Cannot connect to my new wireless network. ?

Question

So I just bought the Linksys WRT160N wireless router and I hooked it up and ran the install cd. Everything went fine, I set up a wireless network and everything the install cd told me to do and it was great. Now for some odd reason I cannot connect to my wireless network with my laptop or my PC. My laptop can find the network and will try to connect but all it does is sit there and say "acquiring the network address" forever and never do anything else. Then my PC which is in the next room can't find my wireless network, although I think it is because I am using an older Netgear USB wireless G adapter and I don't think it can pick up the new wireless N routers although I will still be using wireless G. My Wii can hook up to my network wirelessly just fine and my Xbox 360 is wired so I just plugged it in and it works fine. Somebody help please.

Answer 1

Your wireless N router will work fine with wireless G and B adapters, so you should be OK with the computer in the other room.

I am guessing the encryption key you typed in while configuring the router doesn't match what you are typing in to connect.  That's the most common reason.

Could also be you have turned on MAC address filtering and you haven't added the MAC addresses of yor computers into the allowed list.

I'm pretty sure it's the encryption key - make sure you are not using the silly passphrase thing to generate a key.  Use Hex notation - any combination of 0-9 and a-f in a string of 10 characters.  For example:

12345abcde

or

4d5a2fee21

Sometimes the router and the adapter don't agree on the format of the key.  Entering it in Hex in both places eliminates that problem.

Good luck!  

Answer 2

1) Make sure you have the router set so that it accepts G connections.

2) Did you set a password in the router?  If you did, and it's not usable by the laptop (like WPA2 in the router, and the laptop is only capable of WEP), you'll get the "infinitely seeking Susan ... er ... connection" problem.

Don't know why the desktop can't find the signal if the laptop can, unless there's something also wrong with the desktop.  Unless the signal is weak, and the desktop is looking at the router through a large appliance (refrigerator, stove) which would weaken the signal enough that it can't see it.  Or you have the antenna on the desktop pointed at the router (that's the weakest direction - you want the sides of the antenna pointing at the router, and at least one of the router antennas' sides pointing to the computers.)  (Look, in your mind, directly from the desktop antenna to the router antenna - any large metal in the path?  If so, move something.)