Network died after replacing wired receiver with wireless

[ddunk1946]

This may not be the right place for this but i'll start here as it was a receiver (wireless) that started it. Checking here before I dive into the fix. Reluctantly.

Have had U-verse since late 2008 and love it. 5 HD TVs, all wired until we replaced the master bedroom wired receiver with a wireless one last week. Also have a wired computer network; server, two computers w/drop for my laptop when I'm here, various networked and direct-connected printers, an XBox 360 (on the gateway)  and a Zyxel 802.11n wireless access point on my big screen in the living room downstairs for Internet access on my Blu-Ray player (and that XBox) as I couldn't get through the attic framing to drop an Ethernet connection.

The point is, all was working perfectly and has for years until I swapped out the bedroom receiver last week. I didn't check the data network until going to bed that night but was surprised to find that I had no Internet connectivity.

My network had changed to a 'Public' network and was 'Unidentified'. I run Win 7 Pro 64-bit and I can't speak for all versions of Windows but this is what Win 7 does when it can't get an IP address from the router/gateway.

I can only obtain Internet access by bypassing the network and connecting my business computer directly to the gateway. 

If I had to be honest, I suspect that Norton Internet Security 2012 didn't update devices properly and sees the AT&T Wireless Access Point that the receiver requires as something Public. I don't seem to be able to change Norton's mind in the Security Map (or maybe I haven't played with it long enough). It's been 'many moons' since I've been in the computer industry, but I'd still like to think I'm not grotesquely stupid.

As big a fan as I am of Norton, it does irritate me at times like this because, to completely remove NIS 2012 with Norton's Removal Tool, it also wants me to remove ACT!. A real pain in the drain, as they say.I'm thinking of making certain all my Cat 5 cables and hubs are good, then completely removing Norton 2012 and seeing if I can get the network running (with the AT&T WAP) and THEN reinstalling NIS 2012 to see if it will recognize all running devices. But, that is a LOT of trouble and really shouldn't be necessary.

So, I'm checking here to see if anyone else has had this problem. Does any of this sound familiar???

[ddunk1946]

Ok, stop the presses! Don't pay the ransom! Problem solved! 'Pilot Error' or at least 'Hardware Error'.

Even though my data network had exhibited NO problems, I replaced the primary hub and Ethernet cables here in my home office around the gateway before starting. It all works again.

Apparently, my hub or a cable connection was on the cusp and having intermittent connection problems, heretofore unnoticed. At any rate, freshening up the network hardware so I was starting from a known, good hardware environment was all I needed to do. Should have done it the first thing.

Anyway, all is well.