I just wanted to let you all know because this happened to me. This is the first trip I have taken since I got Vista. Here is the problem I ran into, and the fix I found when I got back.

Problem
You can log on to the network, but get a local connection only. The issue is that Vista will not pop up the login to the hotspot. It will look like you are connected, but you can’t do anything.

Fix
Download the XP drivers for your wireless card, and install it instead of the vista one. From what I can tell in the research I have done it is a driver issue. I don’t know what the difference is, or if it works so you will want to try it before you head out especially if you are counting on having it.

In the end I am probably glad it didn’t work, and I just relaxed as best I could (that is a story I will tell a little later), and not worry about any work stuff.
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Interesting I have had a vista laptop for 2 years or so and travelled extensively and never had this problem.

Do you have vista configured to display the network connection icon in the sys tray? That is one of the first things I changed and with that you can always adjust your network(s) via disconnect, repair, connect, etc.
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I tried everything I could think of while I was down there. I found the driver stuff on google when I got back.

Mine shows the connection on the tray. The thing is it would be connected, and when you went to a page it wouldn't pop up the login info so it never connected. I tried IE8 and FF neither one worked. My Ipod would connect just fine, but it is hard to read on such a small screen.
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Dont stop at the drivers.... remove the OS and install XP. I hate Vista and have it on only one machine now (no surprise the machine I use the least). Nothing you are saying about using older drivers to get stuff to works surprises me... I hope windows 7 is better otherwise Linux is starting to look good.
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Pebkac .... Plain and simple.
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Right click anywhere between start/quick launch and system tray area, select properties, go to notification area tab, select network, select ok. Network icon will be in system tray, looks like two computers with a world between. Right click network icon, options include diagnose and repair, disconnect etc.

Vista only: Click start, click network at the top of the new window is a button called network and sharing center, click that (this is also found in the control panel), options on the left of this window include diagnose and repair, connect, find new, etc.

There are more but the drivers thing is a bit much and I would in fact get rid of them ASAP as they aren't Vista drivers.

Honestly there isn't anything wrong with Vista as far as I am concerned. Now that said I never bothered to upgrade my desktop from XP Pro but I have moved to Win 7 on that machine.
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Identifying the laptop and what proprietary bloatware is on it could help diagnose it too. Often times programs don't play nicely. Windows typically takes the blame. :-)
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Yep because when I turbo a car with 30lbs of boost and no tune and blow the engine it's the engines fault. Duh!

Honestly, I currently have over 2 years on a Vista laptop running 24/7 and 2 crashes (My AV software lists all of them, ftw).
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I found the site where I got the information about the drivers. It seems like it may be a Dell issue not a Vista one.

Link
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Seeing as how that article is two years old, it holds little relevance. I would wonder if you have all of your current updatted drivers, vista updates, etc. then see if you still have the problem. As I said before I do not recomend using older XP drivers on a Vista machine, even though that may temporarily fix your problem it more than likely will cause more problems.
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I didn’t pay attention to the date of the post only that it was the exact problem that I was having.

I have my system set to auto update, and gave it little thought beyond that.
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I LOVE VISTA! so there. Never had this problem. sometimes you actually have to open an internet window to make it log in....
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The reason this problem happens is because Vista was designed to use a third party connection software rather than a driver based authentication.

For example, my laptop came with Vista, I loaded XP onto it, and the wireless worked fine anywhere. When I reloaded Vista, I encountered the same problem. Some research showed that Vista is looking for a third party software to actually do the connections and authentication (in my case, the Intel Wireless Package software that was originally pre-installed on my laptop).

Installing the XP drivers is one workaround, or you can use the connection software provided by your wireless card/chipset manufacturer.
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Auto update may not update your drivers and given the situation with some Intergrators (Dell, HP, etc), can actually make the problem worse if it updates a driver from the device manufacturer and not from the computer manufacturer. This is the most likely cause of your issue.



Simply untrue. There is no such third party software in Vista, it may have been provided by some Integrators (Dell, HP, etc.). There is no reason to use software provided by the NIC card manufacturer to connect in ANY version of windows. The only thing required for any windows NIC card to work is the base compatible driver for that hardware. Vista merely changed the rules and views to connect and disconnect from networks. In fact you can still use base command line syntax to fix any connectivity problem in Vista.
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You are correct, I simplified my answer perhaps a little too much. It isn't Vista itself that has this problem, it's the OEM versions where manufacturers want you to use all the pre-loaded software that have these issues. They hide certain features and options to try and influence you to install the pre-configured software they have agreements with companies to use.

You could decide in XP whether to use Windows' internal wireless connection interface, or to use the software provided by your NIC manufacturer. Some were worth using, some weren't. Vista is obnoxiously tricky to navigate and find those options, however, and most often the pre-loaded software is easier to use (possibly with the idea of being beneficial to the less intelligent end-user).


Edit: However, I freely admit I dislike Vista so much I don't bother to even try and learn all the ins and outs of it since I didn't bother updating my MCDST (I think it goes by MCTS now for Vista) for Vista's release. I'll wait for Windows 7 and re-certify then. :-)
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