Using work laptop at home

CountryWise

I have recently been giving a work laptop and i have to bring it home every evening so i am trying to set it up to use my wireless network so that i can browse the internet on it, however all i am getting is page cannot be displayed when i connect to my wireless network, is there another setting i need to change also?

BTW the laptop was set up on the work network and uses LAN settings but i thought you coulf bypass this somehow when not in the office?

aidan_walsh

Your workplaces IT guys may not like you messing with the settings. At the very least make a note of the originals if you have to change them.

As for your internet problem, you probably have proxy settings set. You would change those in Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings in IE.

deckie27

The thing is can you change settings?
I suspect the is restriction on the PC

Stugots

Certainly the IT guys won't like you messing with the settings on the laptop, but if you're feeling rebellious and you have admin privileges on the PC then it is probably fairly easy:

In Internet Explorer=>Tools=>Internet Options=>Connections=>LAN settings, untick the "Use proxy server...." box.

In order to access external sites when logged in at work, you would have to retick this box.

Cuddlesworth

I would go with proxy settings, but if it was my company and you had messed up your laptop settings doing this dont expect to hear back from me for a few days.

Ponster

It's possible that the laptop is configured with an IP address as opposed to using DHCP ?

spiritboy

Ponster wrote:

It's possible that the laptop is configured with an IP address as opposed to using DHCP ?

could be. if ya don't want to piss the IT guys off by changing settings maybe have them set up a local user acocunt for you to use at home instead of your office login.

Tom Dunne

CountryWise wrote:

I have recently been giving a work laptop and i have to bring it home every evening so i am trying to set it up to use my wireless network so that i can browse the internet on it, however all i am getting is page cannot be displayed when i connect to my wireless network, is there another setting i need to change also?

BTW the laptop was set up on the work network and uses LAN settings but i thought you coulf bypass this somehow when not in the office?

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves here with talk of proxies and new accounts.

Can you tell us exactly what you are doing, step by step?

Is the laptop even getting an IP address from the wireles router? Did you enter the WEP key from the router onto the laptop? If not, there isn't much chance of you getting an IP address.

Briefly, the easiest way is to connect the laptop to the router via a normal cable (ethernet or USB). Make sure that works first. Then fire up Internet Explorer and get the wireless settings from your router.

Enter the wireless settings on the lapotp, disconnect the cable and you should be sorted.

Easy.

skibum

Set up a new hardware profile, I have done this to a couple of laptops and works fine. When you boot up it asks which profile you want, eg I set them for "home" and "work".


Laptop IP Switching
Configuring your Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP laptop for use at multiple sites
If you take your Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, or XP laptop between two separate networks that have different network settings, you can choose which settings to use at startup by selecting a hardware profile for the specific network. Below are the steps for setting up two hardware profiles. Windows 2000 users who need to regularly switch between Student and Staff networks are advised to skip ahead to the next section. A separate option for experienced users of Windows 95, 98, and Me, is detailed in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article: Q156772. Again, this is for experienced users only as it involves editting the registry.

Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Step 1
Click on "Start", then "Settings", then "Control Panel". Windows XP users will click on "Start", then "Control Panel", then "Switch to Classic View".

Step 2
Double click on the "System" icon.

Step 3
Select the "Hardware" tab and the "Hardware Profiles..." button.

Step 4
Click the "Copy" button. You'll now have two identical hardware profiles. I recommend giving your hardware profiles specific names so that you don't get them confused and have to restart again and select the correct one.

Step 5
Choose between "Wait until I select a hardware profile" or "Select the first profile listed if I don't select a profile in". If you select the latter (which is the default), you will need to enter a number of seconds for the computer to wait before it continues booting with the first profile (the default is 30 seconds). Click "OK" and "OK" again to leave the "System" menu. Now reboot your computer.

Step 6
When the computer starts, it will pause and ask you which hardware profile you wish to use. Select the new profile.

Step 7
When the computer has finished starting Windows, click "Start" then "Settings" then "Control Panel".

Step 8
In Windows 95 and 98, Double click the "Network" icon. In Windows 2000, double click on the "Network and Dial-up Connections" icon, then right click on the "Local Area Connection" icon and select "Properties".

Step 9
Select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and then click the "Properties" button. Configure these settings according to your network administrators recommendations.

Step 10
When you restart your computer you'll be able to choose between the two hardware profiles. Each will now be configured for a separate network. Select the appropriate profile for your network.

CountryWise

It isnt possible to un-tick the proxy settings unfortunately i think i may need to be added to a proxy override group.
I know what you guys mean about the IT guys being annoyed with me messing around with the settings but the thing is:

1. I have the settings noted
2. I dont want to do anything on the laptop more than web browsing, i have a personal laptop at home for other stuff but i was just testing my work laptop to see if it can connect to a wireless connection.
3. Part of my job involves travelling to the UK for work training and a lot of hotels have wi-fi spots, i think its fair to want to be able to use my laptop when away considering i am giving up my own time in the evenings to the job.
And really isnt that exactly what a laptop is for.......use on the go whereever i may go.......
i think it may be best to just ask the IT guys im sure it happens alot

And in response to the post above the laptop gets an IP address from the router, it connects fine but i get page cannot be displayed

ressem

If you're allowed to install firefox or opera on your laptop, these can use their own proxy settings separate to those of IE.

Even if there's a strict lockdown on settings, there's also portable firefox which possibly could still be run from a USB key.