Wireless not working - with NetGear or Billion router

We only use wireless on an iPad and two iPod Touches and occasionally on a Mac laptop. I have a WinXP desktop but on ethernet only without a wireless card, so that doesn't count.

Since about 10 days ago, we couldn't suddenly couldn't connect at all via wireless on the Mac laptop or any of the iPad/iPod devices and just kept getting a "unable to join the network" error. Thinking maybe the wireless part of the old NetGear DG834G router had broken down or something, I got a Billion 7800N router (with firmware 1.06c pre-installed), having read here how it's supposed to be the bee's knees even though I'm by no means a router "expert" and don't understand much of what some of you talk about , and installed it today.

But we still can't connect wirelessly... ethernet's fine on both the WinXP desktop and Mac laptop. The devices see the connection but the minute we try to connect, it still throws up a "unable to join the network" error.

I tried changing the channel from 11 to 1, made no difference.

I tried changing the security key from a WPA2 one to a WEP one, just to see. It worked. But I don't want to use the less secure WEP key. If the WPA2 key worked before, it should work OK now regardless of what router it is?

I tried contacting my ISP support, but they couldn't figure it out either - other than to suggest that the wireless card driver in the iPad needed updating!!! <slaps forehead>

Would anybody have any idea why we're having this problem, or if there's something else I should be doing to the Billion router as it has a "billion" more options than the NetGear one?

Delete the wireless credentials from those 4 devices and let them re-sense the wireless network and supply the credentials again.

Thanks. But, without intending to sound stupid, how do I delete the credentials from the iPad/iPods as the connection SSID keeps reappearing as a network to choose from?

Not familiar with iDevices but on Windows there is something called "Manage Wireless Networks" that allows removal of utilised networks and then re-sense it again. Must be something similar.

It seems to be all automatic on iDevices. There's nothing that allows manual removal of utilised networks... it just finds what's available and you choose your connection from the list of available networks - ie, local networks belonging to neighbours etc. Usually, once you've picked your network and have entered the password, it stays on that connection permanently. So when I changed the router from the Netgear to the Billion, the Netgear connection disappeared from the list of available networks and the Billion one appeared - as it was new, I had to enter the security key password.

When I first tried it yesterday, the iPad seemed to work - once only - with the WPA2 security key, then didn't work as I'd get that "unable to join the network" error. Tried it again today, and I can again connect with the WPA2 password. But, on both occasions, it's so unbelievably slow... worse than being on 56k dial-up...

I'm at a loss, and haven't been able to use my iPad on Wi-Fi (I'm not using 3G on it) for almost two weeks now.

In reply to a post by StarryNight:

Usually, once you've picked your network and have entered the password, it stays on that connection permanently. So when I changed the router from the Netgear to the Billion, the Netgear connection disappeared from the list of available networks and the Billion one appeared - as it was new, I had to enter the security key password.

Correct - if you're not in the area where the network name (SSID) is transmitting, you won't see it in the list on the iDevice.

However if you are in the area where the SSID is available, you can click on it, and press the "Forget this network" button, which will remove the stored key.

Thanks James. Did that, and we deleted the connection from his Mac laptop. Then re-entered the WPA2 key when the connection reappeared.

We also tried turning off the router, shutting all computers and devices off, rebooting the lot in case it made any difference to finding the devices and laptop or whatever.

Nothing we try makes any difference. His Mac laptop still won't connect wirelessly at all, and my iPad connects but is either deadly slow in loading webpages if at all, and won't load data from apps like Sky News or others with data that downloads.

I'm now wondering if I haven't spent £120 on a Billion router for nothing, since the problem started when on the old NetGear one when we thought maybe the wireless part of NetGear router had died.

I just don't understand why the wireless connection just suddenly stopped overnight like it did.

Well you could try one of these tools to see if you have neighbours overlapping your signal.

Windows = inSSIDer - http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/
Mac = KisMAC-ng - http://www.kismac-ng.org/

Apologies for the belated reply...

Thank you, James, for those links. Unfortunately, although I'm on a Windows computer, it has no wireless card, only ethernet. The user with a Mac laptop is a house guest (although a regular one) and wouldn't know what to do with or how to use the tool. Also, I live in a rural area with not that many houses around me, with only one house right next door, so I doubt there'd be many other connections? The only connections that show up on the iPad/iPod are 3 BT ones: one for a BT hub, one for a BT home connection of some sort and the other for BT Zone.

However, on Monday, I played around with the router settings yet again. Set them back to how I'd originally set it up when I received it (the Billion) which is how the settings have always been for the past 3 or 4 yrs when on the NetGear but which suddenly stopped working 3 weeks ago now. I first changed the channel several times then finally back to 11, and not to 1 as suggested by my ISP (or auto as per the default Billion setting). Then I set the key to WPA then back to WPA2. I changed the settings several times and eventually - lo and behold - it's now all working again on the iPad and iPod just as it did. Seemed to connect again just a suddenly as it disappeared.

It's still a mystery to me why it wouldn't work on those, or any other settings, on either the NetGear or Billion router - it's as if it was akin to having a stuck button or screw in both routers that needed turning to free it.