Old laptop question

[Christiaan Lourens]

I have a friend with a really old Siemens Fujitsu laptop

Now I know allot about technology but Vista and wireless signal are not my forte.

So it states on the one sticker at the front that it is 3g UMTS compatible does this however imply that it has wifi ? 3G would imply it has a simcard slot does it not?

Is UMTS the father of Wifi or what exactly are my options I need to help him get his laptop working the way he wants to and that would entail it to have internet access I plug it in by using the ethernet port and a line straight to my ADSL modem yet the network connection doesn't show the 2 computer screens to indicate it's connected what it does is make a small blue circle under the 1 screen.

any tips, advice?

 

[pcmagic]

What is the model number of the laptop?

Can go into the control panel and find the device manager and see if there are any devices with yellow explanation points next to them? Also, under Network Adapters - what devices do you see?

If this computer has 3g UMTS, then it probably has wifi capabilities.

To answer your question, the computer contains a chip to allow it to connect to AT&T wireless (if youre in the states?) 10 years ago UMTS was the fasted internet you could get through a wireless carrier in the US. There is software that would allow you to connect up to the wireless network to use the data network of the carrier. There is a simcard slot somewhere on that computer. UMTS is a GSM network I believe. This is a fairly broad statement and I am sure there are many people that can add more detail to it, but the above is a basic understanding of what the UMTS device is in the computer.

 

[Christiaan Lourens]

Alright so the model number is: ESPRIMO model V5555

OS version is Vista Home Basic

I have checked the device manager and don't see any yellow ! anywhere.
Under Network Adapters I have the following listed:

Atheros AR5007EG Wirelss Network Adapter
Globetrotter Module HSDPA Network Card
SiS Ethernet Controller


Thank you that clarification confirms my original understanding of it too.

After looking at the network adapters I have one question how do I "fix" them so they work when I try and connect them to this network I am using?

 

[pcmagic]

Alright so the model number is: ESPRIMO model V5555
Atheros AR5007EG Wirelss Network Adapter
Globetrotter Module HSDPA Network Card
SiS Ethernet Controller

There is probably nothing wrong with them. In windows vista, connecting to a wireless network is a little more difficult than it would be in XP (with the exception of disabling a third party connection manager,) and windows 7.

Have you tried simply connecting to a wireless network using the Atheros AR5007EG card?

To connect to a wireless network in Windows Vista, follow these steps:
Click Start
Start button
, and then click Connect to.
Click the wireless network to which you want to connect, and then click Connect.

This is the standard way to connect to a wireless network. If this doesn't work, lets uninstall the Atheros AR5007EG card and re-install it.