Posted: 1/14/2010 3:51:52 PM EDT
|
Okay, this is driving me nuts.
I've got a Vista laptop that keeps dropping the link to my router repeatedly, and two other laptops (one vista, one XP) that have the same problem, just with much less frequency. I'm starting to wonder if I've got conflicting MAC addresses with someone else's network. There are currently 15 wireless networks in range to my house. (Half are totally unsecured.  ) So far, I've:
- updated firmware, drivers and checked my cordless phones (which are older 900 MHz phones, so they shouldn't interfere) - Getting ready to swap out my router for a newer model (Linksys WRT54G router will get swapped out for a WRT54GL) - Gone to WPA2+AES encryption with a robust password––10 characters with multiple numbers, upper lower case letters and special characters - SES is disabled - MAC filtering is on, but the IP addresses are good and turning it on has no effect on the drop problem. Sooooo....any other ideas? Do I need to give my laptop a new IP address, and if so, how do I do that? |
|
Quoted:
Try changing the wireless channel. If that doesn't work, replace the router. Sometimes they just go bad. I've changed channels repeatedly, no effect. New router is sitting on the desk, waiting for some network down time. (I know I'm the admin, but if I cut into a Farmville session there'll be a cold front moving through our bedroom tonight.  )
Current router is about four years old, so that seemed the easiest solution to start with, I'm just leaning forward to see what the next step after THAT might be. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Try changing the wireless channel. If that doesn't work, replace the router. Sometimes they just go bad. I've changed channels repeatedly, no effect. New router is sitting on the desk, waiting for some network down time. (I know I'm the admin, but if I cut into a Farmville session there'll be a cold front moving through our bedroom tonight. )Current router is about four years old, so that seemed the easiest solution to start with, I'm just leaning forward to see what the next step after THAT might be. Tell your girl you'll plow her fields if she lets you switch the router. |
|
Quoted: just a shot in the dark here, but did you change your SSID to be unique to your network? I've seen this before with customers that call me and when I get there I discover that the neighbor has a similar router and both are using the default SSID... Yes, I have a very unique SSID. Swapped it out Friday night––went from a 4-year old Linksys WRT54G to a new Linksys WRT54GL. WiFi speeds increased by 100%. Dropoffs have disappeared. Now the only problem I have is a problem with my wired network (two desktop XP systems are downloading at 40-50 kbps, while advertised network speed is 15 mpbs––though the provider is sending someone out to look at my line for packet drops) and a persistent popup from my Symantec Endpoint Protection on one laptop only that says "unsolicited incoming ARP reply detected, this is a kind of MAC spoofing that may consequently do harm to your computer." Not sure what that means, I figure someone's got an IP address on their wireless that's the same as my laptop. Just haven't gotten around to changing the IP address yet. Any suggestions on increasing speeds and fixing the MAC spoofing issue would be appreciated! |
|
If you are getting the speeds that you are suppose to with the wireless then it shouldn’t be a problem with your ISP. If you can, plug one of your wired computers directly in to your ISP and see what your speed is. Are you setting your IP’s using DHCP or static?
|
|
Quoted: If you are getting the speeds that you are suppose to with the wireless then it shouldn’t be a problem with your ISP. If you can, plug one of your wired computers directly in to your ISP and see what your speed is. Are you setting your IP’s using DHCP or static? I did that as part of the testing with the provider. Plugged directly in, I'm getting 400-500 kbps. When you consider net traffic and vendor throttling, I figure that's still low (and so does the provider, that's why they're sending a technician out, probably tomorrow), but much better than 40 kbps. Sheesh, that sucks. I'm using DHCP right now. |