Win 7 firewall and network settings

[johbot]

I wasn't sure which forum to use for this questions, but decided on this one because it is mostly about network settings.

At home, I have a wireless network and I normally attach my laptop (Win 7) to it to connect to the internet.

I also have a USB device for wireless access via the Next G network (ie the mobile phone network) that I can use when I am away from home. When I plug in the USB device and connect, I get a message asking my about the nature of my network connection. The three options are Work, Home or Public. Until today, I have just closed that window without making a selection.

But I got sick of the nagging, and clicked Public - figuring that I was directly onto a public(ly accessibe) network. So now if I use that device to connect, I can get access to my email (both in and out) but not any browsing. So I am guessing that I have set some strong security settings that are blocking my browsing access.

I tried reconnecting and selecting each of the other options (Home and Work) but to no avail.

So the question is, how do I reverse that? Where do I find the settings to make the changes?

[JoeP]

Have you tried deleting the connection and re-establishing from scratch?

You should be able to browse on a network designated as public. Did you check your internet settings in IE to see what network it was using.

Joe

[johbot]

Hi JoeP,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I have been using Firefox. And before I posted, I checked with IE to see if I could get the "Network Diagnosis" page and then run that. I didn't get to that. (Has that changed in IE8?)

So, after I posted, I tried IE with the USB device and it worked straight away. No errors, no problems.

Open Firefox and here I am typing away expressing my thanks. I no longer have a problem.

But I think that maybe there was a conflict with the wireless NIC in the laptop and the LAN. This time, I have made sure that I had it turned off before I plugged in the USB.

(These are the games that I play at the end of my ISP month. With draconian download limits on prohibitive pricing on my remote-area-satellite-connection, I balance out the use of what's left on my prepaid USB with where my home plan is up to in the final days.)

[JoeP]

Sorry you have to live with anything draconian much less download limits. Glad you figured it out though. Thanks for posting back.

Joe

[DaveA]

Just right click the network icon in the systray and select Network and sharing center. There near the top you will see the connected network and to the right, is the word Customize. Click it and now you can see change it to what you want.
Public is a "Public" connection, so it will BLOCK access from other public machine. The Private is for your home network.