Every evening I get on my laptop and surf. Then I go to bed and don't touch the laptop (or desktop) until I get home from work the next evening. Well, when I go to get on the internet the next day, the laptop connects to the network fine, but can't find any internet pages. Page not found, page not found. I have to unplug the router and plug it back in, then everything works fine again. I have to do this every evening.

Any advice?

sounds like it's having a problem renewing the IP address.

Have you tried renewing the IP on the laptop before rebooting the router?

* Start|Run to open the Run prompt
* cmd (or command) to open a Command Prompt
* ipconfig /release in the command prompt
* ipconfig /renew in the command prompt

Also try flushing the laptop's DNS cache
* ipconfig /flushdns (I think, I'm on my Mac right now and can't try to make sure I got it 100% right)

If rebooting the router works, and the laptop can connect to the router, try rebooting it from the web admin interface. At least that way you don't need to go to the router.
* http://192.168.0.1 OR http://192.168.1.1 are the most used addresses

If she is in fact accessing the network, obviously the laptop has a valid IP. The problem must lie with the IP assigned by the ISP. Either they change it periodically or the router is somehow dropping it. Not sure how to walk through fixing that, but I'm pretty sure that's the direction to look in.

does anyone else use your internet, if your router needs to be rebooted, it sounds like a router problem. that happens to many routers when they overheat or get overused. netgear routers are renowned for such problems. my belkin does it every so often when i download too much. linksys on the other hand i heard aren't having these problems.

//krunk (^_^x)

To me it sounds like the laptop is not renewing the IP address when it comes out of hibernation. Because you don't turn the laptop off it eventually hibernates (or goes into standby mode). When it wakes up it has the same IP address as before, but it's probably not listed in the router's routing table, so you can't get anywhere on the Internet. Rebooting the router forces all connected IP devices to renew IP addresses, including the laptop.

What I would do is click on the wireless icon in the system tray and reconnect to the wireless network. This will force the notebook to renew the IP address.

Let's get some date
Open a dos window. (run -->cmd) and type ipconfig

Report back what IP address you get
Also, access the web admin page of your router

If you have get no IP address or a 169 local address, then likely your router's DHCP server is locking up. To be sure, in the dos window, type ipconfig /renew. If that gets a you a new IP address, the problem is in your laptop. Otherwise, download and install the latest version of the firmware for the router. If that doesn't solve it, replace the router

If you can acccess the router web admin page of your router, the check the WAN IP address. Use the web admin page to renew the IP address. If that doesn't work, replace the router

It happens even when I turn the laptop off. Also, I have tried to repair the network connection from the task bar, but it usually doesn't work. And when I'm having this problem, my Axim won't connect either, so it's not just the laptop.

It's just kind of a bummer to have to run upstairs and reboot the router. Should I take it back?

Also, do you have a wirelss phone nearby the router? What frequency is it? Sometimes it will force the router to reboot causing the dropped connection.

Interesting. My wireless router drops all day long but our phone is 5.8GHz
there's a VOIP phone near the routers themselves, but that also is a 5.8GHz.

It's like, if the router doesn't think I'm typing for 3 minutes, it drops off. Then when I move the mouse it "wakes up" and reconnects.

no wireless phone near the router.

What brand & model router do you have?

What kind of broadband connection do you have: Cable, DSL, FIOS, etc.?

if you have a small table fan, try blowing the router 24/7. it helps with the overheating issue, if it is indeed a overheating issue. i'm surprise no one else hear has suggested that being the issue.

//krunk (^_^x)

Still don't have this data to work with. This will help us isolate. Otherwise we are all guessing.

Also, please report back if you have DSL. If so, is the router set to logon and is keep alive turned on

Thank you all for your replies. I haven't checked the thread in a few days.

It's a brand new NetGear, and I have SBC DSL.

Now that I'm paying closer attention over the past few days, I found that it does not happen EVERY day, but happens intermittenly. Sometimes not at all, and sometimes it might drop out twice in one evening.

I have found the solution though. I showed my 7 year old how to reboot the router, and I make HER run upstairs and do it when needed...

It is clearly an issue with the router. Make sure that the router is set to "keep alive" the DSL. (I am assuming your PPPoE logon is done by the router)

If that doesn't solve the problem, you have a hardware failure in the router. It needs to be replaced

it'll be the 3rd time I say this, but netgear is renown for overheating. even when i placed it in an open area where it wasn't cramped, it ended up overheating. if you look up netgear forums, this issue is quite well known.

i've actually gone through the trouble of attaching a 80mm fan on it so it blows on it 24/7 and i haven't seen the problem since:

http://photobucket.com/albums/y292/krunkpb1/netgear%20fan/

//krunk (^_^x)