Network not working

[wrfbpw]

I set up a wireless network a couple months ago and now it's not working. First I thought it was the router because from a laptop it would frequently disconnect and be unable to find the network. Right now I'm plugged in directly to the modem from my laptop and it works but disconnects often. The modem send light will stop blinking and I have to reset it and go for another 20 minutes or a few hours. Also, when I plug the modem to the router and my laptop to the router I can't connect. Sometimes I can but it disconnects often when it does work, which is not often. There's three laptops in this house and one PC and it does the same thing with all of them. I've tried using different cables but it doesn't work.

We're all running XP, I'm using SP 2 and I think but am not sure that everyone else is as well. The router is a Netgear wireless router. I'm dedicating today to figure out what the problem is so any help or suggestions is very appreciated. I'm willing to run any tests you suggest. The network is for a small home business so it's kind of important I get this working.

As I was typing this it disconnected and I have to reset again.

[wrfbpw]

COUNTRY: US
ISP: Brighthouse Cable
EXPECTED UP/DOWNSTREAM SPEED: Unsure
MODEM: Webstar DPX2203C Series by Scientific Atlanta
ROUTER: Netgear 54 Mbps Wireless Router WGR614 v6
CONNECTION: Wired and wireless
ENCRYTION: None
COMPUTERS:
Laptops:
Dell Latitude C610 --XP Pro SP 2, no wireless
Gateway (Unsure of exact model. It's a new one, with internal wireless.)
Toshiba Satellite (Unsure of exact model; older, not too old, it's a P4. Using an Intellinet wireless card.)
PC:
Emachines T6000 --no wireless
We're all using XP, I'm not sure what version the others are using.

BROWSERS:
Dell - Firefox
Gateway - AOL
Toshiba - Firefox
Emachines - IE, AOL

SYMPTOMS:
Internet goes on and off. The wireless rarely works at all. When things start and stop working it's for no reason. No settings or anything have changed, it just stops working or suddenly starts working. The best results are when plugged directly to the modem via CAT5 cable, then it works then stops then works after I reset. The send light will stop blinking and then nothing works.
When connected to the router it works much less if at all. I got all of it working a few months ago, and everything worked great. Recently the Toshiba wouldn't connect and sitting next to the router I can see the network and try to connect. It tries for a while and then stops and never connects. Then I try to connect again and I can't see the network. After refreshing many times I was finally able to see it again and try to connect but fail. I repeated this for over an hour then it worked for an hour then stopped. Last night I reset the router and everything worked for a few hours then everything stopped including the non-wireless connections.


ERROR MESSAGES:
None. Internet just stops working. When connected to the router via CAT5 cable or wireless after the send light on the modem stops blinking and I reconnect I get this:
You might not be able to access the Internet or some network resources. This problem occurred because the network did not assign a networkaddress to the computer.
All the computers get the same message after they try reconnecting.


Right now I'm just trying to get the Dell to work when directly plugged into the modem. Then I'll get the the Dell working when connected to the router via CAT5, then everything wirelessly.
For now I'm using IE while trying to get everything working so I can run the tests and everything without any browser problems.


COMMAND TESTS:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew>ping 216.109.112.135

Pinging 216.109.112.135 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=53
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=54
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=54
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=40ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 216.109.112.135:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 39ms, Maximum = 40ms, Average = 39ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew>ping yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [66.94.234.13] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=107ms TTL=50
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=108ms TTL=50
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=101ms TTL=51
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=107ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 66.94.234.13:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 101ms, Maximum = 108ms, Average = 105ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew>nbtstat -n

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [97.101.32.57] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
L <00> UNIQUE Registered
L <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : l
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : cfl.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : cfl.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet
Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-56-7A-C7-CA
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 97.101.32.57
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.240.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 97.101.32.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.214.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 65.32.5.111
65.32.5.112
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 25, 2008 3:22:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, April 26, 2008 3:22:30 AM

C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew>

[johnwill]

This clearly sounds like a modem or ISP issue. The fact that removing the router didn't solve anything seems to eliminate the router. The fact that all the machines are experiencing the issue seems to eliminate your computer. You're left with the modem and the ISP.