Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with internet and wireless

How can I tell if someone is trying to hop onto my wireless signal?

invisible ink — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:46:16 -0800

I have a MacBook Pro running OS 10.6.1, and an Airport Extreme Base Station. Is there a user-friendly way to see if someone is trying to use my internet connection or hack into my network? I live in a large apartment building, and am curious to see if anyone has tried to hop onto my wireless signal. Thanks in advance:-)

Who has Clear WiMax?

falconred — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:52:18 -0800

Is the new-fangled Clear WiMax low latency enough for gaming? Clear WiMax has come to my town and is attractively priced compared to my current cable provider.

My only hesitation is latency issues. Searching Google, there is conflicting information regarding whether Clear's latency is better or worse than a cable internet connection. I do a lot of online gaming so latency is a big deal. With high latency, starvosthewonderchicken might finally be able to kick my butt in TF2, and that would make me sad.

I know I can go "test drive" Clear before I buy, but I wanted to know if anyone here has real life experience using Clear WiMax?

How to separate open wifi from wired network.

Jackie_Treehorn — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:37:12 -0800

How can I offer guests in my home or business wifi that is separate from my home or business network? I'd like to be able to easily offer guests in my home or business free, unsecured wireless access, but at the same time not allow them access to my other wired or secured wireless network.

How would I do that?

Thank you!

Why-Fi?

Rhaomi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:17:19 -0800

What's killing my wi-fi connection? The last few days I've been having some odd problems with my wireless network. I'll be browsing on my laptop when all of a sudden things get really slow, as if I lost the connection. But instead of being sent to "This page is not available" or "server not found" pages like when there really is no connection, I just get stuck loading forever. So if I open a tab and go to Google, it will sit and load saying "Waiting for www.google.com" in the status bar for a minute or two, then eventually say "Done" -- even though the only thing that has loaded is a completely blank tab (even the source code of the page is empty) with the raw URL in the title bar.

But throughout all this, there's no indication that I've lost my connection. The wifi icon in the system tray doesn't change, and says I'm connected if I hover over it. When I open up the Command Prompt and enter ipconfig /all, it says all my internet connection stats are normal. The subnet mask, DHCP server, DNS, etc. are all there. The IP address doesn't start with 169. It's all okay.

Weirdest of all, despite the fact that I can see that all the connection info is normal, if I enter my router's IP address into the address bar (which usually takes me to the router's settings page), it just does the same thing. Load... load... load... blank tab. I understand not being able to connect to the internet, but if I can see all my connection and router info in Command Prompt, why can't I connect to the same router with my browser?

The only way to fix it, I've found, is to disconnect from the wireless network and reconnect. It'll then work fine for anywhere from one minute to fifteen, at which point the connection drops again. This is only affecting my laptop, by the way -- iPods and other laptops connect fine.

I've tried restarting my computer, restarting the router, and repairing the connection -- nothing works. It seems that getting closer to the router improves things, but I'm not sure since the problem comes and goes randomly. And besides, the router is in the same place as it's always been, so unless it's suddenly lost broadcasting power I don't see what would cause the problem. And in the "View Wireless Networks" window, it says the network has an Excellent signal when I'm not connected (though that decreases a bar or two once I do).

The only incident I can think of is that a power surge recently burnt out the power supply, and I had to buy a universal one with an adapter to get the router up and running again. But this was a week or two before the trouble started, so that's probably not the source.

Is there anything that would cause a wireless router to lose signal strength like that? Is there something I can do to fix it, or should I just spring for a new one?

Details: I have a Dell laptop running Windows XP SP3. I have a Bellsouth Fast Access DSL internet connection. The router is a 2Wire HomePortal 1700HW. The loading problem happens on Firefox, Chrome, and IE7.

One more detail I remembered: For awhile when the problem first started, ipconfig /all was giving me some weird info. For instance, it said that the "lease" for the connection expired one second after it was obtained. But it's not doing that anymore.

I just want the damned router to work.

ocherdraco — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:41:39 -0800

Is my wireless router dead? If not, how do I fix it? The details, as I understand them:

I'm on a Mac. I have cable internet via TimeWarner, and an RCA Cable Modem. When I plug the ethernet cable from this modem directly into my computer, I am able to access the internet. When it is plugged into the wireless router, I am not.

