[SOLVED] Issues with connectivity on Wireless Connection

Okay folks, I am have a minor issue with my wireless connectivity every once in a while.

What is happening is my wireless disconnects on occasion for up to about two minutes or so and then reconnects.

I have the latest driver for the PCI Card which is an Airlink 101 PCI adapter AWLH6075. I have the power management set to Never Allow Computer to Turn off to save power.

The router is a Linksys WRT54G2 B/G router, with the latest firmware installed. Also the settings are configured as optimal for this type of router. Broadcasting on G band only.

I have configured several networks, routers, etc., in the past so it's not like I'm a n00b on this situation.

I am thinking I may need to replace my PCI adapter card. I got it for a bargain price at the time when I was on a router with wireless N. For the past year I've been on wireless G router.

What do you fellow experts recommend?

I am considering either going to a TP-LINK TL-WN851N MIMO or a D-Link N capable PCI adapter. I do have PCI-E slots also. Would a PCI-E card be the better option.

I use two external wired remote antennas also since the tower sits low to the floor.

Any suggestions, constructive comments or ideas will be appreciated!

In your adapter settings if turn off this adapter if system is idle is checked un-check it. It might be in your power scheme.

Don't forget the problem may not be on your end.

There was a problem with the lines here for a long time. I'm happy to say that things are much better now.

Thought I would suggest before you spent a boat load of money tracing down a problem to find that it was not your problem to fix.

Thanks, already did that when I first installed Windows 7.

It's not with internet connectivity from the modem to cable, it's between the router and my PCI wireless adapter.

Well I thought I would get more responses here. Hmmm, I just don't feel the love. Sniff!

You can find several makes & models of USB wireless adaptors on Newegg or eBay for under $25. One of the ones that picks up b/g/n would be the best. I've had no problem with any that I've owned.

That would be a good starting point for you. If you still have problems, it's probably within your router.

Cat

Expert I am not, but I did have similar problems with an earlier model Linsys. Constant complaints to my ISP, with a subsequent line check, showed all was OK up to the house. I am on an old copper telephone line, in the countryside, and there was a suggestion that the line was being overused at certain time of the day. This made sense but it was a problem for the ISP, and nothing I could attend to. I changed the Wireless channel, on another suggestion, which made an improvement, for a while. I also tried this:

Open network options via the control panel
highlight the tcp/ip entry
click properties
insert the gateway address as a static gateway address
this way the system will always use that address and will not use DHCP to find it on start up or restart
It also may help if you enter the primary & secondary DNS addresses for your ISP in to the DNS section of the above network connections.
One of the last two did the trick for me.

Nibs, Its hard for the helpers to get help because their problems are always more difficult.

Wish I could help but when it comes to networking, I have very little experience with problems.

One question though: Could there be near by Wireless Networks conflicting in frequency causing the dropouts. Have you used a different channel to see if the dropout continues?

Ahh - I just noticed davehc has already asked about the channels.

I changed my Channel to move it away from everyone else who are on Channel 6, I went to Channel 11. I did this about two weeks ago.

Found out about this app from another web forum site.

I used a cool program called inSSIDer to check what was going on with mine and here's a screenshot of it after I changed to channel 9. Later I moved to channel 11, mine is the linksys identified in red.



A great program, it's free and from MetaGeek. Download it here: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

inSSIDer
Genuine geeks, whether professional or casual, need Wi-Fi tools that help troubleshoot WLAN networks. With inSSIDer, MetaGeek has created a gift that keeps on giving. Our award-winning, open-source Wi-Fi scanner software, inSSIDer, is an alternative to network scanners like NetStumbler. One big difference: inSSIDer actually works with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and 64-bit PCs.

Did we mention that it's FREE? you can download inSSIDer today for free and level-up your network scanning and troubleshooting capabilities. Once you give inSSIDer a try, please help us spread the word to the farthest reaches of Geekdom by telling your friends about MetaGeek's free Wi-Fi scanner software that works with the current generation of Windows operating systems.


Man... I sure got some responses! LOL! Thanks everybody... next time I'll just remember to get a little "teary eyed" and the responses flood in.

I really think its my PCI adapter.

@davehc - would you be willing to be a little more specific? Windows 7 doesn't exactly show the options you mention.

You could try lowering the beacon interval in the router if it has that setting.

It has nothing to do with DNS settings as that has no bearing on the connection itself remaining connected. Even with completely broken DNS, you could have a valid IP address and type ip addresses instead of http sites to get to where you wanted.

Static or dynamic ip address assigning would make no difference again, to the ability to stay connected at all.

It is definitely some kind of signal degradation issue. For some reason, the radio signal isn't being reliable 100% of the time for you. Since you've already tried changing channels etc... My first sentence might help some.

Make sure you're using WPA2 with AES encryption. Long random passwords are a must. If someone is hacking you successfully, they would be knocking you offline then making your router think that you are connected instead of them. Then, when your pc tries to connect to your router, it connects to him instead. He would then be what's known as the monkey in the middle, receiving all your communications.

This hack specifically calls for knocking you offline for 2 minutes or so with a special method, then letting it "appear" like you've reconnected.