My laptop won't connect to our network.

The other devices all connect just fine. I thought it might've been due to malware, but after some time spent on the malware removal board, my laptop appears to be clean.

My 64-bit system is running Vista sp2. We have a cable modem attached to an AirPort Extreme which seem to be doing what they're supposed to do. I can't connect wirelessly or via a network cable straight out of the cable modem.

I had originally thought my connection got hijacked, but the scans turned out clean. Not sure what to do next. I would really appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks!

 

Just as an update, I did take my laptop somewhere else and try to connect to their wifi but got the same error there.

Also, I was able to plug into the cable modem and get a connection once but have not had any success connecting that way after that. As much as I hated to do it because it's such a huge pain in the backside, I did reset the APX to factory defaults, but it only served to mess up the connection of every other device in the house.

What processes do the cable port (the ~wired~ network port, I mean ... not necessarily cable) and [the wireless] network adapter have in common in making a connection? Whatever it is, it seems like that's where the problem lies since the same error - "Windows did not receive any response from the wireless router or access point.")

Thanks for whatever help you can give me.

 

When you connected the laptop directly to the Cable Modem, did you restart the Cable Modem, including removing any backup batteries if it has them. If not, you would not have Internet access because the CM wont recognize the MAC address of the laptop until you clear the MAC from the APX by powering the CM off.

How many devices total are you running off the APX? You may just need to add to the number of available leases in the DHCP server. Both wired and wireless connections all get their IP address from the APX DHCP server. If there are, say, 10 leases available and you have 11 devices connected, one of them will not get an address until one of the other devices is disconnected AND the IP lease it was using expires.

 

Okay, well I had tried unplugging the modem, etc., and it didn't work before. This time, I unplugged it, plugged the network cable into my laptop, plugged the modem back in, turned it on, waited until it was connected to the 'net, and then booted up my laptop. That seemed to do it, though I thought I had done that a couple of times before. Yay!! Thanks!

The DHCP beginning address ends with 1, and the ending address ends with 200. Am I in the right place?

 

Sorry, I don't understand what your asking here.

There is no real need to be secretive about the internal IP addresses. They won't jeopardize your security. They are probably something like 192.168.0.xxx or 192.168.1.xxx. They are part of a reserved IP range that is used for internal networks.

 

I meant that the last digits of each number (xxx above) were 2 and 200. It says
"DHCP Beginning Address: 10.0.1.2
DHCP Ending Address: 10.0.1.200.

Does that mean there's a potential for 200 devices to obtain access (not necessarily at the same time)?

Thanks for addressing the security issue. That's why I didn't post the whole thing.

 

The 10.xx.xx.xx is also reserved for internal networks.

The addresses you posted would indicate a potential for 198 possible connections. That's a LOT for a residential connection. There may also be a setting for the maximum number of leases that may better define the number of connections available at any given time.