SOLVED Issues with connectivity on Wireless Connection

[Nibiru2012]

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. :dontknow:

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!

 

[roban]

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.

 

[clifford_cooley]

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.

 

[Nibiru2012]

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.

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

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

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

 

[Nibiru2012]

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

 

[catilley1092]

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

 

[davehc]

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.http://192.168.1.1/

 

[clifford_cooley]

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

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.

 

[Nibiru2012]

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.

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.

 

[TorrentG]

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.

 

[TorrentG]

I'm fairly sure I explained well above, but just in case -

Pretend that the DNS was completely broken on a machine where no addresses were resolved. This would show error screens while trying to access all websites that didn't have the ip address locally cached by the DNS Client service.

Even a machine under this condition would still be able to find websites like this:

http://75.126.242.38

Click and see.

 

[davehc]

"@davehc - would you be willing to be a little more specific? Windows 7 doesn't exactly show the options you mention."
Yeah. A bit brief. I am in the same IQ category as Cliff when it come to nework procedure - if I have problems, I just follow some clever guys instuctions!
Anyway, I just did a private "Walkthrough":

Open Network and sharing center in the Control Panel
Click the "Wireless Network Connection (linksys?)
click properties (In the bottom pane)
Click the TCP/IP /TCP/IPv4) Item, and then properties..
Insert the gateway address as a static gateway address.
Then the 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 in the bottom pane.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Finally solved my problems! The radio was going out on the old Linksys WRT54G2 router.

Found a Netgear WNR2000 Wireless N with EIGHT internal antennas on eBay for $26.94 including shipping. The normal price for this router online is anywhere from $59.99 to $79.99

It was brand new, just no factory packaging but router had never been used because the protective clear plastic film was still on the router case and the LED face.

Works like a champ and I'm wireless N now! 5x5 signal strength too.

 

[TrainableMan]

So Cats suggestion to buy a new one was the right answer!

If you have all those networks nearby the answer might be to cancel your account and barrow bandwidth from the neighbors. Do you watch "The Guild"? I remember the episode where Vork was using his neighbors wi-fi but Bladez was bored so he went over and configured the router's encryption. :lol:

 

[Nibiru2012]

Cat suggested a new adapter card, not a new router.

I found one wireless setup nearby that wasn't encrypted and hooked into it and had no drops at all even though the signal strength was 1/2 of the existing router. Never dropped the signal either so that confirmed that my router was FUBAR. It was running hot too.

Everyone else is encrypted in the neighborhood, except for the one person I borrowed for a while to test the adapter card. Now about those torrent downloads!

 

[TrainableMan]

Yeah and all the MPAA cease orders will go to his account. :lol:

 

[catilley1092]

Glad you found the problem, Nibiru! That was a damn good price for that item. As I told another member, I believe you were part of that thread, you can get great deals on eBay IF you do your homework. And don't get entangled in bidding.

When I bought my Seagate backup drive on eBay, I waited until the final 15 seconds to place my bid, and won, for $65 including shipping, in the sealed retail box. Newegg still had some of the same model of drives for $139, they retailed for $189 in most stores that carried it. It has a five year warranty, I registered it, it wasn't "hot". A great backup drive.

Hope that you enjoy your new router. I may be in the market for one myself, the ones that you get from Time Warner are of the "g" type, and the one that I have looks like it was pulled out of the trash can. It doesn't even have a brand name on it anywhere.

Cat

 

[Nibiru2012]

Cat - here's the link and the same seller I bought mine from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NETGEAR-WIRELES...815073?pt=COMP_EN_Routers&hash=item3a5e37bfe1

VERY FAST SHIPPING! Ordered on this past Thursday and got it on Saturday, two day shipping!

Oh and by the way... LIFETIME WARRANTY!

It was $26.98... my math was screwy the other night.

 

[TorrentG]

Nice Nibs! Such a pain when gear doesn't work how it's supposed to.

It's difficult enough in some situations to figure things out when everything IS working well. lol

Good stuff and great deal on the router too.