Jakamo5

I run a Dell Inspiron 6000, Windows XP Home. I've always had an icon in the lower right called either "Local Area Network Connection - 100 Mbps" or Wireless Network Connection - 54 Mbps" depending on if I'm on ethernet or wireless. I don't keep both on.

Just recently, there randomly appeared a second icon in the lower right in combination with either of the either two. It's called "Internet Connection", sometimes is 100 Mbps and sometimes 10 Mbps. I've tried to get rid of it by using the setup network connection wizard and telling it that I connect through a network hub, blah blah, and basically telling it that my computer is NOT a gateway to the internet directly. This never works, never gets rid of the icon.

I can right click and disable the icon, both in control panel, and in the lower right taskbar. However, if I do this, the entire network, I'm talking about everyone's computers on the network, lose internet access. Upon further investigation, I've found that disabling the "Internet Connection" releases DHCP on the network. I then have to go into the network, 192.168.1.1 and renew the DHCP, or else no one can have internet access on the network.

Basically, I was sitting in class at college once... and I disabled the "internet connection" in the lower right, and half the building lost internet access. Mind you, I didn't have the router password.... yes, i had the WEP password to access the internet, but not the password to get into the router as an admin. So when they called tech support I had to raise my hand to tell them how to fix it, then they began asking me how i knew, and I said 'sorry my computer disabled it' and they took it as that i hacked in or something and disabled the internet, and i got in big trouble actually because they didn't believe my story.

Anyway, any help as to how to fix this would be greatly appreciated. Even if you don't know how to fix it, can you explain why my computer has the ability to disable a password protected network so easily?