I just changed routers fromĀ a Netgear to a LinkSys. One of my computers found the wireless network but could not connect to it. It was stuck on “acquiring network address.” If I chose to repair the connection, I would get the message “renewing IP address,” but the system seemed unable to renew the IP address. The computer would connnect to the router fine with a LAN cable.

What fixed the problem for me was to remove the wireless Netgear entry from my computer (PC running Windows XP):

  1. Click Start, Settings, Network Connections.
  2. Right-click the icon for the wireless network and click Properties.
  3. Click the Wireless Networks tab.
  4. Below Preferred Networks, click the entry for your previous wireless router.
  5. Click Remove and confirm the removal.

What happens, it seems, is that the wireless network entry for the previous router prevents Windows from renewing or releasing the IP address it was using so that IP address can be reassigned to the computer. By deleting the entry, you release the IP address and Windows can renew it for the new router.

If you try this solution, please post a comment to let me know whether it worked for you.