Q responded cleverly to my rampant AirPort troubles:

Classic case of "Remote Control". The batteries in your remote went flat and the Remotes got "Out of Control". I always knew this would happen one day.

Imagine if ALL remotes got out of control. World chaos!

BTW - it reminds me of the days when I was freelancing. I got a call from Edu WA about a printer that kept dialling up EVERY school every 60 minutes or so - 24 hours a day.

The solution? Some one had hit a button on the back of the LaserWriter (I think it was a 810) that "polled" the network" every 60 minutes "I'm here" it was saying. However, it was a very loud "I'm here". It was costing them a fortune every day having their printer tell every school, "Hi, I'm your friendly printer!".

Thank you indeed Quentin. now I know it was a conspiracy as when I was trying to log on with the iBook at home, my daughter was trying to tune the Sony Vega and the VCR in to SBS! It all makes logical sense now... not!
Regards

Reg