A lost IP address: how to get router to let me back in

Hi there!

My wife and I are wirelessly connected to a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router that is then hooked into our Verizon DSL modem. It's a password-protected connection so that everyone in our neighborhood isn't getting free DSL service. Now, the router and modem are in another room away from our two desktops. Last week, my wife's PC was mysteriously dropped from the router. In other words, when I try to connect to the 'net, I can't.

When I hover the cursor over the network connection on the taskbar of her machine, it says 'Little or no connectivity' and displays the exclamation point on the yellow triangle. Her computer can see the network just fine and in fact, the signal strength is shown as 'excellent' or 'very good'. I've tried disabling the connection and then repairing it through Windows XP, but halfway through the process, it cancels and a message appears on her screening telling me that the IP address cannot be renewed.

When I had a tech from Linksys help me set up the router last summer, I never wrote down the password or 10-digit security key (yeah, I know not too bright). I spoke to another tech this past weekend and he told me that the only way to fix this problem is to do a hard connect into the modem and router itself, reset the thing and start from scratch. Yikes.

Is there a somewhat quicker fix than this or is taking one of our PC's into the next room, connecting it directly to the router and setting up the thing (MAC Address Clone, WEP, etc.) aaaaaaaaaaaall over again the only solution? I genuinely feel as if I've locked my keys in the car given the fact that I don't remember the password or that 10-digit number. And I somehow knew not writing down those critical tidbits was gonna come back and bite me in the you know.

Worst case scenario is that I do what the Linksys tech told me to do and rebuild the connections. I wrote down all the instructions to the letter. As you can tell, I don't exactly have my 3rd degree black belt in computer tech, although I'd like to think of myself as a little more experienced than the average e-shopper. A little, not a lot.

Thanks!

 

I'm sure you already tried this: but have you hit the reset button on the router? You usually need a paper clip to push it in and hold it for about 15-20 seconds..... then wait about 3-5 minutes, then run the connection repair again.
NOTE: this will revert your router back to 'out-of-the-box' status and the WEP key will be gone, but you can set that up again no sweat. You may have to reboot the PC's after running the repair but it should work.... if not, follow the tech's info... good luck!

hd2k

 

Thanks for the speedy reply, hd2k. In essence, what the tech at Linksys suggested I do is pretty much in line with your recommendation: reset the wireless router to "out-of-the-box" status and start from the ground floor. That's alright. I figured that the only viable solution would be to erase the current setup and start anew. And besides, this way I'll know what the 10-digit security key will be as well as the new password because this time, I'll write 'em down.

Your suggestion is exactly what the tech told me to do: hold the 'reset' button for about 30 seconds and wait for 2-3 minutes. I printed out the tech's directions. Would you take a look and make sure I've got it all correct before I unplug everything and hit the 'nuke' button?

 

Yes those instructions are correct and should work for you.

 

I'm not real sure what your asking, but here are some tips:
if you goto Start >Run >type CMD <enter> then ipconfig /all
the IP listed under Gateway is the IP of the router (usually).. so if you launch
your browser and type that ip say 192.168.1.1 you'll get a logon prompt. Can't recall Linksys defaults, try admin / admin ,admin /password or admin and leave the password blank.

If you think you need the WEP key back run this on your PC, then you can reconnect the wife's.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html

I am guessing you've reset the router a few times already & she cannot get in.. I think if you pull the power and hold the reset button in while plugging it back in & holding it for 5 more seconds then release it may reset the router.

 

I have to say, even tho this is from several years ago....THANK YOU! I spent over an hour on the phone with the AT&T tech with this exact problem (who even consulted their 'expert' to no avail). And then I spent about 4 hours additional trying to resolve. Only once I reset my router (AT&T supplied) per your posting did this solve the problem. You would think they would have had me do this first on the list (it could have been misleading to them because 3 other computers were successfully connected). What a waste of time but I'm glad I was able to find this and that it worked, what a simple solution. Normally I am very happy with AT&T but this is one strike! Again, thank you!