About a month ago i set up a wireless internet conection and network at home. I get my internet through AOL Broadband and use a Netgear DG834g wireless modem router (one of the few routers AOL supports).
After a lot of initial problems the system worked fine for about 3 weeks. Then suddenly the connection was lost whilst in use during the evening of last Bank Holiday Monday. No connection could be reestablished on either the Desktop or Laptop PC. Thinking it might be a problem with one of the computers I spent some considerable time checking and adjusting settings changng the firewall settings etc before contacting AOL. On their 'phone system was a recorded message saying there were technical problems in my area and to keep trying to reconnect, which I did to no avail.
After a few days of this i decided to contact AOL again and speak to a human being, who after a great rigmarole of details told me the same thing that there was a problem in the area, to keep trying and be patient. Not being totaly satisfied with this i decided to leave it a day then phone again, this time to complain about poor service etc and insist on some straight answers. Before I could do this however the saga took a different turn. A chance meeting with a chap who runs a local computer shop lead to at least a partial solution. His technician advised me to disconnect the wireless modem and reconnect the old AOL supplied BT modem, then try connecting to the internet. The thought was that if i could connect with another modem then there couldnt possibly be a 'local technical problem' preventing me connecting as AOL were trying to make out. I tried this and was able to connect almost straight away!
This is annoying since it appears that whils the router is working fine in itself (the home network still functioned whilst the internet was down), it will not work with AOL. That particular modem was bought especialy because it is one of the few that WILL work with AOL and be supported by them.
I now need to find a way of reestablihing the wireless internet connection. I guess it will be back to AOL for 'help' (ha!), unless anyone out there can offer any advice or help?
It may be possible (though undesirable due to the upheaval it will cause) that a change of ISP may be needed if i get no joy with AOL. Can anyone recommend a good alternative ISP that will provide a similar internet provision to AOL Broadband Gold?
Many thanks