Not connecting to the internet

I am trying to connect to the internet, each time when it trieds to obtain a IP address a connection error screen comes up and states the attempt to obtain the ip address timed out. WHat does that mean and can it be fix,

Is your wifi protected by a WEP key?

yes it it, but I type in the the encryption key, i am going to put the letter in caps this time

I got it, my web key was different, thanks for your help