I fear UKBobboy01 may be correct when he says that its a mystery as to why the static IP address should make a difference. It may well be that the static IP address was not the answer.

When I tried to go onto the internet today, my connection did not work so I had to switch back to the "Obtain an IP address automatically".

When I tried Limewire it was back to the 1 bar and the brick wall. I took the same steps as I had previously (using Wondering Why's link) but so far no connection has been established.

I suspect that it is down to the F-Secure Firewall. Its not the easiest thing to configure and the on-line Help does not appear (at first read) to be very helpful. I think I will concentrate on the firewall element and see if I can find any useful documentation that will help me sort this out. Its very frustrating:confused:

Whilst it's highly unrecommended, why not momentarily turn your Firewall off, then try to connect. And see if it does connect. ;)

Reluctantly switched off the firewall and fired up Limewire. The connection was established successfully.

Once it was turbo charged I switched the firewall back on. Limewire maintained the connection and I was able to start a download (still waiting for it to finish at present but it is still active).

This suggests that the firewall is the issue doesn't it? I'll continue to research the documentation. Thanks for the suggestion LotR.