I know we've got some network-savvy folks here, so....
I bought a new D-link Wireless N router yesterday to replace my older Dell b/g router. I also bought a wireless N usb adapter for my PC; my laptops have built-in wireless.
I installed the router and adapter, and all was well. Good connectivity everywhere, including my iTouch which stubbornly refused to stay connected to my old router. This bliss lasted for about 12 hours.
This morning, my desktop PC wouldn't connect to the internet. It could see the network, and the signal strength was excellent. All laptops and iTouch were fine. I disconnected/reconnected the wireless adapter on the desktop and I was connected again; then a minute later, no more internet again. This is the gist of the problem - it will connect briefly, but not stay connected.
I called D-Link and the first guy managed to get all of my computers jacked up. He had me changing MAC addresses and other stuff. Frustrated, I hung up, called back, and got someone who helped me undo the damage that the first guy did, but was no help with the original problem.
I did explain to tech support that when I installed the router, I skipped the step where it said to first connect the router to the PC with a LAN cable. (My modem/router combo is in a different room on the other side of the house.) I simply disconnected the old Dell router and hooked up the new D-Link router. They didn't think that mattered, but my confidence in D-Link tech support isn't so great at the moment.
Any ideas. Before starting over, doing a system restore to before any drivers were installed and moving the PC (after disconnecting 10 miles of wires) to the room with the router and hardwiring it, I thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas.
I had a similar experience with my older D-Link router, desktop PC and a PCI slot wireless card. This was a couple years ago so I am trying to remember the specifics. The driver for the PCI card and the Windows XP wireless networking were not playing well with each other I believe. I think my ultimate fix was to ensure that Windows was managing the wireless settings, as I think the D-Link tried to overwrite some of that when I installed the driver.. Take a look at the properties of your wireless connection and make sure the "Use Windows to configure my Wireless Settings" is checked.
That might be a longshot, but if you had connectivity before, doesn't sound like you have any security related issues like MAC filtering or something blocking you. Unless you made changes at the router and inadvertantly blocked access from that PC - i.e., enabled MAC filtering at your router. Did you make any significant changes on the router in between the time you had connectivity and when you were SOL? But sounds like the misguided tech support guy may have been trying that angle already...
Also - might want to make sure you deleted the drivers for your old wireless card or whatever you were using. Then pull the latest drivers from D-Link, but you probably already did that. Good luck man!
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 21, 2008 at 7:08 PM
I think Michael is right about letting windows managing the wireless connection. I have the same trouble with a linksys card in my PC. If the linksys driver takes over, all hell brakes loose on the network connection.
Michael, Mel - thanks for the suggestions. I did check the properties for the wireless connection, and the box is checked for having Windows configure the wireless settings. I'll uninstall the driver for the old adapter, though it did work fine. I didn't make any changes between when it was working and when it stopped the next morning. There was a brief power outage overnight due to a storm, and the PC rebooted (I do have an excellent surge protector), but that's it.
I may try restoring the system prior to having installed any D-link drivers, and simply attach the adapter without the installation CD and let windows try its thing.
Thanks again.
Posted by Bass Sears on August 22, 2008 at 12:31 AM
Couple of things to consider, some on the USB-adapter-on-the-desktop side and some on the configuration-of-the-router side::
1) Try uninstalling the whole software install that came with the USB adapter, restart your machine, then just plug in the USB adapter (i.e. don't run the install program on the CD). When Windows asks you for the location of the drivers, point it to the CD in your CD drive. This way you'll get just the drivers you need, not all the other (possibly installed) wireless management junk that just messes with Windows. Before doing this step you might also check on their website to see if there are updated drivers than what you have on the CD... if so just download the file, unzip it somewhere but don't run the "Setup" executable, just let Windows recognize your device and point Windows to the folder you unzipped (you might have to point to a folder inside of that big folder you unzipped, usually called something like "drivers" or "x86" or "32 bit").
2) Have you recycled the power on the router? If you had a brown out or a power outage that could have scrambled the router, so unplug it for about 15 seconds then plug it back in (unlikely this will make a difference since the laptops work well).
