It keeps burping out!!! Ugh! Someting about an IP conflict, but it's the only wireless device on the network.... argh!!!! i even have MAC address authentication on. Do I need to wrap the antennae in tin foil or something?
Do you have a wired network connected to the wireless device? If so, maybe there is a duplicate IP on the wired network.
hmmm yeah, there's non-wireless connection from the router to my desktop. but that ip is .100 and the laptop is .101 i dont know why there's a conflict
That's why. Your desktop is .100 and your router is trying to give .100 to your laptop. When that fails, it tries .101 and succeeds. Reconfigure the router to start at .101 and make sure it can give out enough addresses for all the systems you configure to automatically get their IP address. And for security, don't forget to disable the SSID broadcast on the router and enable encryption. Do you know how many unprotected wireless networks are in the GTA?
Go into the routers admin utility probably at http://192.168.1.1 if its a linksys the default username is blank and the default password is admin. Find the button that says view DHCP table and see which devices have which IPs. Somehow you have to get to the bottom of where the conflict is. Even though you have mac address filtering, one can still hack into your network by spoofing thier mac address and cracking wep if you use that.
ok, i did the suggestions as ccole said and it seems to be helping, we'll see how do i put a security code onto my network?
There's 4 things you need to do if you haven't already. 1. Change the router password. 2. Configure encryption on the router and the network card to match. 3. Disable SSID broadcast. 4. Lock down wireless to MAC addresses of your wireless devices. Each manufacturer has different config screens so it's best to check with the website of the manufacturer of your router. They should have a FAQ section and you can search out how to do the things above. If you want on-site help, check my sig.
Encryption is dependant upon the type of encryption your router supports AND the type your network card in your laptop supports. If they both support WAP-PSK, then great! All you need to do is provide a key (like a password) to the router AND the network card and then traffic will be encrypted based on this key. Try searching the manufacturer website for WPA encryption config.