Cannot get wireless signal from router to laptop

I have a Microsoft wireless router and was able to connect to my broadband
from a laptop computer with a wireless card until 6 months ago. Our cable TV
and cable broadband were out for 3 days due to a line problem somewhere down
the street from us. When the broadband and cable service came back on, I
could no longer access the internet from my laptop. No signal was detected.
I spent hours on the phone with Microsoft, using the Broadband Management
Tool to test, retest, reconfigure, etc. Nothing worked. We bought a U.S.
Robotics wireless router and U.S. Robotics wireless card, spent hours with
U.S. Robotics support to no avail. We could not ever detect a signal from
the base station computer. We bought a new laptop....that didn't help.
Frustrated we gave up until yesterday. We bought another laptop with a
built-in wireless adapter. We uninstalled our Microsoft wireless router and
reinstalled it with updated software. Still no signal to the laptop. We
took the laptop to a Panera Bread Restaurant that had free WiFi and the
laptop worked perfectly there. We do not have a portable phone or any other
electronics that would interfere with the router. We are stumped!! Does
anyone have any ideas as to what our problem is? Since we can access the
internet with our broadband service, Earthlink, they say it is not there
problem (but would happily sell me a new router with a service for $10 a
month) and our cable provider doesn't consider it their problem (even though
the outtage of their service was when our problem begins) because we are
getting broadband. Please help if anyone out there has any ideas!

SouthTexas wrote:

> I have a Microsoft wireless router and was able to connect to my broadband
> from a laptop computer with a wireless card until 6 months ago. Our cable TV
> and cable broadband were out for 3 days due to a line problem somewhere down
> the street from us. When the broadband and cable service came back on, I
> could no longer access the internet from my laptop. No signal was detected.
> I spent hours on the phone with Microsoft, using the Broadband Management
> Tool to test, retest, reconfigure, etc. Nothing worked. We bought a U.S.
> Robotics wireless router and U.S. Robotics wireless card, spent hours with
> U.S. Robotics support to no avail. We could not ever detect a signal from
> the base station computer. We bought a new laptop....that didn't help.
> Frustrated we gave up until yesterday. We bought another laptop with a
> built-in wireless adapter. We uninstalled our Microsoft wireless router and
> reinstalled it with updated software. Still no signal to the laptop. We
> took the laptop to a Panera Bread Restaurant that had free WiFi and the
> laptop worked perfectly there. We do not have a portable phone or any other
> electronics that would interfere with the router. We are stumped!! Does
> anyone have any ideas as to what our problem is? Since we can access the
> internet with our broadband service, Earthlink, they say it is not there
> problem (but would happily sell me a new router with a service for $10 a
> month) and our cable provider doesn't consider it their problem (even though
> the outtage of their service was when our problem begins) because we are
> getting broadband. Please help if anyone out there has any ideas!

What, if anything, did you change during the 3-day outage? Is everthing still
connected the way it was when it worked?

When you say "We could not ever detect a signal from the base station computer" I
assume that you mean that you couldn't detect the router -- not the desktop.
"Seeing" the desktop on your local network is not the same as being "connected"
to the wireless network. I assume your problem is that you are never
"connected."

Which router are you now using, and what model is it? Does your cable modem have
a built-in wireless router as well? You say that from your laptop, you "can no
longer access the Internet" and also that you can't detect a signal. Assuming
that you really can't even detect the presence of a wireless network (let alone
connect to it), and further assuming that you've checked all the easy things:

1. Router & laptop are using the same protocol (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g)
2. Router & laptop are both set to "infrastructure" mode and are using the same
channel
3. Laptop is set to use the SSID you configured in setting up router
4. Router is broadcasting SSID (not really necessary if #3 is true)
5. All WEP/WPA security is (temporarily) turned off.
6. All MAC/IP filtering on router is turned off
7. DHCP is enabled on router

it's possible, although unlikely, that both the MS router and the USR router are
defective. You now know that your laptop works. I suggest taking the router to
a good computer repair shop and asking them to test it for you.

Hi SouthTexas,

From your description of it, it looks like a standard nightmare. If I'm
allowed to put in some advice, try to connect to your broadband service, in
small steps, starting with a wired connection to your broadband modem.
Perhaps the following view can help you to troubleshoot the problem
properly:

I assume your equipment lineup to be as follows:

--- Broadband modem
--- A LAN cable
--- Wireless router
--- Wireless LAN card inside your laptop

You should be able to connect your laptop directly ("wired") to your laptop
(assuming that it has an integrated wired LAN port). You will have to make
some adjustments that you will discard later on, but in my opinion this
should be nothing compared to what you have already done.