Currently, on my wireless router (Netgear WGR614 v7), when the ethernet cable from the modem is plugged into it, the only light that turns on is the power light, and, of course, the network does not appear in the list of available networks. I have tried: unplugging and replugging the ethernet cable, unplugging and replugging the power cord. No change. The Netgear website infuriatingly refers me to the user manual to "troubleshoot the light status," and the user manual just tells me to turn it off and on again, with no indication of what to do if that doesn't work.

I have, over the past several days, had increasingly spotty wireless, and last night, the signal was dropping every minute or so, but when it was there, it was as strong as normal.

Is there anything I can do, or must I just go buy a new one?

Off Grid Internet

Jsn7821 — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:22:51 -0800

What is the best way to get internet when I am living off-grid? I will be moving north of Hilo (Big Island, Hawaii) in a few weeks, and I want to set something up so I can access internet while I am out there.

I know Verizon has a USB plug-in for $60 a month - which is pretty steep, and I just heard there is a (1GB?) monthly data transfer limit before they start charging extra. I will be doing a virtual-PC thing from my netbook (over the internet, I use GoToMyPC), which I imagine takes up quite a bit of bandwidth.

The guy down the road has cable internet. He has something set up like a sattelite dish aimed at someone down the hill, who agreed to share their connection with him. I wonder if I could then beam his connection over to me? He's about a half mile to a mile away from where I will be, and I don't think there is a straight visible path - nor how to set up something like that.

I'm just looking for ideas and options to look into.

Oh - also - multiple computer capability would be very ideal. I don't know if Verizon can do that.

Experience with Sprint / Nextel MiFi?

bamassippi — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:04:59 -0800

Experience with Sprint / Nextel MiFi? Moving into an area of Seattle with a cable/Internet provider with a poor reputation and performance. My wife and I are considering the MiFi 2200. We both work from home and I wanted to ask the MeFi-ers first to see if anyone has had any experience with this device/service.

We need something that can handle everything from running reports through VPNs, to watching videos, to downloading large files. What should we need to know (or be concerned) about? How does it compare to a top-of-the-line high-speed broadband service?

Apple Airport Extreme or Express?

invisible ink — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:13:34 -0800

What is the difference between an Apple Airport Express Base Station, and an Airport Extreme Base Station? I have a tiny 500-square foot apartment. All I want is to be able to surf the web wirelessly. Can I go with the cheaper Express Base Station? Why is one cheaper than the other (in other words, what can the Extreme do that the Express cannot)?

Help me get our Internet devices back on speaking terms.

synecdoche — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:40:54 -0800

We have a US Robotics wireless router (USR5461) and a cable modem provided to us by our Internet provider (Rogers, in Ontario--it is a labeled as "WebStar" and "Scientific American"). They don't seem to be on speaking terms however. How can we get our wireless connection back? For the last several days, we have been unable to connect to the Internet in our apartment. We have the aforementioned router and modem, and can connect to each independently, but they don't seem to be working together. I can get to the router's configuration web page, and can connect to the network using Airport. Also, if I use a cable and plug in directly to the modem, I can get online just fine.

This has been happening off and on for the last several months, but now it seems to be constant. Sometimes I can get a few minutes of connectivity if I unplug every cord going into every device (the power cords, the ethernet cord, the cord that goes to the cable outlet) but it never lasts long.

Also, this is happening with the two computers my partner and I have--both are Macbooks but of different generations.

Any ideas as to how to fix this? It seems to me that everything is working fine except for the part where they are supposed to talk to each other and has me wondering if there's some sort of bad connection inside the router. The little light on the router that is supposed to indicate internet connectivity won't come on, either. I am really hoping we won't have to replace this router as it is only a year or so old.

Help me connect!

scarylarry — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:02:01 -0800

Help me connect to my girlfriend's wireless network! My lovely girlfriend has a closed wireless network set up at her house (it requires a WPA2 Personal password to access and it's hidden from Airport's network scan). I have the network name and the password, and I've joined through Airport. I get full bars, but no actual internet connectivity whatsoever.