3) If you have to check settings on the router, you could just use one of the laptops instead of disconnecting your desktop machine... all you need on a machine to check on the router is a network port and a web browser. In fact, even though they say don't do anything complicated, you should be able to check your browser's settings with any wireless connection by just entering the default gateway IP address into your web browser's address bar (to find the default gateway address, choose Start->Run, type "cmd" and hit enter... in the window that opens up type "ipconfig /all" and hit enter, you'll see the default gateway address listed there, that's the "internal IP address of your router and you can use that address in a web browser to access the router and check its settings).
4) You might also try running something like CCleaner (available free on www.download.com) to clean up any stray registry problems that might be plaguing you.
5) Check to see if there are any hardware problems. On your my computer icon (either on your desktop or in your start menu) right click and choose Properties, click the Hardware tab, click the Device Manager button. In the list that comes up make sure there's nothing listed under "Unknown Device" (that header won't even show up if there aren't any unknown devices so if you don't see it you're good on that front) and make sure there's nothing listed with a yellow question mark next to it... the yellow question mark is a sign of a device conflict / corrupt driver etc.)
Let us know if that works... I'd be happy to try to help more... I've learned a whole lot about photography from these groups, happy to try to give back on something I *actually* understand.
-- Bass
Posted by bill meikle on August 22, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Sad thing is that wireless routers work a lot better as ethernet adaptors! Most of us have had problems with our wireless networks and they are tough to troubleshoot. I gave up with mine as it wasn't reliable enough and went back to ethernet cable. My laptop works fine with all networks worldwide except my own network. Vista probably doesn't help if you have that, I get the feeling that MS thinks that wireless is second order of interest.
Posted by Jim Casteel on August 22, 2008 at 1:18 PM
I have had the same problem for several years with several routers. The problem is with Windows. When when Windows goes into sleep mode / hibernate it is causing the wireless router to think that it is still connected. The only solution I have found is to unplug the router and possibly restart windows. I have noticed that if I disconnect my wireless connection before i hibernate I can always reconnect. It is a pain but it works.
Thanks for the detailed suggestions, Bass. I did do a system restore to backup to a point before I installed any drivers, then just plugged the adapter in. Windows prompted for the CD and pulled the files in without using the D-Link install process. It worked fine for an hour or so and I thought it had been solved. Then, this morning, same problem. It seems that the router drops the adapter/computer for some reason. I even tried a different model adapter; same thing. So I tried a third, same thing. (All are compatible with the router).
I have recycled power numerous times, but as you indicated, the laptops are fine so the router is broadcasting. In the admin, it even shows my computer and shows that it's connected.
So... the router recognizes the computer, the adapter connects to the router (signal strength is always "excellent" and showing 130Mbps), but no data goes back and forth. Grrr....
I did read somewhere that you could overwhelm the ethernet card with too fast of a data transfer. I know I can change the properties of the ethernet card, but have no idea what I'd change them to. I can modify speed/duplex controls and wake-up properties, but don't want to randomly experiment. I've been wondering if the N-wireless data transfer is too fast for my ethernet. Also, since the problem seems to occur after the computer hibernates, I've been wondering if the adapter is "waking up" before the ethernet card, and finding nothing to communicate with, loses connectivity.
At this point, I've taken Bill's approach - given up! I did go back to my old router/adapter, and all is well. But would like to eventually figure this one out.
Thanks, Jim. I missed your comment while I was typing (had a long phone call between starting and ending my response). Sounds like that's a key part of this given that it occurs when the computer sleeps. My power settings are such that it never "hibernates", but the hard drives do turn off after an hour of inactivity.
Weird thing is, I can come out of sleep mode, disconnect/reconnect the adapter, get internet access for about 5 minutes, then all of a sudden lose it without ever going back into sleep mode.
I think my computer has A.D.D
Posted by Les Barstow on August 22, 2008 at 2:38 PM
Tough situation, Rick.
Have you tried the 'Repair' option on your wireless network? (Right-click on the wireless network icon and select 'Repair...'? Also, try 'Disable' and then 'Enable'. If Repair works, it's likely a DHCP issue; if Disable/Enable works, it's likely a Windows (driver?) issue.
