Nerazzurri

I got mobile broadband on 3 around 7 or 8 weeks ago. After initial problems (I'm pretty sure down to my building) I've had the net going well, by mounting the dongle outside.

Now, on my new laptop it's giving me no end of problems. The 'dashboard'/GUI either shows no connection, or connected but reverts to disconnected after trying to log on. It's the exact same cable and USB as I use for my desktop!!

Just to clear up the possibility of software interference I did a restore to factory settings but no joy there - still the same.

I was settled on the fact it was something to do with settings on the laptops Vista, as the desktop uses XP; I noticed something strange tonight.

The reception on the interface shows 0 bars, and Internet Explorer won't load a page (it shows 'page cannot be loaded'), but the connect 'button' on the GUI shows connected, and in control panel>network connections it shows as connected.

The fact the button shows connected doesn't surprise me as I don't have faith in the reception bit of that GUI, but the fact control panel in Vista shows as connected too puzzles me.

That's left me thinking it's something to do with the browser/internet explorer? Any ideas people? If I've left out any necessary information let me know please.