[nfbcs] Wireless connection unavailable after power outage

Mon Mar 22 19:00:26 UTC 2010

Thanks Steve.  I'll give that a try.  Ugh.
Tracy

> 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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