You can also try setting the IP address of the wireless connection manually to avoid dependency on the DHCP server in the router. Right-click on the wireless network, click Properties, select 'TCP/IP Settings', click the Advanced button, and enter the IP address information (including DNS and the router's LAN IP as the gateway, plus a unique IP on the wireless network); when the computer can't find an address but thinks it has a network connection, it will fall back to the settings under 'Advanced'. Setting it this way will allow you to use the wireless card elsewhere without having to worry about changing the connection settings. E.g. my wireless network has a network address of 192.168.0.x; my router is 192.168.0.254, and I set my computer's IP address (under Advanced) to 192.168.0.253, which isn't used by the router or its DHCP server (which only uses .1 - .100, like many home routers).
Well, I went in and switch the ethernet speed/duplex setting and fixed it at 10MB full. So far, so good. I'll let the computer go to "sleep" and see what happens.
Thanks for all of the suggestions. If the above doesn't work, I'll play around with setting a fixed IP.
I'm having many of the same problems with my wireless network. Today I moved my system upstairs to I could connect it to the net via cable and totally skip wireless. I just installed a new wireless N router, and every computer in my house connects beatifully now. Except for my main system.
A couple of suggestions.
1. Don't use a USB hub to connect your USB Adapter. Plug it directly in to a port on the computer.
2. Give Network Magic a try. It solved some other wireless connectivity problems I was experiencing.
Knowing little about wireless (or wired, for that matter) networking, I've had my share of issues with balky wireless connections. I started having trouble with my (long-running) Belkin following a power outage and tried a couple other top name wireless routers with my combination PC/Mac laptop/desktop combination of computers to no avail. I finally tried Apple's Airport Extreme, which has worked first time right out of the box. Plus, no fancy setup rigamarole to go through.
If you want to try out a few other brands of routers, I'd be happy to ship off the whole works to you.
Discussion
12 repliesI bought a new D-link Wireless N router yesterday to replace my older Dell b/g router. I also bought a wireless N usb adapter for my PC; my laptops have built-in wireless.
I installed the router and adapter, and all was well. Good connectivity everywhere, including my iTouch which stubbornly refused to stay connected to my old router. This bliss lasted for about 12 hours.
This morning, my desktop PC wouldn't connect to the internet. It could see the network, and the signal strength was excellent. All laptops and iTouch were fine. I disconnected/reconnected the wireless adapter on the desktop and I was connected again; then a minute later, no more internet again. This is the gist of the problem - it will connect briefly, but not stay connected.
I called D-Link and the first guy managed to get all of my computers jacked up. He had me changing MAC addresses and other stuff. Frustrated, I hung up, called back, and got someone who helped me undo the damage that the first guy did, but was no help with the original problem.
I did explain to tech support that when I installed the router, I skipped the step where it said to first connect the router to the PC with a LAN cable. (My modem/router combo is in a different room on the other side of the house.) I simply disconnected the old Dell router and hooked up the new D-Link router. They didn't think that mattered, but my confidence in D-Link tech support isn't so great at the moment.
Any ideas. Before starting over, doing a system restore to before any drivers were installed and moving the PC (after disconnecting 10 miles of wires) to the room with the router and hardwiring it, I thought I'd see if anyone has any ideas.
Thanks in advance!!
I had a similar experience with my older D-Link router, desktop PC and a PCI slot wireless card. This was a couple years ago so I am trying to remember the specifics. The driver for the PCI card and the Windows XP wireless networking were not playing well with each other I believe. I think my ultimate fix was to ensure that Windows was managing the wireless settings, as I think the D-Link tried to overwrite some of that when I installed the driver.. Take a look at the properties of your wireless connection and make sure the "Use Windows to configure my Wireless Settings" is checked.
That might be a longshot, but if you had connectivity before, doesn't sound like you have any security related issues like MAC filtering or something blocking you. Unless you made changes at the router and inadvertantly blocked access from that PC - i.e., enabled MAC filtering at your router. Did you make any significant changes on the router in between the time you had connectivity and when you were SOL? But sounds like the misguided tech support guy may have been trying that angle already...
Also - might want to make sure you deleted the drivers for your old wireless card or whatever you were using. Then pull the latest drivers from D-Link, but you probably already did that. Good luck man!
I may try restoring the system prior to having installed any D-link drivers, and simply attach the adapter without the installation CD and let windows try its thing.
Thanks again.
