Wireless Network Connectivity Question

Are you using Windows? Is it set up to try to always connect to the network with the strongest signal? What you should do - if you're on Windows XP - is go to the properties dialog of your wireless adapter, click on the "Wireless Networks" tab, and make sure that your own network is listed at the top of the "Preferred Networks" list.

I think the IP addresses are static, but I'll doublecheck. (Stupid question: does the ACCESS POINT have an IP address?)

Or am I doing something wrong?

There's also the chance, if you can actually ESTABLISH the connection, but not actually do anything with it, that you are simply finding other people's wireless-enabled notebooks and making a direct connection to them, instead of to an access point.

There's no pop-up message, and this is the first I'm hearing of an encryption key. I should take the thing to a coffee shop and see if it works there.

Maybe I should clarify. It connects just fine, searches for things, sends packets, but receives none and so times out.

Any help on getting a laptop to even see a wireless network? My desktop sees our network with a very good signal, and occasionally sees one or two other networks. The laptop can't see our network at all, but can see four or five others, with very weak signals. SSID is broadcasting (but it doesn't work when I input the details manually anyway).

Fixed it by changing the wireless channel; why that should have such a radical effect (from no signal to great signal), or why it didn't come up as a solution when googling, i dunno.

I've had nothing but strange unexplained problems with wireless connections, so now I connect directly and I've accepted the huge cable running down my stairs and through the middle of my lounge.

ok, so my wireless connection is totally a-ok 90% of the time, but a couple of times per day it's started to randomly drop out completely for up to ten minutes at a time.

what happens is, the airport signal starts alternating between full bars and no bars, and i basically have to wait it out to get any signal again (and in the meantime any internet forms i've been working on die on me).

i have no idea why it's doing this and would like any tips on how to make it stop. i don't know whether it's my modem or my laptop or what (could it be the laptop? it's done it a couple of times when using the neighbours' connection too). but it is DOING MY FUCKING HEAD IN

can ANYONE help me with this? :(

Per a couple of remarks upthread, it would be well worth changing the wireless channel on yr router (if you've not done this already). If there's some new wifi device/point in the immediate locale it could be randomly fritzing the signal for both your router and yr neighbour's, so a channel change would be the first step.

Was really incredibly slow recently but the modem was four years old, which is around when they fail, as somebody pointed out on some thread recently, doesn't seem to be this one, so the guy just came and swapped it out and now it is fine.

Had been worried it was some Spotify BW vampire or something.