OT: Wireless Connection help!

I happen to know from my years on this forum that there are some pretty savvy computer types around here, so I'm hoping someone can help me. I bought my wife a computer for her birthday last month, and in order to connect her to the Internet, I bought a Linksys Wireless-G broadband router, which I hooked up to the modem in my office, and a USB receiver thingy (technical term) to insert in one of her USB ports. (mind out of the gutter, boys...) She's able to connect only about one-half to two-thirds of the time, the rest of the times it tells her a connection cannot be made. The signal strength never seems to waver between the times she can connect and the times she can't, almost always registering as "low," I assume due to my computer and her computer being on opposite ends of our little, 1000-sq-ft house. And it seems like it's more difficult to connect in the evening. Any idea what's going on? Or is there more info one of you might need to make a more informed suggestion? I am NOT a network systems guy, so I really don't know what I'm doing. I know that I had problems with the Linksys connection right out of the box, so I used the XP connection wizard to use a Windows connection instead. Is that useful info? TIA!

If you're able to get a connection some of the time and it says its "low" then my guess is that everything is set up fine, but her computer is just far enough away that it's a crapshoot whether or not you'll get a connection. My first suggestion would be to move the antenna of the router so that it is at a 90 degree angle from the location of your wife's computer. Supposedly, if it's pointing directly at the computer, it will get a worse connection. If that doesn't work, you might post what kind of network card she is using. Internal or external? If it's an older or cheaper external card, it might help to buy one of the newer, more expensive external card that is supposed to have a much bigger range. But if its an internal card in a new computer, then I'd think it would be a card with a bigger range. But you never know. Also, if you have a Netgear card, it doesn't always like to work with a Linksys router.

I'm not one of those 'savvy' guys, but here goes nothin'....

Given that your signal is "low", the wireless USB thingy may be trying to connect to someone else's stronger signal. Don't be offended, it happens to all of us.... If that stronger connection isn't an open network, then the USB thingy may be getting shut out; serves it right.

Click the start menu; on the right hand side there should be an icon labeled "Connect To.." then Show all connections - select that. Right click on the wireless network connection icon and then "view available wireless connections". (Alternatively, if you have an icon in the system tray that shows the low connection strength, right click on that and select 'view available wireless networks".

Make sure you're connected to your network vs. trying to connect to someone elses. If it's connecting to a neighbor's network, you can configure the thingy to connect only to yours by selecting "change the order of preferred networks" in the wireless networks window.

We have the exact same situation in our house ... literally. It's a distance thing, most likely. And there's a lot of interference in an average house. We bought a D-Link "wireless range extender", which seems to have a helped with signal strength on my wife's "side of the house". She still doesn't have a very strong signal, but it's very usable now.

If you have a jack in the middle of the house, definitely try setting up the modem/wireless router there.

The speed will certainly dip in the evening, when more users clog up the system.

I can't be of much help with configuration, as I'm a Mac guy. But adding the extender was fairly easy.

One thing I found out is that if I put the little USB receiver in a port on the back of the computer (which is near a window), the signal strength on the available network jumped from two bars to four. But it still won't connect. And she occasionally picks up someone else's network when we repopulate the list of available connections, but ours is always the first one listed, and the only one in our "change the order of preferred networks" list.

This is how stupid I am regarding networking. Grant, is the network card the USB thingy I'm referring to? It's the thing that receives the signal from the router.

Todd,
Is this a laptop or desktop? If laptop probably has wireless built in and this can cause conflict with USB wireless. You should look into hard wiring the system if a desktop. However if you insist, on USB set up a static IP address Sub Net Mask and 2 DNS servers manually. You can get thins information from your systems ip configuration. Sorry if this gets a little technical but I use to be a geek. Email me back direct if you need further help understanding what I am saying.

I think the USB thingy your referring to has the same function as a network card. The network card is for laptops, which I was assuming you had. But I should have read your post a little more carefully. I assume you actually have a desktop. I think you can get something that you actually install on the mother board that might work better. But if you're getting four bars, I'd think you'd get a connection. When you don't get a connection, you might try going to "Network Connections", right-click on "Wireless Network Connections" and click "Repair." I'm not too much of an expert on this, but have had to install a router in my house and in my parents', so I learned a lot on the fly. But these were both laptops with external network cards. So someone smarter than me might be better able to help on this one.

Todd,

Do you have a cordless phone? I understand that 2.4GHz cordless phones can interfere with wireless networks.

Cheers,

Thanks guys. Yes, it's a desktop, and yes, we keep trying the "repair" option, but unlike all previous days, when it said it was doing a new IP address, now it doesn't say that and it will not connect. I'm hiring some 16-yo kid to come by and fix it. I'm too old for this.

I can geek a bit more based off of what I am hearing so far. Based on the fact that the connection goes in and out, it is probably a range issue. Your range can be negatively affected by frequencies within the same range and/or physical obstructions (some materials allow signals to pass through better than others). Your 802.11g signal has a frequency of 2.4ghz (same as newer wireless phones). So yes, phones can affect your connection...but I'm not sure that it's enough to disconnect you completely. If it is a range issue, you have 3 options. Option #1 is to get a range extender. It acts as another access point and effectively shortens the distance between your computer and the nearest wireless access. Option #2 is to run an ethernet cable from the computer to the router (wireless routers usually have 4 ethernet ports as well). Option 3# (the best, but most expensive), buy a kit allows you to run your internet signal throughout any circuit in your house. The signal runs along the same copper wires that carry your electricity. It is extremely easy to install (simply plug three things in) and costs about $99. I bought one for my parents at Best Buy. Radio Shack may also have them. Just make sure that both parts are plugged into the same circuit in your house. Hope this helps.