Neither my girlfriend nor I are particularly computer-savvy. We're not sure if maybe she needs to give my computer special permission from hers, or what. I don't know if this matters, but we both use Macbook Pros--she's running Leopard and I'm running Tiger.

Thanks so much.

WiFi Filter

bad grammar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:33:40 -0800

Is there a scammy catch or otherwise bad deal to Starbucks' free WiFi through the Starbucks card and AT&T? Don't whale away at Starbucks and their corporate fascism and terrible coffee, please; I am taking an online class at my regular university and have to get online through the day. I registered by Starbucks card for 2 hours of free WiFi access at Washington, D.C. area Starbucks locations. As for why not the public library, the National Mall, etc. it is 90+ hot and I am carrying a laptop, which I used to access (not a smartphone) and books.

I realize that I've let myself in for a deluge of promotional e-mail from both companies, but have I let myself in for anything worse? Will AT&T send me bills?

I logged on at the Starbucks at 1502 Dupont Circle and then the AT&T link dropped out and I was unable to log out. I logged back on but the AT&T sign-in screen did not come back up. Will I be penalized for not logging out? I was able to log on and log out properly at another location. There were very many competing wireless links at the Dupont Circle location.

Laptop connects to wireless network but not to internet

criticalbill — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:50:55 -0800

Laptop (running Vista) connects to home wireless network full strength but not to internet. The other laptop (OS X) connects to internet wirelessly no problem. The Vista laptop can connect the internet via ethernet cable. This seems to be a common problem but i cannot find an appropriate solution The Vista laptop is not new, but it is new to my house; it connected to a wireless network previously.

Things I have discovered while looking through replies to similar questions: The Vista laptop has been assigned the correct IP number (which has a different last digit to the OS X one). DHCP is enabled. Node type is Hybrid. The wireless adapter driver is working. When I try to ipconfig /release it tells me: The requested operation requires elevation.

How can I maximize my laptop's ability to pick up wireless signal?

btkuhn — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:25:00 -0800

How can I maximize my laptop's ability to pick up wireless signal? Hi everyone,

I don't have regular internet access at the moment because I am traveling and staying at a (crappy) hotel for 2-3 months. Dialup is not an option because of the way the hotel's phones are set up - they are digital and I wold get charged for making calls anyways. My hotel doesn't have wireless internet but a nearby apartment complex does. I can just barely connect to their network on a good day, but it cuts in and out because I am on the outer bounds of the network. I have permission to use the wireless network, but I am just barely out of range. What is the best way to strengthen things on my end?

I have already borrowed a friend's Wireless USB network adapter - the one pictured here - which is about as strong as a wireless card you can buy, but it doesn't seem to pick up signal much better. I am reading stuff about making a coffee can directional antenna or pringles can antenna, but these would both involve building something, which I don't really have the tools for at my current location. Also, I don't understand how I would connect the antenna to the computer itself anyways. My laptop has an internal wireless antenna (like most laptops) with no external connector, and the Belkin doesn't have an external connector either.

So, what is the best way to expand my wireless pickup ability? I am willing to purchase additional products if necessary.

Thanks!

Cheap smartphone that will make Skype calls over Wi-Fi?

redteam — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:28:02 -0800

Can anyone recommend a cheap smartphone that can make Skype calls over Wi-Fi? I don't want to use the smartphone on the cell phone network (though I might if I can get a cheap one that will work with AT&T). I just want one that will be able to make and receive Skype calls over my home and office wifi networks. I would prefer that the phone actually run Skype's official software, and not some alternative. Basically, I want a cheaper alternative to one of those Belkin or Netgear wifi phones.

The Skype calls must be able to use the phone's built in microphone and speaker - like a normal phone call. I mention this because some of these phones will run Skype but only with a headset or only over the speakerphone or some nonsense.

I will try and find any recommended phones on Craigslist in Los Angeles, if that matters.

Why will Airport recognize but not connect to an open wireless network?

lxs — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:19:31 -0800

Why will Airport recognize an open network but no longer connect to it? For the past 9 months, I've been connecting to my school's open wireless network with Airport on my Macbook. Last week, my connection dropped and I haven't been able to reconnect since. The network shows up on the Airport menu, but I get a connection timeout when I try to use it. I haven't made any changes or updates lately, so I do not think that is the cause. Airport turns on, and works with all networks but this one. In the advanced preferences section there is nothing under TCP/IP, DNS, or any other tab--although admittedly I have little idea what those numbers mean. I've tried restarting and renewing the DHCP lease, but this hasn't worked. My IT department has given up on the issue (thanks, guys). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

DSL in two locations with one line.

