What have I done to wireless connection??

eager tortoise

Hi all!
Would appreciate any help at all with this problem.
I know very little about internet connections and the like but I seem to have done something to our wireless network in the house. Up until yesterday it was all working fine, then I restored the factory settings on the desktop family computer because it had gone so slow. That computer is now working brilliantly, back online no bother and everything. But there are 2 laptops in the house that previously connected to the wireless network in the house that now will not, and when I try to investigate it tells me signal strength is excellent but I have a limited connection. I'm afraid I don't know what to do now...I can only assume that wiping the main computer has caused this but have no clue how to put it back...can anyone advise me?
Thanks in advance

bhickey

That does sound odd alright that reinstalling the operating system on the desktop PC would cause 2 other laptops' wireless connections to stop working.

Assuming that you're certain that you didn't make any changes at all on the wireless router itself (by the way what's the make/model?), then it sounds almost like the machine you reset might have been acting as a DHCP server for the network?

eager tortoise

I googled DHCP server and yes I think that's what the setup was.
The router is Netopia.
Do you think this is a job best left to someone more knowledgeable?
I have a friend who set the wireless up but he is currently away so if necessary I can sit tight. Still, if it's straightforward enough I'm confident enough to give it a try. I think

Thanks a mill for your response!

bhickey

From a browser on your desktop, go to http://192.168.1.254. That should get you to the configuration screens for the Netopia router. There should be a link for 'Expert Mode' and somewhere in there there'll be a link to a screen which allows you to enable/disable the DHCP server on the router. Reboot any machines then to see if they pick up the settings.

A DHCP server automatically gives out IP address & network settings to machines that ask for them. If you don't have a DHCP server active on a network then each machine would have to have these details manually entered.

eager tortoise

The link won't work for me, I just get a "cannot find server" message.
Is there an alternative way to get to the configuration screen?
Sorry to be bothering u, really appreciate the help as am totally clueless (obviously!)

jumbone

eager tortoise wrote: »

Hi all!
Would appreciate any help at all with this problem.
I know very little about internet connections and the like but I seem to have done something to our wireless network in the house. Up until yesterday it was all working fine, then I restored the factory settings on the desktop family computer because it had gone so slow. That computer is now working brilliantly, back online no bother and everything. But there are 2 laptops in the house that previously connected to the wireless network in the house that now will not, and when I try to investigate it tells me signal strength is excellent but I have a limited connection. I'm afraid I don't know what to do now...I can only assume that wiping the main computer has caused this but have no clue how to put it back...can anyone advise me?
Thanks in advance

Instead of using a dhcp server, local ip adresses can be automatically assigned. When you restored the pc it may have defaulted to the local ip bein used by the laptop that cant connect.

On the laptop do the following to get new settings

Press the windows key+R

type cmd and hit return

type "ipconfig /release" without the quotes and hit return

type "ipconfig /renew" without the quotes and hit return

type "ipconfig /flushdns" without the quotes and hit return

exit the cmd window and try the connection.



If there is a dhcp server assigning specific ip addresses this wont work as they will get the same again but if it was a fluke conflict, it should solve the problem. It definitely cannot do any harm and is worth a shot.

bhickey

eager tortoise wrote: »

The link won't work for me, I just get a "cannot find server" message.
Is there an alternative way to get to the configuration screen?

The router will typically be at the IP address of your Default Gateway. If it's an Eircom wireless router then it would normally have been at the address above. But no matter- we can find out where it is by looking at your PC's IP address settings.

In Windows XP, click on <Start> , <Run> and type 'cmd' (without the quotation marks) and click on <Ok>. This will bring up a black screen with a prompt. Type 'ipconfig' (without the quotation marks) and press <Enter>. Look for the Default Gateway address and then type that IP address into your browser. This should bring you to your router's config screen.

eager tortoise

bhickey wrote: »

The router will typically be at the IP address of your Default Gateway. If it's an Eircom wireless router then it would normally have been at the address above. But no matter- we can find out where it is by looking at your PC's IP address settings.

In Windows XP, click on <Start> , <Run> and type 'cmd' (without the quotation marks) and click on <Ok>. This will bring up a black screen with a prompt. Type 'ipconfig' (without the quotation marks) and press <Enter>. Look for the Default Gateway address and then type that IP address into your browser. This should bring you to your router's config screen.

It's working!! Thanks a mill for your help, you're a gem
Took a but of to-ing and fro-ing but got there in the end with your instructions. Thank you so much for advising me over the past couple of days.

Also thanks for your reply jumbone, ur very good !

Yippee!