computer experts needed

well ... could be a few reasons.  First question is what type of wireless router do you have?  Look for a little letter... a, b, g, n ???  Actually, if you can look at it and tell us specifically what the model and such is, that would help. 

Then the next question is what is your laptop capable of?  If it's a newer laptop, it's probably fine... but one never knows (yes, you can easily upgrade this without having to buy a new laptop).  Let us know what the specific model is unless you can find a wifi sticker on there with one of those letters!

If the router is n ... but your computer can't do the n... then you could be connecting at a cruddy rate.  If your wireless signal is cruddy due to any of those factors, something as simple as moving in the wrong direction could interfere with it... someone walking in between the two, or... another possible culprit is wireless telephone or cell phone, radio interference, the neighbor stealing your wifi because the router isn't configured correctly.  OH YES... there's a HOST of issues that could be causing the problem.  Many of these are fixable with a little computer knowledge.  I'm not an expert, but I can help you out a little.  I recently looked into all this stuff and set up a home network.  TonyEspo however IS a computer expert... maybe he'll chime in here! 

Is this a newly purchased router or have you been using it for a while and its just now acting up?

Have you tried restarting yuor router. Lower end 802.11 routers don't sem to last long so I'd start there...maybe it's time to repalce that.

Check your "battery saver" settings on the laptop.  Sometimes it will be configured to shut down the radio if it's idle for some period of time.  Mine used to do that, and it drove me nuts!

I would try connecting the laptop to a friend or familys or neighbors network and see how it does.....with permission of course..If it does ok on another home network then theres something fishy with tghe router..You can also search through the forum at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/belkin seems like others are having problems too..

Ok... I'm not sure what your laptop has on it... but since it's from 2004 that kind of sends up a red flag to me right away.  I would double check that you have the ability to connect with at least a G connection... I looked up HP 1550 SE and closest I could find on HP's site is this model number: EP347UA#ABA ???  I don't know for sure what you have.  If you do have that, then you do have the ability to connect B or G.  If not (and you only have b capabilities, then first thing I would do is to get a wireless N connection for the laptop (they can be purchased as a usb stick and if you're keeping that modem stay with the same brand adapter... brand names can be fussy). 

Another issue is because that router is N (and backwards capable to connect with b and g), but you're probably not connecting at N speeds with your laptop the router needs to be set appropriately.  You have options such as 802.11B+802.11G+802.11N, or just 802.11N or just 802.11G.  I'm not sure about your Roku box, but there's a good chance that it's connecting with N... so you need to make sure the router is set for the first option (allowing all three)... make sure the top speed is not set at 40mhz (because your G connection can't handle it... it has to be 20mhz ... if you set it to either 20/40mhz then it should automatically adjust itself down to 20mhz for your G connection).  It's probably already set like this or else you wouldn't likely be able to get on at all... but double check that just in case.  I would personally mess around with the settings a little bit and adjust it just to allow the G... see if your connection gets any better and if your Roku box still works well... I wonder if the router is (for some stupid reason) only seeing your laptop's B capabilities and connecting you at that horrid slow speed... if so... it would explain why there's issues with your connection.

Ok... so... make sure the router has the latest firmware upgrade done to it also.  Um... and only other thing I can think of (that no one else has said) ... is when you reset the router... I'm not sure if unplugging it is enough to reset it.  There's actually a reset button on mine that has to be pushed to go one step further.  It saves settings even if unplugged.

Ok... I'll be back in a bit here today and see what else I can dig up on this. 

Ok... something else to look at that I found in another forum... Check with your internet provider if you should be using a dynamic connection or PPPoE.  I know with my cable connection it is supposed to be dynamic, so you're probably good there, but double check just in case.  If your router is set for a dynamic connection but your provider uses PPPoE (which requires a user name and password) the you may be able to connect for a little while but eventually your ISP will poll your connection to see if it's legit and then break it on you. 

Here's a link to Belkin's site on this information for you about these settings for router and ISP:  http://en-us-support.belkin.com/app/ans … il/a_id/79

And here's the link to Belkin's site with all kinds of info about your router including the latest firmware upgrade available:  http://en-us-support.belkin.com/app/pro … hZag%3D%3D

I really want to say that the problem sounds like it's with the configuration/settings ... or your laptop's built in wi-fi.  I don't think N was available until 2006.  Now... G should be enough, but I've heard of so many issues with Belkin and Linksys routers being really picky with the adapters on computers if they're not the same brand.  I personally bought a Tp-Link wireless N router because of that reason and I haven't had any problems, but then... everything connecting to it is fairly new also.

Good luck Mike!    Everyone's suggestions and ideas in here on what can be causing it are good.  It's amazing how many little things could be a major issue.  Absolutely check on that needing a user/password thing.  Apparently I can set mine up dynamic OR PPPoE according to Belkin's site. 

I am assuming because this is a router and not a low end wireless modem that you purchased it and it wasn't just provided by the cable company.  Here's a thought... what do you have wired into it?  If all that's wired into it is the one computer and everything else is connected to it wirelessly... talk to the cable company, they might be able to provide you with a newer wireless modem which would completely replace your current cable modem and the wireless router (but what they provide generally only allows ONE computer hardwired into it).  Just a thought, cuz that of course would be without a charge (well... no more than what you may already be paying them for the modem they generally provide that you "rent" from them).  Then if you were still having issues you could concentrate on upgrading your laptop.

Mike... did you try going into the router settings and try to set it up for just the G connection and see if your laptop will work with it that way? 

I hope HP gave you a suggestion of a router to get that will work with your laptop.  You might want to hold onto that router for the heck of it... just in case you upgrade your laptop sometime soon and suddenly have the ability to connect at the faster N speed! 

Good luck!