Router

My son has a lap top and a pc. the pc is working fine but his laptop is no longer connected to his secure router. in one place i see his router listed and in another place, it is not. how can his pc be connected to his router but his laptop will only connect to insecure routers in the neighborhood. his pc has a receiver. not sure how all this works. any suggestions on what happened with his laptop and how i can fix it. many thanks!

 

Details are always important when trying to solve a problem especially when the person trying to help can't see the hardware.

I can only hazard a guess that the desktop is connected to the router by ethernet and the Laptop is trying to connect by wireless. If this is not not correct, please make us aware of the configuration.

The operating systems of the computers would be helpful along with the make and model of the router.

Please define what you mean by "his laptop is no longer connected to his secure router." What are you using to make it "secure"? By the wording I am concluding that this was working but doesn't work anymore.

I don't understand what you mean by "in one place i see his router listed and in another place, it is not." How are you trying to connect? Are you using the Windows zero config or the adapter manufacturers client software? Where are you seeing it and where are you not seeing it.

If both are connecting by wireless, the laptop has evidently lost it's encryption key or pass phrase.