Wifi constantly dropping

[Mr Beau]

Hi all,

Since about 2 weeks ago, I've started having problems with my home wifi network. It started where my laptop (Compaq X1000 w/XP SP2) dropped my wifi signal and constantly said it was trying to obtain an IP address from the router.

Called tech support and got the usual reset router/uninsall/reinstall drivers etc. Things worked for a bit.

Now however, I'll be connected and then it will lose the signal. I'll have to manual search for the network and it will connect. It has an IP address etc, but I get nothing back from the router. It will then drop the signal a minute later and I will repeat the process several times. Last night I wasn't able to get it working at all.

Other computers in the house seem to connect without problems.

Any suggestions? There's no MAC enabled and no encryption for the time being (just to remove variables).

When it first connects, it usally says the signal strength is excellent. However sometimes I will check the speed and it has dropped to 5.5 from 11. But now even with a strong signal, it doesn't want to work.

Suggestions??? Many thanks in advance.

[id10t]

Any new portable phones? I've seen similar when a lady got a new phone - her 'net connect would drop every time it rang. Of course, it uses 2.4ghz also.

Try forcing your router/AP to use either channel 11 or channel 1 - other things like phones should just automatically use something else.

[Mr Beau]

There is a portable phone but that hasn't changed at all, and this is a constant problem. I think it's on channel 11 already but it's on my list of things to try.

Is there by chance a software utility that can monitor what is happening and help me diagnose the problem?

[EdT82SC]

Hey Matt,

I had the same problem with my Wife's computer running win XP SP2. We had her old computer running win 98 in the same spot using the same network adapter for over a year, and it never dropped a connection. Then we bought the new machine, put the 80211.g adapter from the old computer into the new one, and we had the same symptoms you are having. As far as I can tell it has to be the win XP network driver.

After months of trying different things I finally got a semi-reliable connection. Instead of dropping out several times a day it drops out once every couple months, and the connection comes right back instead of staying out. Here is what I did:

In the advanced network adapter settings there is property called something like "roaming decision" (I forget the exact name. I can check exactly how to get there tonight if you can't find it). Set that to "maximum distance". Second, and I know this sounds crazy, but I read it on several different internet BBSes, and I tried it and it works. Add the IPX network protocol onto your machine. Third, disable automatic updates. Whatever unknown thing that adding in the IPX protocol fixes gets undone every time automatic updates runs. I have my wife's machine set up to download the updates automatically, but not install them. When I install them I have to go into the network settings, remove IPX, add IPX back in, and then the network works again. It is a big time PIA, but linksys couldn't figure it out, and this is the best I could come up with.

Did I mention I will never buy a windows comuter again? I won't. The two linux boxes we have at home, my computer and our Tivo, work flawlessly.

[HardDrive]

Originally posted by Mr Beau

Is there by chance a software utility that can monitor what is happening and help me diagnose the problem?

Net stumbler is an excellent free utility for viewing signal strength and doing crude site surveys.

http://www.stumbler.net

[North Coast Cab]

I found a setting on my Dell to conserve power. If it was high on the conserve side I had lots of problems. I keep it on the other side. However, when I upgrade software sometimes it resets the setting. May be worth a look.

John

[mikester]

I few questions;

What brand and model wireless router and wireless network card are you using.

Are you using 802.11a, b or g?

If you're using A then well...A sucks man...it has very limited distances out of the box.

IF you've got B it's slower (max of 11mbps) but it will do the best distances (out of box).

G is the fastest and is compatible with B out of box so it can adjust itself to B speeds to get the distance you may need.

If you can try moving the router to a more central location in the house. Or as a last resort add a second access point to extend your signal.

http://www.konfabulator.com/

That link is to a widget utility that might be useful in watching your signal strength but the best bet is using the utilities that came with your hardware and netstumbler as mentioned earlier.

Let me know.

[Mr Beau]

So here's the latest. The router was on channel 11 and I changed it to 1. No real difference as I still have intermittent drop outs. And my service was down while trying to do some of the troubleshooting which made things even more difficult.

So this morning I had another drop out. Netstumbler showed I had signal, but the Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter software (phew!) showed nothing (out of range). It was working fine minutes before. And it would also show the network as being available, but would not connect.

It's an internal wifi in my Compaq, 'B' version. Power settings are set to the highest possible. I have tried both the Windows and Intel software for controlling the settings and there has been no difference. I have also made sure to only have one of the two running.

Any more thoughts??

Thanks.

[Adam]

Check the WiFi card/adaptor's settings for a "Power-Save" option. I had to disable this feature to get 100% performance from the device. It caused the card to drop off the network after a certain idle time (20 mins).

This was especially true for my iPaq Pocket PC.

[stomachmonkey]

Sounds like the card insdie the computer.

Check the circulars tomorrow.

Look for a deal on a PCMCIA wi-fi card, buy it, install it, forget about problem.

Scott

[mikester]

I prefer the USB models as they are more portable from computer to computer.

Also; you didn't mention your router's information. How old is it?

[1973911s]

I have the same problem with my new Dell, it is a company computer so I can't add anything else to it.

I find it to be a problem all the time.

I have unplugged all the phones, sat next to the wireless and still it drops, if it stays on longer then 2 minutes, I am usally good to go.

Michael