Aspire V5 Won't connect to specific Wifi but connects to others?!?!

This is the weirdest/craziest thing i've seen with a laptop. My in-laws bought an Acer Aspire v5 (Win 8). They are in Houston and use Suddenlink internet with a wireless router. I can not for the life of me get their laptop to connect to this Wifi. I am asked to enter the password and it just says "Cannot connect to network." I have been successfull in getting another laptop, (2) iPhones and (2) iPads working on this wifi but not this Acer. I take the Acer back to my house and it gets on my Wifi (Uverse) no problem. I'm stumped i've updated drivers, rolledback drivers and cant figure it out, please help.

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Alan-London

As you've successfully connected various other items I'm unlikely to be able to suggest something you're not already aware of but...

This sounds like a security settings issue to me. Check that your security type, encryption type and preshared key are correct.

I have had problems in the past when I've forgotten to press shift when entering alpha characters (mine are all upper case chars). The result, of course, was 'cannot connect to network'.

Also, my router by default will not allow any connection that is not approved so I need to temporarily 'tell' it to allow and register unknown connections. Perhaps yours has a similar function.

phoenixtx

Alan-london

I've confirmed it's not any of the issues you've posted below. Every search I conduct for this type of issue always has to fo with the Acer never being able to connect to wifi. In my case it has been unable to connect to wifi in only once instant but been fine in all the other instances. This same wifi which we have been unsuccessful with does allow other laptops and devices to connect to it though.

Vince53

Phoenix, there are several possible causes, but it seems to be a software problem. I would try a deep scan with your antivirus and with the free Malwarebytes prgram. If it is a security settings problem, as was previously suggested, these won't help, but they won-t hurt, either.

phoenixtx

I'll try that when back at my in-laws house. It's just the strangest thing i've ever seen happen. Thankfully my own personal laptop works so I can download driver and things that might work.

Also we have tried hard wiring it into the router and that seemed to work. Wouldnt this mean that it's got the correct security setup or is it different via Wifi?

Thanks

Alan-London

No. Security settings such as 'WPA-PSK Encryption' and 'WPA-PSK Preshared Key' apply to WiFi only as does the response to unknown devices if implemented.

khpitts

My Acer Aspire does the exact same thing. I can connect at school, home, mcdonalds, etc. However, it won't connect at either job that I work at. I can only imagine that it has to do with their security settings, because we have very private insurance information about both jobs. However, everyone else is able to connect. It really makes no sense.

vaizaren

security issues on that dude Smiley Wink

phoenixtx

Do you think it's security issues on the laptop or on the router?

Alan-London

I doubt it is your in-laws router as other laptops you have set up with Suddenlink work ok.
It would also appear that the laptop WiFi is Ok as it works on your Uverse connection too.
(I assume you currently have two WiFi connections set up, one configured for Uverse and the other for Suddenlink.)
I would still suspect a security issue (with the laptop). We know that the link is good as you receive the 'enter pass key' request from the router and the router has received your response and replies with a connection denial. I appreciate that you have checked the security settings but this does suggest an incorrect key and/or encryption type. Are you sure you used the correct upper/lower case when entering the key?
While not the most scientific solution, I have found it quicker to compare two laptop side by side if possible. Stepping through the configuration on two machines in parallel does tend to highlight errors. If you can, give that I try.

Arcticbird

Your In-law's computer may have a vital internet service disabled by Windows when restarting or updating called "Wlansvc". Locate it in the task Manager, click on the services tab, right-click it and select "start" or "Enable" service. This service "Must" be running in order for your Windows 8 PC to recogize wifi Network's and connect to the internet. Hope this helps! :-)

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