I bought a new computer which has Vista and a wireless modem. It worked perfectly until 3 months ago when every 1-2 days the Internet and Email will suddenly stop working and give error message such as page cannot be displayed.

But I can ping, the network and sharing centre still says I am connected, including the little 2 computer icons at the bottom right and says I have an excellent signal etc, I can still use my laptop via the same modem at this time. The only way to fix it is to restart my computer. When having this problem, my laptop can see my computer but my computer can't see my laptop.

I contacted my ISP who said they can't help me as it can't be a modem problem. I contacted Dell who told me it looks like it is a software problem (which I don't have warrenty for) but put me through to a Dell software guy as a good will gesture who told me the modem is hanging and to switch the computer off at night but this didn't work.

I reinstalled my modem drivers twice. I uninstalled my anti-virus (which does give me other problems). I also reinstalled Vista (I didn't reformat - just replaced the Vista files). I also tried turning my modem off at night and resetting my modem when the problem occurred. I clicked the diagnose and repair button which tells me either there is nothing wrong or it pinged but did not receive a response (even though I did). Sometimes it said trying to repair but couldn't or removing the malfuncting network component.

I didn't know whether the problem might have had something to do with the Wireless Network Connection Properties? I just noticed when I have the connection problem the Uninstall button for the Link-Layer Topology etc and Qos Package is greyed out, but when the connection is ok, it isn't greyed out but I have no knowledge about how they work or whether they could be the problem.

A TCP/IP address is obtained automatically and the DNS is Automatic from ISP. I have WPA2 security and password protected. When the problem occurs I also can't get into the modem router page (http://192.168.2.1) etc either.

Thanks

Sarah

Evening Sarah,

Are you only getting these problems on Internet Explorer?

Dazza

Hi Dazza

I have tried Netscape and Firefox and my FTP but none will work when I have the problem.

Thanks

Sarah

Do you by any chance have that McAfee suite on it?

For how long does this issue last?
What do you do to bring it back?
How often does it happen?

This will help me answer your problem.

here are a few things you should try, power down the modem, power down the router. unplug the Ethernet cable between he the modem and the router. Then in this order power up the modem, Wait 5 min. then power up the router wait 3 min. During this time you should get a message on you Pc that a network cable is unplugged. then connect the Ethernet cable between the router and the modem. message should go away and the computer acquire a new ip address.

As a quick tip which everyone missed here.

- Update the firmware of the wireless router.
- Update any patches or driver updates related to your wireless card.

Hmm. updating firmware isn't always a good thing. I think it is best left as a last resort. Drivers are a go though.

I had CA Anti-virus which just recently expired so I have completely uninstalled it. I did once scan my computer from my laptop which had McFee on it and I got the blue screen of death (not sure if it was a coincindent or not) but I think it was quite a while beforehand.

Hi

The problem occurs every 2 days or so. The only way to fix it is to restart my computer which completely fixes the problem.

I have a wireless modem/router - I have tried turning it off (but probably no longer than a minute (and resetting it). And uninstalling and reinstalling my modem drivers.

Normally when I have the problem, it still tells me I am connected to the Internet. If I then switch off my modem and turn it back on, it will then say can't connect to Internet and I will still try the usual things to get it back on but nothing works but turning my computer off.