If your wireless card is built in to your computer, there may be a switch on computer that turns the card off and on. When new from the store, these switches are often in the "off" position. They can also accidentally get switched off during use. Find the switch (often near a symbol that looks like a microphone or radio tower emitting radio signals), and turn it on. The card should now find wireless networks in the area and connect.

If you do not have a wireless card built into your computer, you will need to get one to use the wireless internet. Check to make sure that your have plugged it in correctly to the proper slot and that you have installed the proper drivers.

Computers with built-in wireless cards usually have the proper software drivers installed. External wireless devices often come with software drivers that must be properly installed for the wireless card to work. Also, if you ever need to re-install operating system software because of a major computer crash, you will need to reinstall the software for your wireless device as well.

If your wireless device is properly installed, your computer should automatically start scanning for networks in the area and will inform you that there are wireless networks present. If not, you can scan for networks in the area manually.
*To bring up the Wireless Network Connections menu, go to the Start Menu (in the lower left-hand corner of your screen, choose "Settings," then chose "Network Connections," and finally, choose "Wireless Network Connection." Clicking on this option in the menu should bring up a window. In the upper left hand corner of the window under the heading of "Network Tasks" there should be an option that says "Refresh Network List." Click on this option to search for wireless connections. Choose scrldcolville, hit the "Connect" button in the lower right hand corner and enter the passkey to connect.

Other wireless networks in the area have limited or no connectivity. However, some computers may connect to these other networks by default. If not connected to scrldcolville, you will need to disconnect from the network you are on and connect to scrldcolville. Follow the steps above (in answer *4) to bring up the Wireless Network Connections menu. When the available networks are displayed, make sure you are on scrldcolville network. If you are not, disconnect from your current network. Click on your current connected network. A button in the bottom right hand corner of the window should read "Disconnect." Click on this button. Once disconnected from that network connection, the computer should scan automatically for new connections. When the list has refreshed, chose scrldcolville and hit the "Connect" button in the lower right hand corner of the window. Enter the passkey to connect to the network.

If the passkey is entered incorrectly, the computer will appear to connect to the internet, but will not actually connect. If you think you may have entered the passkey incorrectly, disconnect from the scrldcolville network (see steps above in #5) and then reconnect. Often, as you manually reconnect to the network, the computer will remember the passkey and a small window will pop up, showing the password as a line of dots. Re-enter the passkey correctly before connecting.
(#6, cont.): Sometimes, your computer will not allow you the option of re-entering the passkey when you reconnect to the network. If this happens, bring up the Wireless Network Connections menu (see #4, above). Click on the "Change advanced settings" option under the "Related Tasks" heading. Another window saying "Wireless Network Connection Properties" should pop up. Click on the "Wireless Networks" tab at the top of the window. Under the "Preferred Networks" heading, there is a box that lists all wireless connections your computer has ever used. Click on the scrldcolville network to select it. Now hit the "Remove" button just below the box, then hit the "Ok" button. This will make your computer forget the scrldcolville network and the bad passkey. Bring up the Wireless Network Connections menu again and connect to scrldcolville (see #4). Be sure to enter the passkey correctly.

If you use dial-up at home, your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) may be set to only use the internet through a dial-up connection. To enable your browser to work on the wireless network, open the browser and click on "Tools" in the toolbar. Select "Internet Options." When that window opens up, go to the "Connections" tab. If your options are set to "Always dial my default connection," you can change that by selecting "Dial whenever a network connection is not present" and hitting the "Apply" button. This will allow your browser to use the library's wireless network, but your browser will dial a connection at home when the wireless network is not available.

Be sure that your computer is set to obtain IP addresses automatically and that it does not have one assigned manually. To do this, bring up the Wireless Networks Connections menu (see #4). Click on the "Properties" button. Here, you will see a list under the heading "This connection uses the following items." Scroll down the list until you see an item named "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)." Select this item and hit the "Properties" button just below the list. This will bring up a new window. In order to connect with the library's wireless device, you must have the option "Obtain an IP Address Automatically" selected (ditto for the DNS server address). If you are set with a manual IP address, you can click the button to obtain your IP address automatically (ditto for the DNS server address.) Be aware that this changes how your computer interacts with other networks. If you need a static IP address on other networks, you may have to reset your IP address again later. However, your computer cannot connect to the library's wireless network unless it obtains its IP address automatically from the library's wireless device.

Some external wireless cards default to their own settings when installed, preventing any of the above changes from taking effect. In many computers, Windows acts as the default wireless network configuration program. However, if you have an external wireless card, or if your computer has a secondary program enabling it to connect to the wireless network, you may discover Windows will not recognize your wireless connection program and visa versa. Sometimes, if you have a non-Windows program that runs your wireless card (for example, a Linksys driver for an external Linksys wireless card), the non-Windows program will connect to the wireless device, but Windows will not recognize that this secondary program has connected. You will need to allow Windows to control the wireless configuration in order for your computer to fully recognize the wireless connection. On way to solve this problem is to tell the secondary program to "stand down," as it were.
On some computers, an icon for your secondary wireless program will appear in the lower right-hand corner of the taskbar on your desktop. You can click on this icon to open the program options. Certain programs will give you the option to switch to Windows as the default manager of your wireless connection. This will allow you to use the Windows Wireless Network Connections menu to make changes to your wireless connection. However, each secondary program is different, and the ability to make Windows the default connection varies from computer to computer. This solution may not work for all computers. Nevertheless, this is a common problem to be aware of.

Try repairing the connection. This is like a restart button for the wireless connection. Right-click on the wireless icon in the lower right hand corner of your screen (the one that looks like a computer emitting green radio waves). When given the option, select "Repair." Sometimes, that's all it takes.