I had a new WAP out of the box and experienced the frustration, but I made coffee and then proceeded to update all the device firmwares and drivers. I made sure the DHCP worked and used the supplied DHCP and it just worked.
Your post neglected GRITTY details about the laptop make/model, the Wifi card make/model and ITS IMPORTANT since a very few cards don't work in all laptops.
Also, if someone installs an OS, most forget drivers which is another matter entirely.
Checklist.
1. All current Firmware.
2. All current Drivers.
3. OS has motherboard drivers added by the owner/maintainer if they loaded their own OS.
4. Wifi is "enabled" in the router.
5. DHCP in router is set to serve up 2 times the number of users you need to support. (Don't ask me why this is so.)
Bob