you should see a number of icons. One is a cogwheel (or it might look like a circle with a hole in it if your eyesight is as good as mine). Tap on that to get into the quick settings menu.

One of the symbols on that will be labelled Wi-Fi - tap on that. It should bring up a screen which shows wi-fi connectivity and any available wi-fi connections.

If yours shows that wi-fi is off, touch the On part of the screen. Then look down the list of available networks. Find the one which matches the SSID on your router and touch that. if it comes up with a question asking if you want to connect to it, the answer is yes. If nothing happens, touch the one for your router and leave your finger there for a couple of seconds.

When it asks for the passphrase, enter the one you noted on your router, and that should then allow you to use your wi-fi connection.

[mikey4444]

I can't see that your old PC has anything to do with your problem with the Kindle.

When you ask the Kindle to search for a Wifi signal, is it seeing your router ?
When you try in any other location, like Mc Donalds for instance, or anywhere else with Wifi, is the Kindle seeing the Wifi signal there ? Is the Kindle seeing your neighbours Wifi signal ? If it is seeing seeing other Wifi but not your router, then your router would seem to be the problem, although all routers should be able to be contacted wirelessly.

Who is your ISP ? If you have had your router and broadband connection for a long time, maybe it is time to upgrade to the latest kit. I recently upgraded to Infinity with BT and the new router is a cracker, much better than the old one.

[SlackAlice]

We need to know the details of your router. I can when necessary turn off/on the Wi Fi connections on mine, so you may just need a fiddle with your settings.

Have you tried connecting your Kindle Fire where free connections are available? Sometimes its worth a cup of coffee in Mcdonalds or similar just to see if it works.

[sad old git]

Thank you all for your very prompt answers. My router is Netgear WirelessADSL2+Modem Router DGN1000 and my ISP is EE (orange?). I have taken my kindle to my local pub and it connects there with no problems as it does with various other places I have tried. As I said I contacted my EE provider manually ( shop not phone) and the kindle worked on there area fine. The person I spoke to suggested an upgrade which I have agreed to.Since then a new router has arrived but I can't plug it in until I recieve a message from EE that I am connected to a fiber optic line.They say this could take ten days or more so I will just have to wait and see.I will try to keep you all informed of the outcome...Thank you all once again.S.O.G.

[mikey4444]

Glad to be of help sog ! ...please let us know what the outcome is, as it will help us all here on AB.

[sad old git]

Hy to all you nice people and thank you all for your help. As i said in an earlier message I recieved a new router from EE but was told not to plug it in until instructions from them which would take about ten working days.Last week my internet went down and my email could recieve but not send.After a day or so of fuming I decided to plug in the new router and suddenly everything is working properly so far. So methyl,Huderon,mikey4444 and slackalice.Thank you all again for your help.SOG

[sad old git]

Methyl. Please accept my apology for not explaining things more clearly.When EE sent me the router it included a card with all relevant details such as username and passwords etc which I used to get up and running. Once again sorry for misleading you.

[sad old git]

Since my last contact with all of you good people I can say all is working perfectly. However would it be better to leave the router switched on permantell y or just when it is needed.I often put my computer into( sleep mode) but I'm not sure about the router as I think the wifi signal maybe needs to be active all the time