Need help !!

[SEADOG2]

hello ,my wireless connection consists of a Netgear router and a belkin wireless adapter 802.11 . I tend to lose internet whenever I try to install my printer , or even plug it into the pc for that matter. It seems to blow my ip address out of the water.Once again I have no internet connection and tech support is stumped. Exactly how do I assign a new ip address? I checked last night and there was no ip address apparent on the pc. The pc also says the signal strength on the wireless adapter is very good , yet it does not detect the network connection. I do have a green light on the adapter. One other thing , tech support at belkin says the manufacturer of my pc should have shipped me an ethernet card that I am supposed to be useing. What is an ethernet card and why do I need it for an internet connection? My connection worked for a while without one of these cards so I am now confused. This is a desktop pc , fyi .

[yawningdog]

Explain the setup of your wireless NIC.

[bassman]

tech support at belkin says the manufacturer of my pc should have shipped me an ethernet card
Think about the quality of the product when the tech support tells you to use someone else's product.:confused: An ethernet card would be a card installed in a slot on the motherboard so that you could plug a cable into it from your router. This would be a wired connection. If you were to do that, it would negate the need for the Belkin wireless adapter ;)
I'm affraid Belkin has made a bit of a name for themselves as unreliable products and support. Netgear, in my honest opinion is OK, but can have more issues then Linksys.

The IP is assigned to the NIC itself. You would need to look in the adapters properties to see the IP.

[PrntRhd]

I tend to lose internet whenever I try to install my printer , or even plug it into the pc for that matter. It seems to blow my ip address out of the water.
Yes, whenever you remove a wireless adapter it wipes out the IP setup and you have to go through connection setup again.
This can also occur when you plug in a USB printer since both are USB-based devices, and USB is a serial communication method. Plugging in the printer will interrupt the USB wireless and the connection gets hosed.
Belkin is suggesting a PCI card that does not use the USB, when you plug in the printer the USB will not affect the communication. You can install an Ethernet card for wired communication, you can also plug in a PCI wireless adapter card, or you can install the Ethernet card and plug in a wireless bridge device to locate the antenna in a more desirable location near the PC.

I checked last night and there was no ip address apparent on the pc.
Your router usually assigns a pool IP address automatically (DHCP). If you lost the wireless adapter settings there will be no IP address assigned in the PC anymore. You can check this by going to Start>Run>cmd (and enter)>IPCONFIG (and enter). I would suspect an IP would show 169.xxx.xxx.xxx if no IP is assigned.

[yawningdog]

The nature of my question was this. Some wireless adaptors plug into the USB port, as do most printers nowadays. If the printer draws too much current, the USB host may not be able to supply enough current to support both devices. (I could swear this question is on the A+ exam) If you're using a USB hosted NIC then that may be your problem.

[SEADOG2]

Well we've had so many issues with losing connection with the wireless setup , we decided to have the cable company come in and put a second wall jack in so we could have a non-wireless connection upstairs. Thanks all for your feedback!!