Connection to Wireless Router

It says that my laptop is connected to the wireless network, but when I go
onto the internet, it does not allow me to and says "server cannot be found".
When I click repair for the connection, it only works sometimes and if it
does work, I am still not able to go on the Interent and even the AIM
service. My router works and it says that I have a strong connection.
Sometimes, it seems like the wireless network forgets the IP address and asks
for the WPA key code. What should I do to be able to get on the Internet,
AIM, and AOL? Does Firewall have anything to do with it?

P.S. What is a Subnet mask?

Linda wrote:
> It says that my laptop is connected to the wireless network, but when I go
> onto the internet, it does not allow me to and says "server cannot be found".
> When I click repair for the connection, it only works sometimes and if it
> does work, I am still not able to go on the Interent and even the AIM
> service. My router works and it says that I have a strong connection.
> Sometimes, it seems like the wireless network forgets the IP address and asks
> for the WPA key code. What should I do to be able to get on the Internet,
> AIM, and AOL? Does Firewall have anything to do with it?
>
> P.S. What is a Subnet mask?

You may not actually be communicating with your router, notwithstanding
the "strong connection" indication.

Is this your own wireless network, and do you have physical access to
the router? If so, try connecting the laptop to the router using an
Ethernet cable. Can you connect to the Internet now?

Has this laptop EVER successfully connected (been able to surf the
Internet) through this wireless network? If so, what changed?

Are you sure that you are always connecting to the same wireless network
(i.e., is the network name (SSID) unique)?

What IP address is "forgotten"? What is the IP address of your laptop
when you think it is connected to the router? A subnet mask is used in
combination with an IP address to break up a larger network into smaller
"sub-networks." In the typical home network, the IP address will be in
the range 192.168.0.1 through 192.168.0.254 (192.168.0.255 may be
reserved) with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. This has only one
"sub-network" with the possibility of 254 computers. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnetwork

--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer