Broken Dongle ?

[Scarlett]

My PC is rubbish and old, and frequently loses internet connect. I disconnected the dongle as this sometimes sorts it, but now when I plug it back in, rather than going bom-bom (a high and a low bom!) it now just gives two low boms (!) and it is cold rather than warm. Has it died? I've unplugged the modem and re-plugged it back in but still no internet. I can't get it on my iphone either so the problem is with the general wifi not just my pc.
Any ideas what I can do?

[Peter Pedant]

o my god your dongle's drooped ? terrible

[hc4361]

If it is your wifi that is the problem it seems that your dongle hasn't died.

Have you tried rebooting the modem/router? Switch it off, wait a few minutes, switch back on

[Scarlett]

Yes I unplugged the modem at the wall for a minute then plugged it back in - nothing

[hc4361]

What modem is it? Are the lights flashing as they should?

[Scarlett]

Good question- not sure which lights should do what :/

[Scarlett]

Okay the power is on, Ethernet is off, wireless blinks on and off regularly, broadband is on and internet flickers

[hc4361]

Who is your internet service provider?

[Scarlett]

Plusnet. The internet light flashes then goes red then goes off. Repeats this

[hc4361]

There seems to be 'known issues' with Plusnet

http://www.plus.net/supportpages.html?a=2

[Scarlett]

Yes I did see that but they say they are doing maintenance overnight not all day. I tried phoning them but there's a 45 min wait! Not doing that on an 0845 number!

[CrapAtCryptics]

It couldnt hurt to update all your drivers including the dongle regardless how old your machine is.