Can't connect to PlusnetWireless

[#1]

Hello, I've been trying to connect to PlusnetWireless for 2 days now after coming home from university. First thing I did was to get the network security key on the bottom of my router to connect, everything was working perfectly fine on wireless for about 1 hour then suddenly for no apparent reason It stopped working and I haven't been able to connect to PlusnetWireless since.
I've tried:
Pulling the plug out and plugging it back in,
Removing the cables from the back of the router and putting them back in,
Turning the router off, waiting 30 seconds and turning it back on (on multiple occasions),
Resetting the router to factory default settings,
Making sure my wireless is actually on and that I don't have airplane mode on.
Making sure my network adapters and drivers are up to date and working.
I have been unsuccessful in every attempt to try and connect to my wireless, my laptop can detect PlusnetWireless and other connections in the area successfully but when I try and connect to PlusnetWireless it says 'Checking network requirements' and then proceeds to say 'Can't connect to this network' I've tried running network diagnostic at which point it attempts to resolve the problem by resetting my network wireless adapter and then it tells me to do the basic turn off the router and wait 30 seconds and turn it back on which as I said I've already done on multiple occasions. Further diagnostic tells me that there is a problem with the wireless adapter or access point. However, I can't see what the problem is because other devices in the household such as my desktop PC and mobile phone can connect to wifi perfectly fine except my laptop. When I was at university I had no trouble connecting to the university wifi at all.
What could the problem be?

[#2]

Hi Rufio
Does the laptop connect via ethernet ?
Try updating the WiFi card drivers
can the laptop ping / telnet the router ?
Try a different Wireless channel

[#3]

Hello,
Yes, the laptop connects via ethernet
I'm not sure where to locate the wifi card drivers, is it in device manager>network adapters?   I have a Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter, is this what you mean? I've already tried updating that if so.
How do I ping my router? I tried pinging my ip address if that's right? It said packets 4 received and lost 0. Without ethernet can't ping anything successfully.
How do I try a different wireless channel?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm an imbecile lol.
dick:quote

[#4]

My bad
I forgot to ask
Is there a green light lit for the WiFi on the router
Have a look here for drivers for your Broadcom card as they may be more updated
Sounds like your pinging the router ok via ethernet
To try a different channel
Log into your router by accessing your routers GUI by typeing in your browser 192.168.1.254
Then using the username
admin
Password starts with CP on the underside of the router & the card that came with it
then click on Home Network in the left hand side
then click on the WLAN: PlusnetWireless link
in the upper right corner click on Configure
In the Channel Selection click the dropdown tab & choose Manual
After a moment or 2 delay, you will see a new dropdown Channel
Then you can choose any channel to try
When you have chosen the channel you would like to try
Scroll down & click on Apply
Dont worry about asking questions, as they will enable us to help where needed

[#5]

Yes, all the lights on the router are green and working, including the wifi,  
I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be looking for on this website, where do I find updates for my card on here to download?
I tried changing to each channel but it didn't seem to do anything at all and it still says can't connect to this network, do i have to restart my laptop or router or anything after changing channels ?
dick:quote

[#6]

Quote from: Rufio

... everything was working perfectly fine on wireless for about 1 hour then suddenly for no apparent reason It stopped working and I haven't been able to connect to PlusnetWireless since.... ...other devices in the household such as my desktop PC and mobile phone can connect to wifi perfectly fine except my laptop....

So it looks very much as if something suddenly went wrong with your laptop.  It could be a software fault but it could be that your hardware that has gone wrong.  Is there any other wireless network you could try connecting to? 

[#7]

Hi, Lots of wireless networks show up within my area but most of them are secure and need security keys.
I noticed something different today though after unplugging my ethernet cable out this came up, It's not shown me this before.
'The capability of your network adapter does not match the requirements of this network'

Any ideas what the problem could be?

[#8]

Quote from: Rufio

'The capability of your network adapter does not match the requirements of this network' Any ideas what the problem could be?

There was a time when the only wireless security protocol was WEP.  When WPA came along not all wireless adaptors could cope with the new protocol and you might get a message like then one you saw when trying to connect a WEP-only adaptor to a WPA network.  This might indicate that for some unknown reason your computer has substituted incorrect drivers for the wireless adaptor in place of the correct ones.  In which case you should be able to "roll-back" the drivers to the previous ones via Device Manager.  But I think it could still be a hardware fault. 

[#9]

I previously downloaded a driver in replace of my Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter in hopes it would fix the problem but unfortunately it didn't solve it so i updated it in device manager and it went back to Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter so now every time I try and roll back the driver it reverts to the driver that I previously downloaded that didn;t work.
I really have no clue what the problem is, I guess it could be a problem with the computer itself, afterall I did buy the laptop as refurbished. But it still doesn't make sense because I was able to use my university wifi perfectly from when I bought the laptop back in April then as soon as I come home from university 2 days ago i set up my computer to use the wireless, it works for about 1 hour and then suddenly stops working.  I've tried using WEP security now too but that didn't help either.
I guess i'll try ringing plusnet and if the people over the phone can't help me then I'll contact PCworld whom I bought the laptop from and see if they can figure it out.

[#10]

If you can only connect for about an hour, then I suspect either the router or card is faulty
go back into the drivers section & uninstall all your Broadcom drivers, keep the Ethernet connected
Then reboot the laptop, it might ask if you want to check online for drivers, hopefully it will reinstall only the working drivers

[#11]

When I say it only works for one hour I meant that it only worked for one hour when I came home and entered the network security key on the back of my router and it hasn't work since 2 days ago, not that it only works 1 hour per day.
I'll try what you suggest though.

[#12]

Also check to see if either the laptop or router are getting overly warm

[#13]

Are you able to test using an alternative router
If you haven't got one @ hand, can you borrow one from a friend or family member

[#14]

Just suppose that the wireless adaptor in your laptop has failed.  The fact that it worked elsewhere and previously is then of no significance.  But the fact that it did work for one hour at your home and that other devices attached to your wireless router still function normally must be significant and indicates that there is nothing wrong with your current set-up.  You can buy a USB wireless adaptor for less than £20.  It will be a lot cheaper than paying PC World to look at your laptop if it is out of warranty.

[#15]

It appears that uninstalling and re-installing the broadcom network adapter made it work!! I uninstalled it and restarted my laptop, it didn't prompt me to search for drivers or anything but seemed to just automatically reinstall the network driver without notifying me and now I can connect to wireless successfully.
That said, I won't get my hopes up just yet, i'll post back soon with results to see if this actually lasts!
I feel kind of cheated because your suggestion of uninstalling the driver and rebooting sounds like a novice task but I never thought about doing it because I was worried about uninstalling something which seemed very important.
I was actually on the brink of calling pcworld too  
Thanks for all your help TORPC and ReedRichards, greatly appreciate it!!