My sons are connected this way:
Comp1 (Jerk) is connected directly to the router
Comp2 (st-benedict) is wireless USB adapter

When Comp1 goes online it knocks Comp2 offline.
If we disble Comp1's connection then turn off the computer, then turn on Comp2 to get a connection then restart Comp1 and enable the connection they will stay online. 

The icons for Connections (other than the onboard ethernet) never show up on Comp2 so we cannot make any changes to it from there. The only way to see if Comp2 is online is to get up a browser and test it.

In the morning we have to recycle the modem and router to get this proceedure to work.  We would like to be able to connect regular (without the ruberics I described) and get our Icon back.
I will paste IPconfig /all for when Comp2 is offline and when it is online below - There is a strange string of numbers and letters after the adapter I think you may want to make note of, as well as the "Mini port"

COMP2 OFFLINE IPCONFIG

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Quinton>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : st-benedict
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media DISCONNECTED
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIE GBE Family Controller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 90-E6-BA-0F-E1-9E

Ethernet adapter {993E0DBC-ABC7-4E49-B142-D64E6CB34C37}:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR RangeMax(TM) 240 Wireless US
B 2.0 Adapter WPNT121 #11 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-6C-AA-38-DE

C:\Documents and Settings\Quinton>
COMP2 ONLINE IP
C:\Documents and Settings\Quinton>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : st-benedict
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 90-E6-BA-0F-E1-9E

Ethernet adapter {993E0DBC-ABC7-4E49-B142-D64E6CB34C37}:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR RangeMax(TM) 240 Wireless US
B 2.0 Adapter WPNT121 #11 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-6C-AA-38-DE
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, April 18, 2010 1:36:29 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, April 19, 2010 1:36:29 PM

C:\Documents and Settings\Quinton>
I wanted to stress that just DISABLING Comp1's connection is not enough - we must shut down the computer completely then start Comp1 to go online, then restart Comp2 and enable its connection - I was thinking MAYBE this might point to a something in BIOS handling ISP?
Any help will be appreciated - Thank You Very Much!Both PCs need their own IP address to be served from the router via IP Pool and DHCP. Who manages the router?

JeffSorry I didn't give the wired (Comp1) IP info - it has a different IP than the wireless does.
Managing the Router depends on which computer is online - if Comp2 isn't online, it cannot access the router.


Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Jerk
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ether
net
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-F3-E9-04-A8
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, April 17, 2010 5:43:20 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, April 18, 2010 5:43:20 PM

I noticed that this is different:
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Comp2 says "no" to both these, even when online, is that OK?