Problem involving wireless

[JAsoN74185]

Im not braging or anything just letting you know of my experince so explaining to me wont be like "click start menu" sorta thing.... I have taken a 2 year course for my CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Assosiate) (spelling?) and for some reason every once in a while I lose connection with my wireless router.... I will go from FULL connection (bassed on the bars) to nothing and I can not connect, its not listed in the wireless networks... im right next to the router and I still cant... wtf?

i disabled the wepkey and added it and did the hz to a higher number... i mean wtf? Its a linksys??

tell me somethings to try....? this happens to both the g and b wireless for my laptops AND my pci card for my desktop...

[Und3ertak3r]

Interferance?

As most of the Wlan equipment work in the 2.4GHz band.. interfering equipment could include..

Microwave Oven (lovely source of wideband RF in the 2.4Ghz band)
Some Cordless phones (some are in the same Freq assignment as the WLAN system)
Some Mobile phones (third harmonic of the mobile phone assignment, in some countries, land in the midle of the WLAN assignment.. and while the power level may drop the noise bandwidth increases so more WLAN channels are affected)
Security systems, Radar motion detectors..

Get a hold of Netstumbler and give it a run.. monitor the AP/router for a while .. see how the signals fare especialy when the netwok drops..

Cheers

BTW; I am by no means an expert with WLAN.. But 20years as a radio tech wasn't for nothing.. I will conceed that there are members here that would be far more familure with WLAN probs than I..

[lepricaun]

did you tried using another channel?? this might solve your problem....

[Tiger Shark]

Just a thought....

It's quite possible that the WAP is demonstrating an intermittent failure. ANd that's one of those issues that is a real pain to "prove".

[Relyt]

JAsoN74185

I’ve gone the Linksys Wireless Router Route as well and I know of two scenarios when we loose the connection.

The first, I live near a multi-band radio station of sorts, dooooooh! :eek:

And second, when we shut-off or reboot the puters with the wireless adapters, sometimes I have to enable the SSID on the router for a short period of time until the adapters locate the router and then select the router on the adapter’s menu. Otherwise the computers just sit there searching and don’t automatically find the router. After they find it and the bars are good, of course I go back in the router and secure the SSID. You don’t want that thing saying “Here’s a wireless and my name is xyz! Won’t you come and mess with me?”

Anyway, hope that helps.

cheers

[JAsoN74185]

Well I thought bout the interfernce because the first time it happened is when my mom picked up the phone... but It would happen all the time when nothing would be in use.. and would stop working for hours at a time... and only at night, when no one is up or using anything.
First i thought it was my ISP but then I thought bout it... it wouldnt lose connection to the router if it was the ISP DUH then I kept on thinking and thinking... so I thought maybe it was the WEP Key causeing some lag, making it send it everyonce in a while and if it didnt send it in time it would drop the connection so I tried it with it and without.....


Btw security isnt an issue... IDC if someone pulls into my drive way and tries to use it... I wish they wouldnt.. cause ever since I used the wepkey and the other secuirty features is when this started... but it may not be that
Here are my settings;

BASIC WIRELESS SETTINGS

Wireless Network Mode: Mixed
Wireless Network Name (SSID): Linksys
Wireless Channel:11 - 2.462GHz
Wireless SSID Broadcast: Enabled


WIRELESS SECURITY

Security Mode:WEP
Default Transmit Key: 1
WEP Encryption: 64 bits 10 hex digits
Passphrase: hello
Key 1: CCE55C5C21

WIRELESS MAC FILTER

Wireless MAC Filter: Disable


ADVANCED WIRELESS SETTINGS

Authentication Type: Auto
Basic Rate: Default
Transmission Rate:Auto
CTS Protection Mode: Disable
Frame Burst: Disable
Beacon Interval: 100 Milliseconds
DTIM Interval: 1
Fragmentation Threshold: 2346
RTS Threshold: 2347


NOW lets see what can be done :)

[Relyt]

JAsoN74185

Our setup is almost identical except for the wireless channel assignment.

Mine: 6- 2.442GHz

Yours: 11 - 2.462GHz

And I see a difference in the freq assignment to your channel 11. It should read 2.467 vice 2.462

2.462 is for channel 10. If you set the router to channel 11 and it's actually 2.462 (10's) and you set the the adapters for 11-2.467, could be a problem because they are so darn close. If you are getting excellent signal then it is possible, since there is only a .005 difference in freq (+ or - mfg's error), and since the adapter and router are physically in close proximity, it could allow connection occasionally and not during other times.

Just pop another channel on 'em all and check their freq.

of course unless it's a typo on your post..... :D

cheers

[JAsoN74185]

well the thing is its not a typeo its actually ONLY what i can select... its not like I typed in freq. I can only select it from a drop down box... so the only way I could be wrong is if linksys did it wrong with my router....

