Laptop no longer recognizes my router

Hello,

I'm hoping someone here has run into this before. I've checked older posts and don't see anything similar.

I have a personal Dell laptop running Windows 7. I have been connected to the internet via a router since I purchased it in January -- no problems. A few weeks ago I brought my laptop to a hotel (in Budapest, if that makes a difference), connected to the internet via broadband, and since I returned home the laptop can no longer locate the home router. It picks up internet transmissions from several nearby apartments, but it can't find mine. My father, who stayed at the same hotel, brought his laptop over and he's now having the exact same problem.

I've tried setting it up as a new network, re-entered the SSID and Key, and it says it can't locate it.

Clearly the router itself is working as I'm using it right now to connect with my desktop (via a WLAN USB port).

It seems like this should be an easy fix, but I can't figure it out. Dell's diagnostic tools have failed to locate a solution. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Have you attempted to restart the router?

 

I'm not up on Win7 but I had a client with a similar problem. It turned out to be the Windows firewall. For some reason it decided their specific router was a security risk. I had to make some changes in the firewall configuration to get it back on. I'm still running XP so I don't remember exactly what the changes were. I stumbled on the solution by turning the firewall off and was then able to connect.

 

Thanks, all.

Yes, I've tried re-setting the router a number of times to no effect.

I checked the Windows firewall and disabled it then restarted the computer and attempted, once again, to set up the network. It still can't seem to find a signal from the router.

Any other ideas?

Thanks again!

 

Did you take TimW's advice?