CliffDiving44 — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:22:29 -0800

Questions about dual modem/router connections on one dsl line. Some friends and I are trying to get wireless and wired internet in an office away from the house, where the modem and router currently are. This office has phone jacks, and has been previously used with a modem and router to hook up to the internet. My question is, with the dsl connection that my friend has, would it be viable to hook up the phone jack in here to a separate modem, and that to a separate router, and have internet in both the house and the office? Or would I we have to purchase another phone line for a separate dsl connection for the office? Of course, another option is running an ethernet cable out here to the office, but that would be a lot of work and not the first option we would like to choose. Thank you for the answers!

Macbook wireless signal appearing and disappearing at random, wtf is going on?

Happy Dave — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:16:40 -0800

Mac, wireless, bizarre behaviour. I share a wireless connection with other people, and every two or three days the connection on my Macbook does this very odd thing. Okay, so this is a bit of an odd one, with some strange wrinkles that may or may not matter. Here's the deal:

- I live in a small, close-knit community in South London. One of the guys here used to work for a local council as a flash developer, so his flat is wired for corporate grade broadband. Being the all-around great guy he is, he's daisy-chained a load of wireless routers together through the shared loft space of the building we live in, and for the princely sum of £20 a year, I get 8Mb (or better sometimes) broadband. I know, right?

- The router that I use, No 3, has had it's fair share of problems. It kept crashing or disappearing from our router lists (there are a good half dozen routers, some belonging to the communal system, some to individual flats). The guy who runs the system replaced this router with a new one, and gave us a USB stick with the new WPA key on it.

- I entered this WPA key on my Macbook, my wife's iBook G4 and my xBox 360. Both the iBook and the 360 now connect fine, rock solid connection with no problems.

- Here's where it gets weird. Everything worked fine on my Macbook for a few days, then one day I closed it to go and do something else. When I came back, I was still apparently connected, but couldn't get any pages to open. Then I noticed the wireless signal would appear, full bars, for 3 or 4 seconds, then disappear (no bars or one bar then no bars) for 5 or 6 seconds, then reappear. Pinging google.com or any other site through Terminal got a 'no internet connection' message.

- Here's where it get weirder. I've tried a bunch of things to fix this intermittent and incredibly irritating problem:
* Removing Router3 from my list in the Network Preference pane, then re-adding it
* Deleting my 'login' keychain to remove the WPA key, then re-adding it
* Trashing the preference file for Internet Connection

Sometimes, after doing all of these things and restarting, I'll get a strong connection back (usually 4 bars). Sometimes, it won't work. And sometimes, it seems not to work, but I close the laptop in annoyance and, when I come back to it the next morning, it's working fine.

This is driving me up the wall. I can't restart the router because I don't have physical or wireless access to it, and the fact that all the other internet-connected things in my house are working fine with it points to that not being the problem. I think I maybe have a corrupt or unneccessary keychain file somewhere that is pointing to the old WPA key for the previous router (there's a WPA key for Router3 in the 'System' keychain that I can't delete or otherwise remove).

What on earth is going on here?

Why does my Airport connection drop every evening at the same time?

meerkatty — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:41:43 -0800

Every night this week my Macbook has stopped connecting to my Airport. Why? How can I fix this? Original Airport base station, circa 2002. Macbook.

Never had a problem with this equipment and have been using this same Airport in this same apartment for seven years. Now this week my connection to the Airport stops working around the same time every evening but resumes working a few hours later. Not an internet problem as I can connect via cable.

What's going on? And you should talk to me like I'm complete idiot. I can work computers by plugging them in and that's about it.

