Wierd problem with router

I have a Netgear router, and until recently I have been having connection problems. This morning I was unable to connect to the router at all, while my iPod Touch was able to use the internet with no problems. My network was hidden so I went to the router settings on my iPod's browser and changed it from hidden to allow broadcasting SSID. That fixed the problem for a few hours until I closed the lid of my laptop and put it to sleep. When I woke the laptop up, I was unable to connect again. So this time I took off the security (WPA) and was able to connect again.

But when I try to put the security back on, my laptop won't connect. I tried both WEP and WPA and both of them my laptop won't connect to both of them. Whats wrong with my router? I feel like my computer is now unsafe because I can't put a password on it.

And by the way, my iPod Touch can connect wireless to no matter how I put the settings on the router and so can the desktop that is connected directly to the router.

 

^^^ I would recommend putting all security back on the router first, then delete the wireless network connection in question (see initial answer if your need details)
Windows 7 Wireless networking - keeps returning profiles I delete - Microsoft Answers

Then set up the network 'fresh'

GKDesigns, sorry to repeat what U said in other words, I did not see your post when i started
Great tip in your signatire RE: VBull... I need all the help I can get on DSL!

 

Note that any cracking tool like aircrackng will see the non-broadcast SSID as soon as any member of the network uses it, so turning off SSID doesn't really do anything for security. anyone deft enough to crack you network with SSID turned on is deft enough to crack it with SSID turned off. The only reason to turn it off is if you have an unsecured network and you want to keep the neighborhood from piling on.

 

My router doesn't have the WPA2 + AES encryption, it has WEP and WPA-PSK. Would WPA-PSK be enough? And I also heard that hiding your network would have no effect against someone trying to break in, but I like to have it off to a little more secure lol.

 

I find it odd how you have this problem and have an HP notebook simply because the same thing happened to me. In my house, there were three notebooks using the same wireless network. One Gateway MD2614u, an HP dv9000, and an Acer. When I first got the router, I set up security but the dv9000 wouldn't connect where the Gateway and Acer would. So I change the security settings and the HP would connect but the Gateway and Acer wouldn't. In the end, I simply disabled wireless security and turned off SSID broadcast. My recommendation would be to reset the router and attempt to run the setup utility for the router itself from the included software. If that fails, try replacing the router.

 

I tried changing the settings to WPA encryption on the desktop, and now its working again! I'll try updating the firmware later today to see if I get updated security options. Does it matter that the router is nearly 5 years old?

 

What's the router's model number and firmware version?

 

Netgear WGR614 v6 firmware version V2.0.19_1.0.19NA

 

You already have the most recent firmware version.
BTW you should consider upgrading this router in the near future especially if you have a half-decent Internet connection.

While Broadcom BCM5352 200 or 216MHz may be enough (although barely), 8MB RAM on any router these days is not enough even for normal usage let alone VoIP, gaming or P2P.

 

Thanks for checking that for me. I had a feeling my router was becoming outdated since I bought it a long time ago.

What do you mean half-decent internet connection? I have Verizon as my ISP and on a SpeedTest i get 2.52 Mbps download speed, 0.70 Mbps upload speed, and 38 ms ping (tested wirelessly from laptop). I know this is not the best but is this half-decent? I game on this and other things are fine too.

 

No- actually that's not what I meant. Your connection is rather slow so the router should be able to pull through.
By half-decent I meant something like 8-12mbps.

My personal standards are based on ADSL connections as most people seem to be suing them and max speeds ADSL2+ is capable of achieving is 24mbps (in reality probably 20mbps).
That's why half-decent ended up half way

Anyway- it's fine for now but if you decide to upgrade your connection you're going to have to upgrade the router too.

 

That kind of speed is expensive in my area, for me at least. The current one I have now is enough me right now.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

I just had the same problem last night. My laptop was unable to connect while everyone else in my house could. I had to set the connection type to open then back to secured with WPA on the desktop again just so my laptop could connect again. Am I going to have to keep doing this when my laptop can't connect?

And if it helps, it only seems to happen when I wake up my laptop from sleep. Could this be an issue?

 

If it happens only then, it's not router related but driver related. Make sure that your driver's are up to date.

 

How many household users? How big is the dhcp pool on the router?

 

Now it seems to have fixed it self. I updated the drivers for my wireless and it still wasn't working. Later on in the day it started working.

At that time that it happened, my phone and iPod touch were able to connect (no one else was using it). Usually there are 1-3 people daily using it. I'm not sure on the dhcp pool on the router though.

 

well, go check the size of the dhcp pool.

If you have a small number set, and the other users have grabbed their addresses, no more will be allowed.......