HELP ! Cannot Access Internet !

[rgearity]

Boy, is this frustrating ! I have 4 computers on my wireless network at home (Netgear router with two Netgear wireless adapters - 2 computers are hardwired to the router). The two computers that are wired directly to the router have no problems connecting to the Internet. The two computers that are wireless (desktops) work fine for a couple of weeks and then they just won't access the Internet anymore. Both are my kid's computers. They will use them fine for a couple of weeks and then both come to me at the same time saying the Internet doesn't work. When I check it out, the computers show Connected, Signal Strength of Excellent and everything looks right but I open IE and get the "page not found" message for every website. They are currently not connected - last week I had to turnoff and turn back on the router because of an Internet problem - I am wondering if certain settings were lost when that happened ? I am not sure but there is NOTHING more frustrating then having these computers tell me that everything is fine connection-wise but not having an INTERNET CONNECTION !!! Can anyone offer any advice on (1) why this keeps happening, (2) how to fix it right now and (3) how to keep it happening again ? WHY IS WIRELESS SO DIFFICULT TO SET-UP AND KEEP RUNNING ???? (THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE !)

[Matt]

I'm moving this over to the Wireless Internet forum, but here are a few comments.

First, if you can always access the Internet from the PCs that are directly connected to the router, then your Internet settings on your router are fine. If you can occasionally reach the Internet on your laptop, then their settings are probably fine as well. Rebooting your router should not change your settings. There are some wireless settings to check on your router, but if you can get an intermittent connection, they are probably fine. Usually a problem with the settings will prevent you from reaching the internet at all.

Wireless connections are not foolproof, and they can just die for whatever reason. Lots of times rebooting the laptop will work. Sometimes you can connect to a neighbor's wireless network, and that can cause problems. I can see up to 5 networks, including my own, from my home. Other times, the distance from the router to the laptop is too great. No matter what you read, building materials have a great effect on the distance a WiFi signal will travel, especially if it is not "line of sight."

[scottb]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE) Opera 7.60 [en])

For a possible quicker fix, right click on the wireless network icon in the system tray. Then select Repair. Sometimes that will re-establish the connection without re-starting the computer.

[WirelessBeachBum]

If you are using security settings such as WEP, sometimes those settings get a little hosed, especially if you are using many different brands.

Re boot the router and the computers, that may help.

[wafrenkel]

This is a easy question with a number of answers, the eaysest is releasing and renewing the DHCP server. it is on one of the pages on the router to access the router go to http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1 the router username, password is either:
admin
password

admin
admin

admin
blank

It should show up under the status page on the router... at least with my MANY D-Link routers it does that... i have had 5 DI-624... all bad after a month.... i'd recommand getting a DI-524 small and GREAT!
... p.s. a kid knew this answer wow......