Wire(less) me up, Scotty!

cachondeo45 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:20:19 -0800

Wireless Filter: Internet is free in my apartment complex but our connection is crap. Help! Quick facts:

-13 unit (old) complex
-we are on the third floor
-the wireless router is on the first floor of the back apartments, so we get spotty internet only in the back part of our apartment, and absolutely nothing on the front end.
-landlord says it is a Gateway 2Wire either 100 ft or 150 ft.
-service is from SBC, which the landlord pays.
-the wireless is WEP protected and all tenants have the password.
-(i don't know if this matters but) I have a PC and my roommate has a mac.

He said he'll do whatever it takes to get us better service. So what does it take? Just a stronger router that goes the distance? I think he is illegally distributing the wireless among all of the apartments, and is unwilling to call SBC but he says if we find a solution, he'd see to it that it gets purchased / installed.

Please, oh techie mefites with great and powerful knowledge, help us!!!!

Local Apache server + public wireless = problem?

oulipian — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 11:41:26 -0800

I have a new EeePC 1000HE with Windows XP, which I want to use for both web development and casual web browsing. Are there security issues with installing Apache and PHP on a machine that is also used to access public wireless internet? If so, what steps can I take to make my netbook more secure?

Why can't I use the internet despite my router telling me I can?

tumples — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:02:22 -0800

Please help me get my internet back! My computer is showing it is connected to the router and the internet, and it says it is in the router logs and through its updater, but I cannot load any webpages or use anything needing anything the internet. My router suddenly broke this afternoon during normal internet surfing. One minute it was fine, the next no pages would load despite the network icon in my system tray telling me it was both connected to the network with the blue circle indicating the internet still being available. I can connect the computer to the cable modem and the internet works fine (how I am sending this).

I have tried so many methods to try to work out why it has done this including the usual full power restarts including cable modem and computer, unpluggin and replugging everything. I have loaded up two different firmware versions but still no change. Sometimes the router has problems establishing the dhcp server and obtaining the IP address and dns servers from my isp Virgin Media.

The frustrating thing is that I know the internet works fine, and all of the settings look as they should, especially since I have reentered most of them today. When I click on the button on the router software to look for firmware updates, it is able to check and give me results as well as the working option to download it, which it did albeit very very slowly.

Does anyone have any idea how to solve this infuriating problem? All the lights and signals are on for me being connected to the internet, but it just wont work!

My router is a Dlink DIR-655, I am using an Acer laptop on Vista.

Ping yes, ftp yes, http no.

sleevener — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:12:22 -0800

I can ping, I can ftp, I can do dns lookups, but I can't display web pages or anything else involving http, and I don't know what to do about it. I have a Lenovo T-61 laptop (I think), Linksys WRT54G router, and DSL modem provided by Verizon. A few days ago my browser stopped loading pages. Not dropping the connection, just apparently refusing (or not receiving) any incoming packets. My wife's laptop, connected to the router by wire, is fine. I tried connecting by wire as well: no luck. I also tried connecting at a local internet cafe, and the results were the same.

The weird thing is that I can successfully ping, do dns lookups, and ftp. But browsers won't display any web pages. I can telnet to outside sites, but not receive any responses when I ask for a page. I can't even get a response from the router when I put "192.168.x.x" in the address bar. It waits and waits for a response that never comes.

A computery friend says that it's as though I have a firewall-like bit of software that's blocking any activity on Port 80. I've turned off every firewall I know about. I've cycled the power on the modem and router plenty of times. I've disabled and reenabled both the wireless and wired connections in XP. I don't know what to do next.

There's a probably separate problem, which is that I can no longer connect wirelessly at home. Because I am a doofus, I disconnected from it, to try to "refresh" the connection, without remembering that I don't know the password for logging back in. I connected to the wireless at the cafe, and did some pings and ftp, so this seems like a separate problem, offered here only by way of confession of doofusness and repentance for same, in hopes that some divine malice may be placated.

Unfortunately for all of us, my education in computers comes the hard way, ie, usually through situations like this, where something isn't working right: thanks in advance for your help and instruction.

Why can't we connect wirelessly?

mai — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:29:34 -0800

Why can't we connect wirelessly to the internet? We have comcast cable internet and a netgear router and fourteen computers, 13 of which connect wirelessly and one of which uses a wired ethernet connection.

Our internet connection stopped working (possibly because the modem was fried by a lightning strike near us?). None of the lights on the modem would go on, so Comcast told us to bring it in and get a new one.