[JAsoN74185]

Wireless Channel: 1 - 2.412GHz 2 - 2.417GHz 3 - 2.422GHz 4 - 2.427GHz 5 - 2.432GHz 6 - 2.437GHz 7 - 2.442GHz 8 - 2.447GHz 9 - 2.452GHz 10 - 2.457GHz 11 - 2.462GHz


those are my options

Sorry for the double post didnt feel like clicking edit

[Relyt]

Just need to make sure that the router and the adapters are all on the same freq, regardless of the channel designation. Look in setup for the adapters and see if they give a freq and not just a channel. If it only provides a channel try channel 10 on one of the adapters to see what happens.

[spamdies]

first i would try disabling windows feature that automatically connects it to wireless networks.
second set the cards fragmentation threshold to 550
third most people have cordless phones in their house. turn it of to see if it's causing the problem.

[JAsoN74185]

it was set to auto for the chan. but when I did it to 11 the signal strength was "Low" when put to 10 it went to "Good" but before when it was set to auto it had "Exelent" but we will see what happens the next few days.

And there is no "Threshold" option under the adaptor

[Relyt]

Well got some good news and some bad.

Good: according to the IEEE802.11 CHANNELS assignment, your's is correct and mine is wrong.

Bad: But mine works. :eek:

(just trying to get a laugh because these things can be frustrating)


Anyway, just try some different freqs and see what happens.

cheers

[spamdies]

JAsoN74185 just out of courosity what type of wireless card is it that your using that doesn't allow you to set the frag threshold?

[JAsoN74185]

well i looked into it and found out my cordless phone sends out "broadcasts" because there is 3 phones that connnect up to one station... and thats why I lose my connection but I CAN NOT find a freq. that the wireless and the phones dont interfer with! HELP

[Und3ertak3r]

Did I mention Get a hold of Netstumbler and give it a run..
run it on your clients and see what is happening to the incomming signals.. watching those 5 bars is not the best indicator..

And you may have to start thinking down TS thoughts.. Faulty router.. your symptoms are similar to probs I've had with some AP's.. netsumblers is a handy tool..

Cheers

[JAsoN74185]

I found one of the problems and fixed it.... now the only problem is the "interference" EVERY time a phone is picked up I lose connection... what do i do?

[Tiger Shark]

Err... Stop picking up the phone???? ;)

Since the freqs are so close together there isn't much you can do but sacrifice one or the other... Which is more important?

[JAsoN74185]

Well the problem is... my mom loves to talk and spazing on my mom when I lose a 99% download... doesnt help (TRUST ME!)
So Idk what to do? I mean I can put my laptop RIGHT ON TOP of the router and it doesnt help so IDK

Btw i feel like braging so tell me what you think bout the specs of my laptop

Pen 4 3.2 Hyperthreaded 800FSB, 1 Gig ram, 128 MB Video Card (Radeon 9600), 15.5" Wide screen, Wireless Linksys card, nice sound card that can do 6.1 speakers... which I didnt know it did till now :)
umm...............hmm wut else.... DVD+-RW Car adaptor and leather case for 2,000

what do you think?

[Relyt]

JAsoN74185

Well I think you might want to consider using some Cat 5 with the router on some of the computers so the interference won't be an issue. :D There should be some ports in the back just for that purpose.

And as far as the laptop, sounds pretty good. However my little laptop is 5' 9" Brunette about 125 lbs, with nice video, sound, and hardware! :eek:

cheers

[JAsoN74185]

lol nice ya I wired my whole house trust me I got enough Cat6 cable to go round town (I work for a high school so I get it for free)
just wanted to be able to chill by the pool with my laptop... dont know if thats happening

[Und3ertak3r]

now the only problem is the "interference" EVERY time a phone is picked up I lose connection... what do i do?

With ADSL you should have a set of filters with the kit..
One basicly marked for the ADSL modem then others for marked for the phones.. IF THESE ARE NOT INSTALLED THEN WHEN EVER SOME ONE PICKS UP A PHONE>>BYE BYE ADSL CONNECTION<< and the poor modem has to log on again.. THe phone ones HAVE to be installed on EVERY single Phone outlet in the house.. if you have missed one.. >>bye bye ADSL connection<< when ever someone uses that phone..

Also there are a number of site that list antenna mods for AP's (this would also include your wireless router) ..some are downright fugly.. but the gain/directivity improvement would make you a little happier.. give it a go...

and did ya try netstumbler? (solution or simple answer?)

Cheers

[JAsoN74185]

We dont have ADSL we have Road Runner, BUT I tired it... didnt get to far... right as I opened it, I lost connection. Tired messing around with it. Ill try some more later,