Help with Netgear Router (Says Automatic)

Desperado · #1 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 02:05 PM

Hi I was wondering you somebody could offer me some help on my wireless network, the problem is pretty simple. The wireless network works fine with no problems for majority of the day, however 3-4 times a day im facing problems. The problem is that my laptops cannot connect to the wireless network, when double clicking on the wireless network icon on the toolbar the window which appears says ‘automatic’ where it should say ’connected’. A print screen of this can be seen below:

http://i19.tinypic.com/66bh0l2.jpg

The only way this problem gets solved is by taking the power cable out of the back of the router waiting for a few seconds and then putting the cable back into the router. I know some may say why don’t I just do this, however the problem is that the wireless router is located two houses away and I don’t have the key to the room where the router is kept, it gets opened about 6, so all day up until 6 I have no access to the router. I have gone other ways if doing this by cutting the whole electricity to the house but again this is not good as other appliances in the house shouldn’t be turned off. Is there a simpler way to basically turn the power on and off to the router from my laptop? Why does it do it?

Its a Netgear router, connected to a NIC card in a computer, the computer and the laptops are running XP, however 1 laptop is on Vista.

Thanks

porengo · #2 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007, 06:58 PM

Three to four times a day...hmmm.

Are there any other wireless networks near you? If so, then the problem may be due to co-channel interference. This is caused by a near by router being on the same channel as the Netgear you're using. A fix for this would be to change channels on your Netgear.

Some old Bluetooth devices can also cause problems with interference if being used near a wireless device.

If you have to keep resetting the router then the cause could be power related. It could be noise or it could be a spike from a high voltage device on the same circuit as your router. Keep track of when the router acts up, then be aware of what's happened around you when the problem occurs. If it's a power problem you can use a different power outlet or use a line conditioner which would protect against spikes, brown outs, and noise on your line.