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I have been using Windows 7 with a BT Voyager wireless adapter to connect to my home wireless network for around the last 6 months or so and until recently have experienced no problems. However, over the last couple of days Windows has been unable to connect to the network and the network name is no longer visible in the list of available wireless networks. The only way I have got round the problem is to reboot the NetGear router and to change the SSID to a network name which has not already been used.

I do not believe the problem is with the router as my mobile phone can connect to it without any problems. The BT Voyager wireless adapter detects all other available networks so I presume this is a Windows 7 issue as it seems to occur when the PC is rebooted. This problen has happened twice in the last 2 days and is becoming extremely annoying. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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    Welcome to SO. This question is not programming related and will soon be moved to SO's sister site, superuser.com. Have you tried using a different machine to see whether the network is not visible at all to any device? Can you try changing the channel, maybe another, stronger device has set up shop close by and is interfering with yours?
    – Pekka
    Mar 21, 2010 at 12:51
  • this is a question for superuser.com Mar 21, 2010 at 12:51

2 Answers 2

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Could be many things.

Is your mobile phone able to connect to the router from the same distance as the PC? Perhaps someone nearby has recently set up a router on the same channel, and this is causing interference.
Solution: Change the channel on the router

Are you still using the default wireless password? BT routers have previously been subject to attacks where the number of possible passwords is reduced by examining the SSID, which is generated together with the password.
Solution: Change the password and SSID of the router to something new. Use a strong password

Are you using WEP? Don't.
Solution: Switch to WPA2

Is the router broadcasting SSID? If it is not it will not show up in the list of available networks.
Solution: Add the network details to windows manually

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  • Although the wireless network could not be automatically detected the problem was resolved by entering the network details manually. Thanks for your help on this!
    – user31963
    Mar 22, 2010 at 17:44
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it is one of windows 7 updates issues that has been eliminated in windows 8 and Microsoft has kept it under radar. install commview for wifi software and run it for scan networks around you. after finding your wifi close the program and you will see your ssid on the list

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