How can I make Windows Vista connect to a broadband connection instead of the users old dial-up connection?

First of all do they have an ethernet network card? If not one needs to be installed. If one is than…

Open control panel > Hardware and Sound > Device manager > Network adapters > The network card on your system and update drivers and enable if not already done. If it doesn’t find that automatically than it’s the AOL settings. In which I have no idea how to change since I haven’t used AOL since 1998, lol.

*edited in hardware and sound. XP doesn’t have the silly Vista view of the control panel.

Yes, there is a network adapter and ethernet cable and everything.

I reset the wireless hub and was able to get a connection on my laptop. Everything worked just fine with no problems. When I hook it up to this desktop though, it says it has a “limited” connection.

“When I hook it up to this desktop though, it says it has a “limited” connection.” that means it’s not the computer. It’s the router or modem or hub, whatever it is you’re using. “limited” connection means it has access to the network, but not the internet. If it is able to connect to the network it is internet capable. Check the settings on the hub/router thinger or if it’s straight into the modem contact your ISP to see if they need a MAC address from the system or not, somehow I doubt that though.

I brought my MacBook Pro to their house and when I connect it to the hub, Mac OS X recognizes all the network settings just fine. That is how I’m posting. I don’t think it’s the hub, but Vista.

Ok, that’s odd, but try going to Control panel > Network and Internet, if the firewall is on try setting it to medium if it’s high. If that still doesn’t work go back to the Network and Internet folder > Internet Options and open the tab connections and click setup.

Yeah, it is hella weird!

When I tried to set up a connection, it fails to detect the hub, and when try to repair the “Local Area Connection”, it always fails to find the network information automatically. My Mac can find all of this just fine, however. If I put the info I found out on here into the properties of the “Local” connection, perhaps that would work.

This “hub,” was it set up with your mac? Is it wireless? This is quite mind boggling to me. Everything I suggested should at least addressed the problem. Is the other (phone jack) network card disabled? Can the PC see your mac on the network?

By “hub” I mean the internet gateway set up by the service provider in this person’s house. The owner doesn’t have a router, just the box that their ISP gave them. The gateway is wired; an ethernet cable connects it to their PC.

The owner didn’t say anything about their phone not working so I guess it was fine.

When I plugged the ethernet cable from the gateway into my Mac’s ethernet port, my Mac pulled up all the connection info and was able to browse the net just fine.

I gave up trying to fix their problem and told the guy to just call his ISP on Monday and see what they can do. Maybe something is wrong with his network adapter or some other problem.

Thanks for helping to try and fix this issue though, Axe. None of the normal Vista functions that are supposed to fix such problems worked, so maybe it’s some deeper problem with their PC itself.