Wireless not working?

[Phate]

Ok, so i am at a friends house, and he has wireless setup, i can see the network, and it has 5 "bars" of signal, so its not a low signal problem or anything, but when i try to connect it wont let me on. When i click Diagnose the Problem (im running vista), it says the network is "hidden" and i cant connect, possibly the settings are different on this computer then they are on the computer running the wireless.

now what i dont understand is, according to another computer in the house which CAN connect to it (running XP), there is no authentication (just an open node /cry), and the SSID is NETGEAR. but when i try to connect to it with no authentication, it wont let me on...

any way to fix this? right now im on a network that shows up every now and again, but its very low signal.

My System Specs:
Compaq Presario C500T
1gb ram
1.4ghz dual core processor (Intel)
Windows Vista (i think home, im really not sure)
No mods made to the laptop, just a standard C500T, but when i bought it from HP, i checked all the highest upgrades they could do before shipping it out.

Any ideas? i will provide any other information necessary.

 

[veedubfreak]

Most likely he has the router set to authenticate. My wireless at home wont let anyone connect unless i have added the mac address to the list of approved users.

 

[Phate]

Any way around this? i really want internet, but im not able to ask him to let me on the main computer to fiddle with his wireless, and he doesnt know how to do this.

 

[veedubfreak]

The main computer should have software installed on it to access the router. This software is where he has to add the mac address. So most likely you are just SoL.

 

[Phate]

Ok, thanks very much for your help

for my info, how would i find my MAC address? would it be in the System pane? (Control Panel -> System)?

 

[veedubfreak]

start > run > cmd
at the c prompt type ipconfig /all
this will give you the mac address of both the wired nic and wireless nic.

 

[Phate]

Ok, so im on the computer that supposedly is running the wireless, but i cant find where to look at the config... in Network Connections i just see Local Area Connection and Internet Connection, neither of which allow me to edit this wireless network... infact i dont see any wireless networks. where can i find this?