Well, I bit the bullet, and did the "firmware" update.... seemed to work ok, after I unplugged the cable, on wireless... did a re-boot of the laptop, and it could not find the router (even though it was only a couple of feet away)... ... so back in with the cable, and into the router pages.... re-named the network, (it went back to default PlusNet name) and then did the password etc.... re-booted the laptop, and no network could be found... tried several different ways to resolve it using the diagnostics.... (missus laptop on W7, in front room, found the network after re-naming back to my original name) got really frustrated , even booted into Linux Mint 9 , to see if it could find it....but nothing.... even < inSSIDer > could not find ANY wireless networks, (and normally there are about 6 or 7 locally)... so instead of doing a "proper" power down and re-boot,. .... I just pressed the ON/Off button and shut down the laptop.... On re-booting, got the usual "windows did not shut down properly" options, with "start windows normally"... and it did.... Found the router, connected wirelessly , and everything seems to be working ok ... however.... we shall have to see what happens in the morning, when the laptop has had a good nights sleep !..
