Open a Command Prompt and type ping 127.0.0.1 at flashing cursor. Hit Enter. Post your results?

Open a Command Prompt and type ping 127.0.0.1 at flashing cursor. Hit Enter. Post your results?

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128     (line is repeated 4 times)

Ping stats

Packets : sent = 4, received = 4, Lost = )  (0% loss)

~ round trip time in miliseconds = 0ms for all values

Did you make any changes to the computer about the time the problem started?  New updates, driver changes, etc?

To me it sounds like either the router isn't handing out an IP address, or you have a firewall on the computer blocking the connection.

No changes or updates.   Same firewall settings for months.  Can you tell me how to determine if the router isn't handing out an IP address? and how to resolve this issue

A couple more details that might be helpful:

the wireless signal strength icon no longer appears in the tray while it did appear before even if the router was turned off

My dLink router is set to filter Mac addresses but the laptop Mac address is list as allowed and I still have the same problem if I disable Mac addresss filtering.

I disabled my firewall.  Problem still exists

This might sound stupid but have you tried powercycling the router, any switches, modem etc?

I do this on a daily basis

This might sound stupid but have you tried powercycling the router, any switches, modem etc?

I do this on a daily basis.  I power down the router and DSL modem at night.

This might not help solve the problem but check to see if you can connect your laptop to another network or wireless network because if you can then you're looking at settings within your network setup. That way it rules out your laptop hardware.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  Trying another network will help rule out a problem with your wireless card.  Since you mentioned you could see other networks before, even with your router powred off, I would definitely start with that.  The simplest test is to ensure the wireless radio is enabled by either checking the Dell Wireless Utility (or Intel ProSet software, depending on which card you have) or by pressing Fn+F2 to toggle the radio.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.  Trying another network will help rule out a problem with your wireless card.  Since you mentioned you could see other networks before, even with your router powred off, I would definitely start with that.  The simplest test is to ensure the wireless radio is enabled by either checking the Dell Wireless Utility (or Intel ProSet software, depending on which card you have) or by pressing Fn+F2 to toggle the radio.

Also when checking the Intel or Dell radio, make sure to check whether or not Windows is set to manage your WiFi.

Did you try WinSockFix to repair TCP stack? Google WinSockFix to download free utility.

Thanks for all your input.  Although I didn't resolve this issue I managed to work around it.  It seems my router SSID broadcast was disabled.  It had been working fine with it disabled in the past but as soon as I enabled SSID the laptop connected to the network.  I will try some of your suggestions to resolve the orignal problem.  Thanks again