need chromebook to connect to wi-fi, but it won't

August 22, 2014 6:28 PM

My daughter's chromebook from school needs to connect to wi-fi. We have wi-fi at home. When I open up my home computer, I never need to put in a password....I just click onto my internet icon. By the way, I have netgear for my wi-fi.

Also, my husband's laptop just uses an icon to get into the internet. We never put in a password.

But now that my daughter brought home a chromebook from school, we all of a sudden need a password. The teacher at school just told us to "connect to your wi-fi"...........she made it sound easy.

In the chromebook, it shows that the wi-fi is turned on, and it even shows our particular wi-fi name on the list, but when we click on our private wi-fi, it says it wants a password.

Help!

posted by lynnie-the-pooh to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

My daughter got her school-issued Chromebook last night, and it's been a struggle getting it to connect to our home WiFi. My laptop has had no issue, but her Chromebook doesn't even recognize our connection, despite resetting the router. (Our internet connection is generally wonky.) However, although we do have password protected WiFi, I don't need to enter a password to connect with my laptop - it saved the password long ago. Is it possible that you originally set it up with a password long ago?
posted by Ruki at 6:53 PM on August 22, 2014

I agree with Ruki that you probably saved your password a long time ago and maybe don't remember it. What kind of computer do you have at home? If it's running Windows, you can figure out what your saved wi-fi password is by going to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Wireless Networks. Right click your network and choose properties, then the security tab. Check the box that says "show characters" and it will display the password.
posted by desjardins at 6:58 PM on August 22, 2014

The people who you pay to get internet service can talk you through this, assuming the router is from them (and maybe even if it isn't) so consider calling them. First, check the router and see if there is a sticker anywhere on it that just has the password written down on it.
posted by jessamyn at 7:07 PM on August 22, 2014

Response by poster: Hi,

To desjardins.................I did everything you said, but when I got to the little box that says, show characters, it will not let me mark the box. What to do now??
posted by lynnie-the-pooh at 7:07 PM on August 22, 2014

This might help. I don't have a Netgear router anymore, but it's worked for me in the past.
posted by Ruki at 7:20 PM on August 22, 2014

I have a Netgear router. I'd first try on your laptop -- the one connected to the network -- to go to routerlogin.net. The default username is admin, the default password is password (usually). The front page should tell you the router password.
posted by jeather at 7:30 PM on August 22, 2014

Is the password on a little label stuck to the bottom of the router?
posted by essexjan at 7:54 PM on August 22, 2014

Response by poster: The only thing at the bottom is where it says: password - password
posted by lynnie-the-pooh at 7:59 PM on August 22, 2014

Response by poster: To desjardins.................

I just went back to try to click the "show characters" box again. Just so I'm clear on what I saw.............for network security key (for wep), there were secret dot icons lined up, and then below that there was the "show characters" box. This box was not letting me put an x in it. However, when I deleted the dot icons in the space that says network security key, the box below for "show characers" was then allowing me to mark it with an x. I got out of it because I was scared that if I delete the dot icons I would mess everything up. But is THAT what I was supposed to do?
posted by lynnie-the-pooh at 8:07 PM on August 22, 2014

Does the router have any buttons you can press? Sometimes there is one that overrides the need for a password for a short time.
posted by teremala at 8:12 PM on August 22, 2014

The only thing at the bottom is where it says: password - password

Have you tried entering "password" as the password?
posted by Pyrogenesis at 8:37 PM on August 22, 2014 [5 favorites]

Hopefully you get this sorted out, but if not, one workaround might be to get a USB to ethernet dongle for her Chromebook, so she can just plug in to the router/modem.
posted by ktkt at 8:52 PM on August 22, 2014

Just tested this on my Win 7 64-bit and it showed me my wireless password quick and painlessly:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html

(actual download link is down the page after the 'Feedback' section. Run as administrator.)
posted by quinndexter at 9:25 PM on August 22, 2014

Try admin for the password.
posted by kinetic at 3:26 AM on August 23, 2014

Are you logged in using the admin account when you access the control panel? What about on your husband's computer?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:27 AM on August 23, 2014