Wireless Router Problem

wintermute

wintermute

Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
3,018
O computer gurus, please help me out.

I have a NetGear wireless router plugged into my cable modem. I've had 3 computers (2 wireless, one hard-wired) running off this thing for quite some time. I run WPA encryption and had an access list limited to the MAC addresses of these three computers. Each computer has its own dedicated backside IP address, and I have the router limited to a max of 50 computers. I recently added a new computer that accesses the router wirelessly (for a total of three wireless and one hard-wired). I updated the access list, the dedicated IP list, etc. Things were running smoothly until this week. One specific computer (wireless), when I shut it off for say a day or so, can't access the network when I turn it back on. I click on my wireless network, it asks for the encryption key, which I type in, and sits there waiting. The only thing that seems to fix this is unplugging and re-plugging the router, then everything is as right as rain. What's going on here?
 
If it's the new computer that's acting up, there's always a chance that it has a janky wifi card (I love that word, janky). Seems a little strange that you have to restart the router each time that occurs. Do you have the specific model of your router?
 
Weird thing is the problem is with the computer that's been on the network the longest. I don't have the model info on me, but it's the typical run-of-the-mill 802.11 a/b/g router that's been out for years.
 
If you're running Windows XP or older, you could always try to flush the dns on the computer. Simply open up a command prompt window and type the following:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew

Then, see what happens. Usually does the trick for most connection issues I come across.
 
It sounds like the router hasn't released the connection for the wireless computer. And so the PC can't connect because the router thinks its already connected. Probably something with a session key not being reset I'd guess so it can be renegotiated when you try to reconnect. I don't know how to fix this on your router.

YayILikePie's suggestion is reasonalble but a hassle. Make a .bat file to handle that automatically for you.
 
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