[nfbcs] Wireless connection unavailable after power outage

Mon Mar 22 16:15:58 UTC 2010

Tracy,

I can't think of anything that could have happened to your router that would make your husband's computer work and your NetBook not work.  It seems most likely 
that somehow your computers have different settings.  Unlike Laura, when I unplug and plug in my router and wireless access point, they do not go back to their 
default settings.  However, if they were unplugged for several days as happened to you, the settings could have gone back.

Here is one possible scenario.  When your network came back up, your husband's computer may have found it by searching and when he pressed "CONNECT" it 
may have connected without security settings.  Your computer may have not seen it as new but tried to connect with the existing settings.  I would check the 
settings on both computers.  Also, make certain your husband isn't connected to another network.  

I think the default network ID for LINKSYS is LINKSYS.  I have connected to LINKSYS networds before and forgotten about them only to have them connect 
automatically when I didn't expect it.  If your router went back to its default, maybe he is connecting to it as LINKSYS because he had a LINKSYS entry in his "order 
of connections" list.  

Having said that, your best bet is to simply set up your wireless again rather than trying to figure out what happened.  Pick your security settings and re-enter your 
key so you know what is being stored, and then reconnect both of your computers.  It will go against your programmer tendencies of wanting to know why it doesn't 
work, but I think you would be best off with a fresh start anyway because whatever changed in your router because of lack of power may have left other settings at 
different values than you expect.  

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:01:51 -0400, Tracy Carcione wrote:

>Mine is a Linksys router!
>What I don't understand is why, once I reset the router, it works with my
>husband's PC, but not my netbook.
>Where can I see the WEP/WPA2 key, to make sure it hasn't changed?  But, if
>it has changed, how come my husband's PC can connect?  And how come the
>signal strength went from Excellent to Good?

>Tracy

>> I have a linksys router, and when i reset it or unplug it and replug it,
>> everything goes back to the default, including the name of the network,
>> the
>> IP address handling, port forwarding, and of course, the security.
>> Note that you should also be sure the admin password is set to something
>> that will keep intruders out.
>> Anyway, it's nice to be able to reset the router every so often, but
>> setting
>> it up again can be a pain, depending on what you need it to do.
>> Good luck.
>> --le
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>> To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 1:02 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Wireless connection unavailable after power outage
>>
>>
>> Tracy,
>>
>> Do you know if your wireless router was set up for a secure connection?
>> Somewhere there is usually a combo box that lets you choose between types
>> of
>> security
>> like WEP, WPA, etc.  If no security is specified, there probably is no
>> place
>> for a key to be displayed.  Also, your netbook will tell you if there is a
>> secure connection,
>> and if you pick that connection and specify "Properties," it will say in
>> there whether the connection is secure.  The type of security is
>> determined
>> by the router,
>> though, but your Netbook has to match it.  If you are making a connection,
>> it is probably not a big deal to check this out unless it happens that you
>> have no security.
>> You don't want someone nearby freeloading on your connection or using your
>> connection to do mischief.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:55:18 -0400, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>>
>>>Thanks Steve.  I called my brother and he told me to unplug the wireless
>>>router for 10 seconds, then plug it back in and restart the PC.  He also
>>>told me the IP I need to see my router.  I did what he said, and the
>>>connection seems to be OK now, though the signal strength is lower than I
>>>would expect.  I'll check the cordless phone.
>>>I looked all over the webpage for the router, but I couldn't see where
>>> the
>>>WEP key is.  Although I guess if the connection works now, maybe I don't
>>>need to see it.
>>>Tracy
>>
>>>> Tracy,
>>>>
>>>> You should be getting some kind of error message if the connection
>>>> fails.
>>>> It seems most likely that perhaps the wireless settings on the router
>>>> went
>>>> back to their
>>>> default settings or something.  I would check the settings on the
>>>> wireless
>>>> router that have to do with security.  If you used WEP, you had to
>>>> enter
>>>> a
>>>> security code on
>>>> the router as well as your netbook.  Re-enter the code on the router,
>>>> and
>>>> if it still doesn't work, re-enter it on the netbook.  You usually
>>>> access
>>>> your router's settings
>>>> as a web page.
>>>>
>>>> With a power outage, there could be other factors as well.  Some other
>>>> device such as a cordless phone may have been reset and might be using
>>>> the
>>>> same
>>>> channel.  You can also change the channel on your wireless router.
>>>> Changing it might allow you to escape interference.  From my
>>>> experience,
>>>> though, this would
>>>> result in a poor connection and not one that fails.
>>>>
>>>> I'm a little confused, though, because if you are not making a
>>>> connection,
>>>> I would not think that you would get the "network cable unplugged"
>>>> message
>>>> when you
>>>> turn off the router.  The error message would be helpful.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>>
>>>> Steve Jacobson
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:22:52 -0400, Tracy Carcione wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I need some advice, please.  We had an extended power outage in our
>>>>> area
>>>>>due to a big storm.  The power was out about 3 days, and now I'm having
>>>>>some trouble with my wireless router, maybe.  My PC is hooked by
>>>>> ethernet
>>>>>cable to the wireless router, which also has ethernet jacks.  That is
>>>>>working fine, but my netbook and my husband's computer connect to the
>>>>>router wirelessly, and that's not connecting.  My netbook sees the
>>>>>wireless connection, but when I try to connect it fails.
>>>>>I'm not sure what to do.  I suspect maybe I need to look at my wireless
>>>>>settings, but I'm not sure how to get there.  Or is it something else?
>>>>>I've turned the router off and on a couple times.
>>>>>When I turn it off, the netbook says "A network cable is unplugged" so
>>>>>it's seeing something, it's just not connecting.
>>>>>Thanks for any advice.
>>>>>Tracy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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