Help please: connecting to friend's wireless

[Fraubump]

In case anyone else experiences a similar problem, here is what worked for me, though I'm not knowedgeable enough to tell you why it worked. After trying everything obvious and even getting some certified geeks to help me to no avail, an inspiration hit me and I decided to try rebooting the modem and the router. This worked--I suspect it was the modem, but since I used poor scientific method and restarted both simultaneously I'm not positive.