Wireless Network Connection and Windows 10 Microsoft Edge
Q. My computer has always connected to my wireless network just fine until recently. Now it says it’s connected but I can’t when I try to go to websites I get a message that the page can’t be found. How do I fix this?
A. There are a few different variables that could be causing this. I would start by looking at the indicator lights on your modem to see if they look like they typically do. Are all the lights green that normally are? Are the lights solid if they typically had been in the past? Note that information before proceeding with power cycling the modem and router. Unplug the modem and the router both, but when you plug them back in only plug the modem in first. Wait until all the lights have “settled down” – in some cases this can take 5-7 minutes so be patient. After the lights have settled down into a normal pattern, go ahead and plug the router in. Give the router a couple minutes to establish its connection. With the storms we have had recently it is common for the modem and router to get out of sync when there is a power outage or interruption of any sort. The best way to get them back on the same page is to follow a complete power cycle for both devices. Your computer may be latching on to the wireless signal in your house just fine, but if the router isn’t getting the internet signal from your modem it doesn’t have any internet to give your computer and get the phenomena where the computer says it’s connected, but you still can’t browse. The faucet is on, but there simply isn’t anything to come out. If power cycling properly doesn’t resolve the issue, the next step is to call your Internet service provider to see if there is an outage in the area and make sure their network can “see” your modem. Fortunately though, often times a complete power cycle will resolve the problem you described.
Q. I upgraded to Windows 10 and I can’t find Internet Explorer. Was it eliminated?
A. Microsoft Windows 10 was rolled out with a brand spankin’ new browser called Edge. Edge replaces Internet Explorer as the default browser for the system. It is completely different code — and it’s worth giving it a shot. Note that the address bar doesn’t visibly appear until you move your cursor up to where one would expect to find it – towards the top of the window. You can then type in the direct address, or URL, that you want to go to or you can perform a search directly from the address bar by entering your search string. Of course Bing is the default search engine. Another oddity is there is not an option to add a homepage by default, but you can enable that option and set a homepage of your choice. That being said, if you can ‘t get acclimated or, more likely, your banking and other sites don’t support Edge yet you can still use Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer does come with Windows 10 and you can set it at your default browser. You may need to pin its tile to the Start screen after you make the change to find it more easily in the future. All I am saying is, give Edge a chance.
