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Unfortunately, I'm in the "fire bad, tree, pretty" group, here. I am probably going to need this in Captain Dummy Talk. I had set it all up myself, but I just followed the directions that came with the router. I don't actually understand very well how it all works.

What type of router? Do you have PSK, WEP, or open set up?

I don't know. Where do I look to find this out?

One of your neighbors has a very strong signal - I would suggest to try a different channel (like channel 6 or 11). They may be conflicting with the signal from your router.

How do I do this?

Do you have a cordless phone that you didn't have before, and is it in the 2.4 GHz frequency range (usually says on the base somewhere)?

Nothing new.

This is a wireless problem, so if your desktop is wired into the router, then you wouldn't see problems.

[strike]The desktop is set up wirelessly.[/strike] Pffft. Maybe it's not. I don't know anything anymore.

Some brands (Netgear and DLink) have trouble with encryption in busy or croweded environments.

It's a Netgear.

The main thing to look at, what has changed from the time that it worked reliably.

I can't think of anything that has changed.

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- Neighbor's router hosing down your signal.

- Your or neighbor's wireless phone.

- Other kind of interference. (like other wireless devices: wireless cam etc...)

What can I do about this? Is there a booster or something I can get? A setting I can change?

- Your router is going bad (despite being new)

I don't think so, because the desktop (which is set up wirelessly) is working fine. When the other router went bad, it affected both of them.

- Your laptop's wi-fi is going bad.

I assume I can go get this fixed/replaced? Is there a way to determine if that's what's wrong, before having to bring it to someone?

You might try to change your router's channel though.

How do I do this?



Thank you

You might try to change your router's channel though.

How do I do this?

You access your router through a web page using the router's IP address, found in the manual. From there, you find an option to select the channel. Change that.

mouse wrote:

What type of router? Do you have PSK, WEP, or open set up?

I don't know. Where do I look to find this out?

WEP secures the network using a password. I'm guessing PSK offers increased security over WEP, without googling for you. "Open" means open to broadband thieves because your network doesn't require a password.

On windows view available wireless networks page, there should be details of your network's security there. Alternatively, that information will be somewhere on the router's configuration screen.

mouse wrote:

- Your router is going bad (despite being new)

I don't think so, because the desktop (which is set up wirelessly) is working fine. When the other router went bad, it affected both of them.

But mouse, you said in the same post "[strike]The desktop is set up wirelessly.[/strike] Pffft. Maybe it's not. I don't know anything anymore.". Have you actually checked whether the desktop computer has been connecting to your router wirelessly since your laptop started disconnecting? The thought that the desktop is wired to broadband, or is connecting to the neighbours wireless network accidentally, needs to be eliminated from the investigation before we start to ignore the possibility that the new router could be faulty.

Yeah, changing the router's channel number makes sense.