I began having trouble with my Internet access right after I installed
a D-Link 802.11g wireless router (model DI-524) on my eMachines S1940
computer. When it's working properly there appears to be no impact on
the speed of my cable Internet connection, and the router works
properly with the laptop.

However, after any period of inactivity on the desktop I will no
longer be able to send or receive any information to the Internet.
This may be after going into hibernation or just letting it sit
inactive for some period of time. When I come back and try to get
online, I'll get a message in the bottom bar of Firebird saying it is
trying to "resolve" the address I'm trying to go to. In Explorer, it
says it is searching for that website, to no avail. Any other program
that tries to access the Internet will just tell me it can't.

If I close the browser and relaunch it, sometimes that will fix the
problem. Or else I'll try it several times and give up to reboot the
computer. It always works fine after rebooting.

I think this has something to do with the IP address, but I have no
idea if that's correct and what to do about it in any case. I
appreciate any help with a  solution. Thanks!

Computer specs:
AMD Athlon XP processor
256 MB RAM
40 GB hard drive

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Clarification of Question by mevans426-ga on 04 Dec 2004 05:25 PST

I just noticed something else that may or may not be a helpful clue.
If I leave a browser window open during the time that the computer is
idle, when I come back it will still be able to access pages from
domains it accessed while it was in use before, but not any new
domains. If I then close that browser window, I have to go through the
restarting/rebooting thing to get anyplace.

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Request for Question Clarification by endo-ga on 04 Dec 2004 06:58 PST

Hi,

Have you tried another network card or other drivers for your network card?
I had a similar problem, where my connection would just drop. Changing
network cards fixed the problem.

Make sure you have the latest firmware for your router:

DI-524 AirPlus G High Speed 2.4GHz (802.11g) Wireless Router
http://www.dlink.com/products/support.asp?pid=316&sec=0#firmware

Please let me know if any of this helps.

Thanks.
endo

mevans426-

I was having the exact same problem, but I think I have fixed it. 
Here's how I'd describe my problem and how I fixed it and maybe this
will help you.

I have the D-Link DI-524 router hooked into cable internet service. 
From the router, I have one hard-wired desktop computer with a 10/100
card that never had a connectivity problem.  Then across the
apartment, I have another desktop that connects to the router
wirelessly with a D-Link PCI wireless card.  With this wireless
connection, it used to loose the connection often.  It was only about
30 feet away, so it should never drop it.  Both when connected and not
connected, the computer (WinXP Pro) said it had at least very good
signal strength.  I thought the router might be bad, so I bought an
identical one from Best Buy and I had the same result.  So I bought an
antenna power booster for the router - still no improvement (the one I
bought is +15 dB - where most are like +4 or +6).  On a whim, I
changed the wireless PCI card in the wireless computer from the D-Link
to one I had sitting around and its great now!  I have left the
computer on for days with this replacement card, and the wireless
connection is always there when I want it.

I have been pretty dissatisfied with D-Link's equipment, and this is
the last D-Link products I will own.  So try another wireless card in
your desktop computer and hopefully you'll have the same results.

Thanks for that comment, but if I'm reading you right that's a
different problem, since in my case the computer that is connected
wirelessly (a laptop) never has a problem, but rather it's the
hard-wired desktop. So I doubt replacing the wireless card would have
any impact, since the problem is the same whether that laptop is
connected or not.

I am happy to blame D-Link, though! They swore to me that it wasn't
their fault, that it was something in the hardware, but I find that
hard to believe.

I've had a similar problem with a Dell Inspiron 600m (Intel
Centrino-based) and a Linksys WAP-11 access point. After a certain
period of wireless activity (the period changes, so it's hard to nail
down), DNS queries will start failing to resolve when I tried to
browse a site (ie: slashdot.org will suddenly no longer exist).
However, if I drop down to a command prompt and do a manual lookup for
the site I'm trying to hit (ie: nslookup slashdot.org), it resolves
just fine.

The "cure" in my case is to take down and then restore the wireless
link. However, this is not a permanent fix and the problem will come
back.

Running off the wired ethernet link never exhibits this problem. I'm
thinking it may be a problem within Windows when on a wireless link,
as it occurs to all apps at the same time, and only when on wireless.