Todd:

We were having the same problem here. I called our ISP and asked if we could pay them to come out and have a look at it. They said "No, but we will come out and set it up for free." So, your ISP might do the same. It's worth checking into before paying someone else to do the work.

We had a similar problem with the same equipment. We tried an external antenna which helped for some locations. My son seemed to think that the router was only sending out one signal which was in conflict with other electrical equipment in the house. This past weekend he purchased a Netgear Wirless Router WPN 824 which he claims sends out 8 different signals. This solved the problem and we now receive a high signal from every where in the house.

Philip Schwarz
E2311 530th Ave
Menomonie, WI 54751
Home: 715-235-9423
Cell: 715-797-4162
Office: 1-800-599-2900
e-mail: schwarzp@uwstout.edu
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Hmmm.... my first thought was what Rick said. Maybe it's connecting to a neighbor's signal instead of your own. Make sure it's connecting to your own SSID. I have a desktop computer with a cable modem and wireless router (without any kind of signal booster). I bring my company laptop home from work fairly often, and get a strong signal throughout my house. My router is on the second floor, and I can use the laptop in my basement, or even out in my backyard without any loss in signal strength. So, given you have a 1,000 SF house, it doesn't seem like that should be an issue.

Todd, I'm with Brent. The range issue should not be an issue in your house. We also have our wireless router on the 2nd floor and I can use it anywhere in the house with excellent signal strength and we have 2.4GHz cordless phones to boot. Our laptop has built it wireless so I can't compare to your situation directly. My guess is that your USB wireless adapter is probably poor quality.

Something to try is to move the USB wireless connected computer into the room with the router. If you strength is not 100% at that point either the router or the USB adapter is bad and I would lean toward the USB device. Getting an internal PCI wireless adapter from linksys would probably solve your problem in this case.

Craig

BTW, make sure you secure that wireless network using WEP or WPA encryption and make sure to disable your SSID broadcast to prevent others people from seeing your network.

Well,

I am a computer geek and will offer my 2c on the matter. A lot of these types of issues are hardwear specific problems. So I don't know how much a 16 year old computer geek could help, unless he brings *other* hardwear with him.

Based on the symptoms you described with partial signals and connections cutting in and out, I am guessing it is the ability/inability of the Linksys router and wireless card combo to communicate effectively across your 1000sf home. Linksys has not been rated very favorably in the reviews I have read with regards to sending strong/reliable signals. Here are some things you can do to troubleshoot it as well as other options:
1. Move the computer closer to the router and ensure a solid connection when close. Then you can narrow the problem down to the poor performance of the wireless router to effectively send a strong signal.
2. Look into adding a access point. This is essentially placing a signal reciever/sender somewhere in your house to allow a handoff from a *middle* area. Some people use these for upstairs/downstairs connections.
3. Consider trying another brand/model. Having a higher quality router/wireless card can make a *Huge* difference. Also 802.11n is now out. A friend of mine (another computer geek) just got a new 802.11n router/wireless card combo which he states has a much improved range to his old 802.11g combo. And it runs faster than his wired connection. If the Linksys is not working well/properly take it back for an exchange/refund (if within your return window).
4. Since it is a desktop you can run cable throughout your house (fun) instead.

- Derek

Just to clarify my comments above: My wireless router is a Linksys and works great with excellent range.

Wow, I've been so tied up today that I didn't even check back. You guys are awesome!

Derek, there is another cable outlet right next to the computer. Do I have to buy another cable modem? I assume yes. Is this something Comcast has to set up, or would it be plug & play?

Todd,

If you are using cable already I think you can do what you are asking *without* having to run any additional lines. The trick is to do this without the cable company tacking on additional fees. You may need to check your contract or call them to find out. But they can try and gouge you so be carefull. You will need an additional cable/modem which you can buy yourself or they can sell you and install (for a fee).

Once setup a wired connection is usually very stable and consistent. With wireless you are running your own network. So this will require some additional tweaking and work (trial and error) to optimize your setup. A lot of times the hardwear manufacturer's tech support can help you as well. Sometimes you have a bad/faulty device and need to exhange it. This happened to me once and the new wireless card worked much better.

Gotta run for now,

Derek

Hi Todd,

Let me throw in my nerdy 2 cents... Buying another cable modem for the outlet in your room won't work most likely. The cable company knows your connection by the MAC address (ID basically) on your current cable modem. Once you already have that connection, I don't believe you will be able to connect another modem, get an ip address from their server, etc - without paying for a 2nd cable modem service. If this were the case, there would be rampant abuse - and people would suck up all that extra bandwidth on your cable segment. Now I have never tried to hook up a second modem to test this, mostly because I don't have an extra one - but I would be shocked if it worked.

If you want a wired connection, you would have to run Ethernet to that room, which would be a pain most likely. I would suggest ditching the USB wireless adapter and try a PCI card that is installed inside the computer. Pick one up at best buy/compusa - you can always return it if it does not work.

Good luck.

I think Michael might be right regarding the extra fee imposed upon you for using an additional cable modem. The basic cable company motto goes something like this "If there is any way we can charge you more we Will!"

So the main way people avoid this extra fee is to set up there own internal network, either wired or wireless stemming from the one cable modem connection they are already paying too much for

I think it goes back to looking more closely at the two pieces of hardwear currently in place:
1. The Linksys Router
2. The Linksys USB wireless adapter

The problem is most likely there.

- Derek