Topic awaiting preservation: Problems with a wireless network

My father and I are putting together a wireless network for home use and we ran into a few problems. We purchased:

- LINKSYS Wireless - G Broadband Router w/ SpeedBooster
- Wireless - G Notebook Adapter w/ SpeedBooster

We have three computers and a printer we're trying to add to this network. The hardware is as followed:

- SONY Vaio desktop
- older (3-4 years) Dell Inspiron laptop
- brand new Apple Powerbook (bought today) w/ built in AirPort card
- HP Photosmart 7760 (connected to the desktop via USB)

We followed the instructions in first installing the software on the desktop. We then connected the router to the cable modem and tested that out. No problems. I then set up the printer for sharing and created a network disk or whatever it had me do. We then installed the softare on the laptop (DELL) and plugged in the notebook adapter. Problems. Although the icon in the lower right corner tell us both signal & quality are "Excellent (100%)" when I click either Internet Explorer or Firefox it doesn't work. When I right mouse click the icon and choose "Open Configuration Utility" I'm told "You are connected to the access point, but the Internet cannot be found". Connecting via the Powerbook isn't any more successful. When I choose Network Preferences I'm told "AirPort is turned on but is not connected to a network."

Does anyone know why off the top of their head this should happen and what steps I can take to fix it? I'm almost positive my father's partner bought the identical hardware for his home network. I'm debating about calling him but we'd like to give it an honest shot before we call.

Any help would be great
Thanks

Jim

(Edited by Jimmy on 03-22-2005 03:50)

Maybe I should tell you some things about the router ...

On the front it has:

Power, DMZ, WLAN, 1, 2, 3, 4, Internet

The following are lit up:

Power, WLAN, 1

Internet is blinking very fast, almost steady.

There's nothing abnormal about my cable modem. Its a Motorola SB4200 SURFboard Cable Modem. Power, Receive, Send, and Online all have solid green lights. Activity has an orange light.

Jim

(Edited by Jimmy on 03-22-2005 03:47)

Well, we gave in and called LINKSYS tech support. I spoke to an absolutely *AMAZING* tech! He walked me through in configurating everything - including my Apple. Does anyone have any experience with their tech support? I'm curious if they're usually that good.

Anyway, I'm a LINKSYS customer for life!

Jim

Might as well tell us what went wrong...

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Yes, LinkSys' tech support is fantastic, mainly becuase who you're actually calling are Cisco


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