If you can connect to the modem "wired", then the next step should be to see
if you can connect to your router, "wired again".
I assume your router has at least one port to allow wired connections. If
you cannot connect at this step, it probably means that the router is faulty
(either at the broadband port or the LAN port), and you should verify your
router at a friend's or at the local computer shop.

If you can connect to the router "wired", then you should try to see your
wireless connection. Resetting your router to factory adjustments in advance
could help, if you had set it up out of default, such as "no SSID
broadcast". At any rate, router connected to broadband modem or not, you
should be able to establish a wireless connection between your computer and
your router. If you can connect to the router's wireless, then you should be
able to connect to the broadband, provided that the necessary settings are
made (I have no idea what adjustments are needed for a cable modem, but
there should be some settings to be done). If you establish a wireless
connection but no broadband, the your router may be faulty, which can be
verified, again at a friend's or at the local computer shop.

If you can not connect to the router, then you should replace it.

Of course, there is a chance that your wireless LAN card inside the laptop
is faulty, but this is a small chance, considering the number of laptops you
have bought.

I don't know how comfortable you feel to make the adjustments required at
the modem, router and laptop. If you have the smallest doubt, I would advise
finding someone to do the job competently. The fee should be minor, compared
to what you have already spent.

What I actually fear, is that, at the end, you will find out that the
broadband company has taken the liberty of changing some values while
repairing the initial fault. This needs "intelligent" questions to be asked
by someone with competence to decipher the "stupid" replies received from
them.

Good Luck,

Engin

"SouthTexas" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1F7CD920-CFDF-48B7-9094-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I have a Microsoft wireless router and was able to connect to my broadband
> from a laptop computer with a wireless card until 6 months ago. Our cable
TV
> and cable broadband were out for 3 days due to a line problem somewhere
down
> the street from us. When the broadband and cable service came back on, I
> could no longer access the internet from my laptop. No signal was
detected.
> I spent hours on the phone with Microsoft, using the Broadband Management
> Tool to test, retest, reconfigure, etc. Nothing worked. We bought a U.S.
> Robotics wireless router and U.S. Robotics wireless card, spent hours with
> U.S. Robotics support to no avail. We could not ever detect a signal from
> the base station computer. We bought a new laptop....that didn't help.
> Frustrated we gave up until yesterday. We bought another laptop with a
> built-in wireless adapter. We uninstalled our Microsoft wireless router
and
> reinstalled it with updated software. Still no signal to the laptop. We
> took the laptop to a Panera Bread Restaurant that had free WiFi and the
> laptop worked perfectly there. We do not have a portable phone or any
other
> electronics that would interfere with the router. We are stumped!! Does
> anyone have any ideas as to what our problem is? Since we can access the
> internet with our broadband service, Earthlink, they say it is not there
> problem (but would happily sell me a new router with a service for $10 a
> month) and our cable provider doesn't consider it their problem (even
though
> the outtage of their service was when our problem begins) because we are
> getting broadband. Please help if anyone out there has any ideas!

SouthTexas wrote:
> I have a Microsoft wireless router and was able to connect to my
> broadband from a laptop computer with a wireless card until 6 months
> ago. Our cable TV and cable broadband were out for 3 days due to a
> line problem somewhere down the street from us. When the broadband
> and cable service came back on, I could no longer access the internet
> from my laptop. No signal was detected. I spent hours on the phone
> with Microsoft, using the Broadband Management Tool to test, retest,
> reconfigure, etc. Nothing worked. We bought a U.S. Robotics
> wireless router and U.S. Robotics wireless card, spent hours with
> U.S. Robotics support to no avail. We could not ever detect a signal
> from the base station computer. We bought a new laptop....that
> didn't help. Frustrated we gave up until yesterday. We bought
> another laptop with a built-in wireless adapter. We uninstalled our
> Microsoft wireless router and reinstalled it with updated software.
> Still no signal to the laptop. We took the laptop to a Panera Bread
> Restaurant that had free WiFi and the laptop worked perfectly there.
> We do not have a portable phone or any other electronics that would
> interfere with the router. We are stumped!! Does anyone have any
> ideas as to what our problem is? Since we can access the internet
> with our broadband service, Earthlink, they say it is not there
> problem (but would happily sell me a new router with a service for
> $10 a month) and our cable provider doesn't consider it their problem
> (even though the outtage of their service was when our problem
> begins) because we are getting broadband. Please help if anyone out
> there has any ideas!

Did you ever remove power from the modem and router, power up the modem
and when it has booted, start the router again? I would assume that in
the time period, you did this, but if not, do it. See if that helps.

Q