Same Name Internet Problem?

Hello, I recently just purchased my first laptop and I got the dv5t. My problem is that i can stay connected for about 20mins or sometimes less, and then my modem/router resets and then my desktop which is also running wireless gets an error pop up saying there's a problem because there's another network with the same name. my desktop is running windows xp while my laptop is running windows vista. my modem model is the linksys wcg200 v.2. has anyone ever heard of this problem and can anyone help me with it? thanks in advance.

 

Change the broadcasting name of the router?

 

This is the SSID of the AP (wireless). The problem of everybody running in default configuration. Change it to something unique. Once you do this you will need to reenter the WPA(2) AES Personal Key. This will give you a new location, you can remove the old one. Now if your running WEP this knocking you off line is an tecnique used to break the WEP key. So you should be using WPA(2) AES Personal with a random generated key 20 chr long with ALL printable chr. A good key is hard to type in.

 

hmm I see. Is there a guide for how to do these things? I'm a bit of a noob and don't quite understand everything you're telling me. sorry about this.

 

You'll need to find out your wireless router's IP Address. When you are connected to the network, do a Start-->Run and type cmd and hit enter. Then type ipconfig /all in command prompt and take note of the "Default Gateway" which is the IP Address of the router. Enter that IP Address in a web browser, log into the router and change the name of the SSID that your router is broadcasting...it seems it is conflicting w/ someone elses SSID name.

 

Every router is a little different. Most of the newer ones have a setup wizard you you can run. But in your case,

1. login to the router using a wired (cat5e) port. All config must use the wired port. The reason is most routers do a reset when changes are made. If on a wireless you will be dumped and may corrupt the setup.
2. Find the wireless section. There you will see the security settings and SSID
3. Change the SSID to something unique.
4. Look at the Wireless security settings. If set to WPA(2) AES Personal your OK. If set to TKIP this needs to be changed to AES Personal. WPA2 is more secure than the original WPA. If you have some very old 11g hardware it may not support WPA2.
5. Then enter your security key. I like using www.grc.com password/security key generator. Just copy and past the string to a notepad. You will need this for all wireless devices.
6. Save the settings if you have that option. Some require you to do this before the changes take effect. Now I like to reboot the router to force all of the changes to take effect.
7. Now your NB should see the new SSID when it scans. Paste the key when prompted and your good to go.

If every thing is working, I like loging in the router again, and migrate to the admin section (maybe called something different). There should be a section where you can save your configuration settings. I do this encase your forced to restore the router back to factory settings.

 

okay i followed the steps that you provided and everything seems to be working on my laptop now but now i cant seem to connect with my desktop. it shows the network but when i try to connect to it, i get an error saying i cant connect. am i missing something?

 

I'm starting to get frusturated about this whole thing now... so I thought making static ips might help with the situation. my desktop and laptop both have the same subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS. the only things that are different is the last set of number in my IP address. This didn't fix anything. The thing is i'm not sure why it's doing this because i live with my two brothers and one of them is running a desktop wireless and the other one is running a lenovo wireless and i was running a desktop wireless and we have a ps3 running on wireless too. Everything worked fine up until i got my dv5t, whenever i connect my dv5t it causes my modem/router to reset about every 5-10minutes. anyone have any ideas?

 

If you setup the wireless as WPA2, does your desktop card support it?

You said the router is rebooting every 5-10min this indicates that it has a problem not your dv5t. Make sure you have the latest firmware in the router. You way want to reset the router back to factory settings and go through the setup process again. If that does not work I would also contact Linksys and get a replacement. It almost sounds like the router can not handle the load.

 

I'm thinking the router isn't handing out enough IP Addresses. So you will need to log into the router and check the DHCP Scope/IP Range and give it an extra scope for the new laptop/user. Example of what i'm talking about attached. You might be limiting the max. amount of users.....

 

Verify that your desktop support WPA2. You can download the Windows XP WPA2 update, if you need it:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...4D-E7C1-48D6-95EE-1459234F4483&displaylang=en