All of the computers in my household are connected to a router either via Ethernet cable or wireless. The router is connected to a broadband modem which provides internet access to the home network. This has been working fine for the past few months, but recently has been unreliable with internet access lasting about 15 seconds and then a message will appear informing that there is limited network connectivity and the internet will not work for about 60 seconds, at which point it returns for 15 seconds and the cycle continues. I have contacted my ISP and confirmed that nothing is wrong with the internet connection itself and suggested that I contact the vendor of the router and modem. The modem vendor suggested that the problem must be with the router as the internet connection is stable and works correctly when the modem is directly connected to the computer. Do you agree with this diagnosis, and is there anything I can do to fix the problem? (more…)

A Transact cable internet connection is connected to a wireless router (D-Link DI-624) so that the internet can be accessed using my laptop (running Windows XP SP3) over wireless, rather than having to use a cabled connection. In the past the router would occasionally lock-up, with all the lights on (including all 4 network port lights). The only fix would be to turn off the router for around 10 minutes and then restart the router. This would clear the problem until the next time it occurred, at which point the same power-off and restart procedure needed to be repeated. However, recently it seems that the wireless functionality of the router has broken. I can connect to the wireless network being broadcast by the router (or so claims Windows) but cannot get access to the internet. The router is running the latest firmware (December 2008) and I also tried a factory reset on the router and then reconfigured the router from scratch using the wizard, but this did not resolve the problem. The internet works perfectly fine if I connect the laptop to the router using a network cable to the back of the router. Can you help getting wireless back up and running? (more…)

At home I have an insecure wireless network. A few weeks ago McAfee security asked whether I trust my network. Since I didn’t think that I have a network, I conducted some investigation and found Windows Vista was showing that several extra computers are appearing on the network. There is a hub using the IP address ending in .1 and three others ending in .2, .3, and (.2 is my own computer). I am unable to delete these computers. I will work on fixing the security issue once these computers are gone, but I cannot do any financial transactions until these are gone. In the meantime I do not trust my network and find that I get a message every few days about my computer not being secure. Can you help? (more…)

Recently I setup a Netgear WGR614v6 router for our home network. All works correctly and we are able to access the internet through the router. However, I would like to secure the wireless on the router so that other people are not able to use my internet connection. Netgear technical support were not able to provide any advice and the shop where I purchased the router also could not assist. When I attempted to setup the security myself I visited the router administration page at www.routerlogin.net but it has been rejecting my username and password. Can you provide any assistance? (more…)

Recently I purchased a Nintendo Wireless Adapter to use with my Nintendo DS. I followed the instructions to install the drivers for the adapter from the included CD. However, every time I start the computer the “Found New Hardware” wizard appears asking to install the drivers for the device. It seems like the computer is forgetting that the device has already been installed. How can I fix this problem? The computer is running Windows Vista Home Premium. (more…)