My wireless connection is not working. It was working several hours ago. At that time, I initiated shutdown of my computer, and in the process, an error message popped up. Before I could read it, the computer gave a long beep, and then shutdown prematurely.

Now, there is a yellow triangle with exclamation point on my wireless connection icon. Indicating limited or no connectivity. My signal strength is strong.

When I try to repair by clicking on the icon, the support tab, and the repair button, I get the following error message -- "Windows cannot finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Renewing IP address."

When I try ipconfig /renew -- "An error occurred while renewing interface Wireless Network Connection : unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out."

The problem does not appear to be with the modem or the router, as the computer I am currently using is working fine.

I have powered everything down, then restarted, to no avail. The computer with the problem is a Dell Latitude C640, running WindowsXP. I have a cable modem, a Linksys router, and an external D-link Airplus wireless card. I'm not very tech savvy, so may need some fairly explicit instructions if you can help. Thanks!

I'm assuming you are communicating via "wired" at this time. How long have you had the wireless connection?

Usually, if you have a conflict with your IP addresses you won't be able to connect to your WAP (Wireless Access Point) which is your router.

Are there other WAPS in the area? If so, you might have to change your starting local IP address to something that is not conflicting with another wireless network. If it's a Linksys router, you can access the software by typing in 192.168.1.1 into a browser.

Then change the "Starting IP Address" to something other than 192.168.1.1 to maybe 192.168.200.1. Accept the changes, reboot the computer and see if you can connect.

"How long have I had the wireless connection?"
It is not new. We've had this cable modem and router set up for 4 years. Previous problems have generally been solved by powering down and restarting. (Is that what you were asking?).

"Are there other WAPS in the area? " Curiously, when I view wireless networks, I see the linksys and another one, "Jamie", which I had never seen before. I am working at home. Am I seeing a neighbor's wireless? Both my network enabled and the disable laptops see Jamie. I gather you think Jamie could be interfering with my one laptop. Can you tell me more explicitly what I would need to do to change my IP address to test it?

If you haven't changed anything on your router, you should be able to login to it by:

1. Enter 192.168.1.1 in the address bar of your favorite browser (hopefully Firefox) If the Linksys authentication box did NOT appear, then you have changed this address. Stop here and reboot your router and make sure your wireless card is seated correctly on your PC.
2. Use the default sign in credentials (blank for userid and "admin" for password) Unless you've changed it in the past that is.
3. In the "Local IP address" entry, change it to something like 192.168.200.1 and click on "save settings".
4. Reboot your laptop / PC.

This will allow your router to start issuing IP address starting with 192.168.200.1. This way you could not interfere with another Linksys in the area.

If this doesn't work, then perhaps your wireless card has reached it's lifecycle. You can test this by trying to login with another wireless PC.

Goodluck