After replacing the modem, the situation is this:
1. If I am wired directly to the modem, I can connect to the internet.
I am on a Mac.
2. My roommate tried to connect directly to the modem running Linux and could not get internet.
3. The router is broadcasting wireless signal. We can all connect to it and can see each other. But, when the router is connected to the modem, there is no internet coming through the pipes.
4. I tried connecting to the router and having it search for firmware updates, and it can't see the internet at all.
5. I tried the whole reset rigamarole (of router, of modem, of everything), it did not help.

So, is our router broken? Is there something else going on?
I am not super knowledgeable about computers. I usually solve problems by googling for info and bumbling about until something works. Detailed, action-oriented explainations are appreciated.

How to get internet service for an office in a location without wired broadband capability?

Outis — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:41:53 -0800

What is the best way to get broadband internet to a warehouse with offices that isn't capable of it via landlines? My dad bought a building for his company to relocate to (in Northern Virginia) and while it's a great building in a great location, internet is difficult to obtain there. Verizon is the phone company and the only form of internet they provide is a T1 line, no DSL or Fios. The T1 line is a fortune (not to mention overkill) and my dad's not looking at spending 4 times more than he is with Cox at his current location. Been speaking with Cox and they want into the new building's area badly, since they'd pull in all of Verizon's T1 customers, but the permits are constantly being upheld since it's an I-5 zoning with dangerous things.

Is it possible/feasible to get a Sprint Broadband card and connect it to an office router for use of 6 computers? The only internet used is e-mail, the Nextel website to send texts out to the technicians, and the GPS website to determine location of vehicles. The office network is self-sufficient so the important stuff is on the server in the building. However, it does back itself up via the internet nightly but that can be done in house.

My dad's desperate to move in the next two weeks. Verizon went back and forth saying they had DSL and didn't and Cox was hoping to but not able to provide at the moment. Frankly, he can't stand Verizon and the run around they give on the phone and they're telling him he has to get a T1 line and it'll be a month before they install it.

Satellite has been brought up, but the guy that deals with his IT isn't a fan of reliability.

Or, does someone have a better suggestion?

Cable internet + secure wireless network = outer ring of hell

johnofjack — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:49:37 -0800

I have a problems connecting to my wireless network, on one computer only. Other networks work for this computer. Other computers work on this network. Long & convoluted one here, so I'll try to be brief.

New internet: Cox Cable (switched over from DSL). Wireless network with a password required and WPA-Personal encryption. Linksys wireless router (WRT54GS v7). Linksys wireless card (WMP54GS). Windows 2000.

After much futzing about yesterday, I found that I had to clone the MAC address off my 10/100 card to the router so that the other computers in the apartment could access the internet. So I did, and they could, but now I can't--at least, not when connecting to the network wirelessly.

The message I usually get is "You are connected to the access point, but the internet cannot be found." Except I doubt that I am, because I usually can't go to the router's setup screen (except when I can). And I usually can't access my own computer by internal IP (except when I can).

BUT sometimes, after several tries, that very same password that I've been putting in will finally work and I'll be both on the network and allowed to use the internet. When this happens, the internet connection will be incredibly slow. I mean "timeouts on google.com and a half-dozen forced relaods before it finally loads" slow. But only for me--all the other computers on the network (macs, OS X) can authenticate with these same details and load things blazingly fast.

And sometimes I can't associate with my wireless network at all.

The complications / puzzling bits:
I can log on to my neighbor's open wireless and there is no problem whatsoever. Everything loads and it loads quickly. But I don't want to leech his bandwidth and I don't want to do anything like banking on an unsecured network.

I can run a 10/100 cable to the modem directly and everything works.

I can run a 10/100 cable to the router directly, disable the wireless card, and wait a bit, and everything works.

I've read all sorts of speculation about what the cause might be, and tried the solutions, but so far none of them work.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled my firewall.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled my wireless card.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the software managing the wireless connection.

I've power-cycled the router and modem, turned them back on and set all the details up again from scratch.

I've uninstalled my TCP/IP whatsit and reinstalled it.

I knew that several of those were almost certainly not the cause of the problem because I can log on to my neighbor's network and go anywhere online, quickly.

So, dear AskMe: why won't my wireless card talk to my router?