1) Try uninstalling the whole software install that came with the USB adapter, restart your machine, then just plug in the USB adapter (i.e. don't run the install program on the CD). When Windows asks you for the location of the drivers, point it to the CD in your CD drive. This way you'll get just the drivers you need, not all the other (possibly installed) wireless management junk that just messes with Windows. Before doing this step you might also check on their website to see if there are updated drivers than what you have on the CD... if so just download the file, unzip it somewhere but don't run the "Setup" executable, just let Windows recognize your device and point Windows to the folder you unzipped (you might have to point to a folder inside of that big folder you unzipped, usually called something like "drivers" or "x86" or "32 bit").
2) Have you recycled the power on the router? If you had a brown out or a power outage that could have scrambled the router, so unplug it for about 15 seconds then plug it back in (unlikely this will make a difference since the laptops work well).
3) If you have to check settings on the router, you could just use one of the laptops instead of disconnecting your desktop machine... all you need on a machine to check on the router is a network port and a web browser. In fact, even though they say don't do anything complicated, you should be able to check your browser's settings with any wireless connection by just entering the default gateway IP address into your web browser's address bar (to find the default gateway address, choose Start->Run, type "cmd" and hit enter... in the window that opens up type "ipconfig /all" and hit enter, you'll see the default gateway address listed there, that's the "internal IP address of your router and you can use that address in a web browser to access the router and check its settings).
4) You might also try running something like CCleaner (available free on www.download.com) to clean up any stray registry problems that might be plaguing you.
5) Check to see if there are any hardware problems. On your my computer icon (either on your desktop or in your start menu) right click and choose Properties, click the Hardware tab, click the Device Manager button. In the list that comes up make sure there's nothing listed under "Unknown Device" (that header won't even show up if there aren't any unknown devices so if you don't see it you're good on that front) and make sure there's nothing listed with a yellow question mark next to it... the yellow question mark is a sign of a device conflict / corrupt driver etc.)
Let us know if that works... I'd be happy to try to help more... I've learned a whole lot about photography from these groups, happy to try to give back on something I *actually* understand.
-- Bass
I have recycled power numerous times, but as you indicated, the laptops are fine so the router is broadcasting. In the admin, it even shows my computer and shows that it's connected.
So... the router recognizes the computer, the adapter connects to the router (signal strength is always "excellent" and showing 130Mbps), but no data goes back and forth. Grrr....
I did read somewhere that you could overwhelm the ethernet card with too fast of a data transfer. I know I can change the properties of the ethernet card, but have no idea what I'd change them to. I can modify speed/duplex controls and wake-up properties, but don't want to randomly experiment. I've been wondering if the N-wireless data transfer is too fast for my ethernet. Also, since the problem seems to occur after the computer hibernates, I've been wondering if the adapter is "waking up" before the ethernet card, and finding nothing to communicate with, loses connectivity.
At this point, I've taken Bill's approach - given up!
Weird thing is, I can come out of sleep mode, disconnect/reconnect the adapter, get internet access for about 5 minutes, then all of a sudden lose it without ever going back into sleep mode.
I think my computer has A.D.D
Have you tried the 'Repair' option on your wireless network? (Right-click on the wireless network icon and select 'Repair...'? Also, try 'Disable' and then 'Enable'. If Repair works, it's likely a DHCP issue; if Disable/Enable works, it's likely a Windows (driver?) issue.
You can also try setting the IP address of the wireless connection manually to avoid dependency on the DHCP server in the router. Right-click on the wireless network, click Properties, select 'TCP/IP Settings', click the Advanced button, and enter the IP address information (including DNS and the router's LAN IP as the gateway, plus a unique IP on the wireless network); when the computer can't find an address but thinks it has a network connection, it will fall back to the settings under 'Advanced'. Setting it this way will allow you to use the wireless card elsewhere without having to worry about changing the connection settings. E.g. my wireless network has a network address of 192.168.0.x; my router is 192.168.0.254, and I set my computer's IP address (under Advanced) to 192.168.0.253, which isn't used by the router or its DHCP server (which only uses .1 - .100, like many home routers).
Thanks for all of the suggestions. If the above doesn't work, I'll play around with setting a fixed IP.
A couple of suggestions.
1. Don't use a USB hub to connect your USB Adapter. Plug it directly in to a port on the computer.
2. Give Network Magic a try. It solved some other wireless connectivity problems I was experiencing.
3. Put the hammer away.
If you want to try out a few other brands of routers, I'd be happy to ship off the whole works to you.
Ken