cant find my secured wireless network

so ill be on the internet and all of a sudden the internet disconnects for my wireless connection.

the desktop is fine, but the wireless connection is gone for my laptop

I have linksys if that helps. when i try to look for my network, it is not there. (lets pretend the name of the network was dooby). The name dooby would be gone, and instead there would be an unsecured network named dlink. ive never seen that network before, it only shows up when "dooby" is missing. whats going on? how do i find my network?

Apparently you're losing the wireless radio signal from your Linksys router. We know the laptop's wireless radio is working because you see the D-Link. The D-Link is probably a neighbor's router. How's the signal strenght from the D-Link? If it's low, then definately it belongs to a neighbor.

btw: How's the signal strength of your Linksys 'dooby' network? If it's low, a small amount of interference may be causing you to lose signal.

The problem may be that the router's wireless radio is failing or that some interference is being introduced between the router and your laptop. The router signal will be dropped if some piece of metal comes between the router and the laptop.

I've seen situations where the signal is lost when someone opens a refridgerator or oven door. The signal dropped because the open door got between the router and the laptop.

You can also get into problems sometimes when another device operating at 2.4 GHz is used. Does your Linksys signal drop when you use your cordless phone or microwave oven? That's a clue.

To help rule out interference, move your laptop close to the Linksys router while testing.

If it's not interference due to some piece of metal or other radio waves, it may be the actual Linksys router.