Laptop has stopped connecting to wireless network

[dr b]

I have a Dell laptop running Windows 7, and a Linksys router for wireless access. Everything was fine until about a week ago (by which I mean the laptop would detect the wireless signal and connect to the internet when I turned it on).

Now, the laptop detects the signal (signal strength is excellent) but says "no internet access." The DSL modem and router seem to be working fine, since other devices (e-reader, daughter's laptop) have no issues.

The standard advice on most forums seems to be to turn off the modem and router, wait, turn on the modem and then turn on the router. On the rare occasion when this has happened in the past, that worked (however in those cases it was a household-wide problem, not just my laptop). This time 'power cycling' has not worked. All other advice on tech forums that I have seen is too tech-y for me to understand.

When I run diagnostics on the laptop, all it can come back with is that there's something wrong with my modem, but since all other household devices are connecting OK that does not seem like the answer.

All suggestions welcomed, the less tech-y the better.

[rojash]

The most likely cause (as it is connecting and showing good signal strength) is that it has forgotten the password to log on to your wifi.

[dr b]

The password is there; I even re-entered it for good measure. Same problem exists. Thanks for the thought.

[tamborine]

Check 'File' of your ISP, is Work Offline ticked ? Untick it.

[dr b]

Sorry, there is nothing labelled 'work offline' that is ticked.

[tamborine]

What ISP are you using ?

[factor-fiction]

I once couldn't get my laptop to connect to the wireless network for a few hours- then I pressed my function F2 button (which has a little transmitter picture on it) and the connection came back. I must have pressed it by accident earlier to cause the problem.
I don't know if that's relevant here

[sunny-dave]

1. Try connecting your laptop to the router with a lan cable - if you get internet access then it narrows down the problem to your wifi connection.

2. Right click on the icon for internet access in your task bar.

3. Open network and sharing center

4. Click on manage wireless networks.

5. Delete all the listed connections - or at least the one for your home router.

6. Restart the laptop

7. You should see 'wireless networks available' if you hover over the wifi symbol in your task bar.

8. Click on the symbol and input password etc - configure the network as a 'Home' connection.

9. I hope this has cured it ...

dave

[dr b]

I did try the F2 button; hitting it kills the connection to the wireless network. But, I seem to have a connection to the network, I just do not have internet access via the network.

I assumed that I would still be able to print from the laptop to the network's printer, but the printer status from the laptop reads "HP deskjet F4200 series on THEPC - Offline" and it will not send the print job to the printer. This, despite not having anything checked (that I can find) that indicates that I should be offline. Hmmmm...

[dr b]

that was response to factor; trying dave's fix now...

[dr b]

deleting and re-adding the connection did not work; however I did not try step 1 since that would require digging up passwords etc for a modem I installed 10 years ago; so I will try to do that when I have more time. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[rojash]

"however I did not try step 1 since that would require digging up passwords etc for a modem I installed 10 years ago"
No it wouldn't , it would simply connect you direct to the router through your network card, instead of via wifi.

[dr b]

Problem solved. I took the laptop in to work today and could not connect to the wireless network there either. Had one of the techs work on it, and after some futzing around he tried a system restore to a date prior to the onset of the problem. There was a Microsoft critical update that was installed recently; he believes that update went wrong somehow, perhaps by being interrupted in midstream. (not overly precise, I know). At any rate all is now well. Thanks for all suggestions anyway.