Attempt to connect wirelessly to LAN after re-installation of OS

I have a LAN setup in which there is a desktop which connects its Network card by Ethernet cable to a DSL wireless-equipped modem.

The modem is an Hitachi HG55VDFA VER C.

The other PC on this LAN is a laptop which was wirelessly connected to the Hitachi modem.

Both the desktop and the laptop have WINDOWS 7 installed - the 64-bit version on the desktop and the 32-bit version on the laptop.

Due to a recent virus infection problem on the laptop I had to format its hard drive and re-install WIN 7 in order to get rid of the virus.

When I now try to re-connect the laptop to the LAN it asks , of course , for the network security key which I have now forgotten.

Question:-

Would this security key be the modem's security key ? I must have changed the Default key on the modem as I cannot access it from the Web address 192.168.1.1. using the modem default settings.

Is this the key the laptop is looking for also?

It's such a long time since I originally set-up this LAN that I have forgotten these details.

I know I can always re-set the modem access code to the default settings but am reluctant to do this until I know this is what needs to be done here to re-enable the laptop's entry onto the LAN.

Can you advise me here on this, please ?

won't be able to pull the key: Fastest way would be to reset the router and create a new secured network.

brady said:

won't be able to pull the key: Fastest way would be to reset the router and create a new secured network.

Thanks for the reply.

I reset the router password to the default setting by pressing and holding the RESET button for 5 secs as described in the manual .

I then tested this by accessing the router Web-based configuration facility successfully by entering the default manufacturers password .

However , when I then attempted to access the LAN from the laptop wirelessly by entering this same router default password when asked for the "Network Security Key" , I get the same message here "Security Key Mismatch"

Is this the key the LAN requires here , I wonder ?

I seem to remember before that there was a need to key into the wireless adapter key somewhere on the laptop although I can't find anywhere on the laptop to receive this.

thenoo said:

brady said:

won't be able to pull the key: Fastest way would be to reset the router and create a new secured network.

Thanks for the reply.

I reset the router password to the default setting by pressing and holding the RESET button for 5 secs as described in the manual .

I then tested this by accessing the router Web-based configuration facility successfully by entering the default manufacturers password .

However , when I then attempted to access the LAN from the laptop wirelessly by entering this same router default password when asked for the "Network Security Key" , I get the same message here "Security Key Mismatch"

Is this the key the LAN requires here , I wonder ?

I seem to remember before that there was a need to key into the wireless adapter key somewhere on the laptop although I can't find anywhere on the laptop to receive this.

I think you are confused, the password to access the routers configuration page has nothing to do with the wireless security password.

You need to go into the routers wireless set up page and define the SSID "name of your wireless network" and then make your own wireless security password. You also need to define the security, using WPA2 is best and also define the encryption, using AES ONLY is best.

You would then need to go into your Win7 machine and use these settings to set up your wireless connection manually using the same SSID,security,encryption and password that you defined in your routers settings.

I think you are confused, the password to access the routers configuration page has nothing to do with the wireless security password.

You need to go into the routers wireless set up page and define the SSID "name of your wireless network" and then make your own wireless security password. You also need to define the security, using WPA2 is best and also define the encryption, using AES ONLY is best.

You would then need to go into your Win7 machine and use these settings to set up your wireless connection manually using the same SSID,security,encryption and password that you defined in your routers settings

You are correct - I was confused here . However , thanks to your explanation , I am now no longer confused and have followed your advice and got myself re-connected wirelessly to my LAN once again.

Thank you very much for the help here - much appreciated !