I am really lost with a proble that I am having. I have a wireless network that only works sometimes and often not for very long. I have tried a number of things, but the problem persists. What appears central in the problem is that my computer cannot access my router some of the time. Here are the details:
I bought an apparently new Network Everywhere NWR04B router on ebay. It arrived wrapped and in the original box. I want to use this to set up an ad hoc network, as the router has an RJ45 internet connection and I only have dial up. I could not run the configuration program that came with it, because it wants to connect to the internet through the router, so I configured it manually. It took me a couple of days to get it to work, because I know nothing about networking. I am connecting my old IBM notebook computer to one of two desktop units. They are all on the same workgroup. The router would not always set the IP address to the range it needed, and I was finding that one or both of the IP addresses would default to a 169. public address. Finally, I set the router to manual IP addresses and set the desktop unit to 192.168.1.102 and the notebook to 192.168.1.101. both with a subset of 255.255.255.0. The default gateway is the routers IP address of 192.168.1.1 I had this all set up and it worked and then I lost connection, as always seems to be the case after a few minutes. I cannot access the routers setup program on a consistent basis (which is done by using IE - http://192.168.1.1/) Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't I have to shut off the computer, router or disconnect the cable, and this sometimes allows me in. Also, I can often get the other computer displayed on my network neighbourhood, but find that it is inaccessible. I refresh and it is still there and still inacessible. I wondered if this was a firewall issue and disabled my firewall. What is maddening is not that it doesn't work but that it works sometimes but it doesn't last. Anyone have any insight into this? I have tried a lot of things but it seems that when I cannot access my router using the http:// address for the router, it never works. I need the help of those who know what they are doing. Anyone got ANY ideas?

Additional Information:

I have found that, regardless of whether I use DTCP or static IP addresses, I can get a connection between the two computers if I disconnect the router power supply and cable, re-connect the power supply and wait for it to light the WLAN light (which sometimes goes out when it will not connect) then reconnect the RJ45 cable. Once I do that, I get a connection for several minutes. If I lose the connection, I can get it back for several more minutes if I disconnect the router and reconnect it again.

Check for firmware updates for your router and install them if any. Sounds like you have interference from other wireless hardware, such as microwave, (2.4GHz), cordless phones, (2.4GHz and 900 MHz), or a neighbor's wireless unit or hardware. Make sure the computer and router antennas are line-of-sight, but do not set up the computer directly under the access point or in a corner. Most antennas are omni-directional, and the computer will be lucky to connect if you are directly under it. Across the room is better, but line-of-sight, and make sure the monitor is not between the antennas. Building material will also cause wireless interference, such as computer in 1 room, access point in another or on another floor.

Good Luck and hope this helps.

Thanks. Here are some more facts that might assist. We do have a cordless phone on the main floor but I was in the same room as the router on the second floor. I live in the country and our nearest neighbour is a mile away. The microwave was not being used. Would interference cause the router to lose its default DHCP IP address of 192.168.1.1 and not be able to be located when its IP address was put into Internet Explorer on the same computer that is hooked to the router by the cable? I'm not sure as I don't know a lot about these things. I have found that resetting the router re-connected though.

Also, i was having the same problem both before and after I upgraded the firmware. Funny thing about the firmware was that I am sure it was a 2003 version before I updated from the Networks everywhere site, but it is now a 2002 version. I wondered if the version that came with the router had so many bugs that they rolled back the firmware.