Dropout problem

As a newbie to wireless stuff I'd be glad of suggestions here. I have a
BY Voyager 2000 ADSL wireless modem at one end. At the other I've been
using a USB dongle thingy under W98 without any problems at all,
installed, hooked up and sits there for hours without a hitch.

I really want to use Linux on this pc, and the USB part isn't supported so
I hit ebay and got a network card and a cheap ethernet connected Access
Point. It's a Mercury KOB WL460C ver A1. I'm using drivers downloaded from
the manufacturer's web site. A week of learning to drive it (and figuring
that it needed a crossed CAT5 cable, not mentioned anywhere!) and I have
it working as an Access Point client. It links to the Voyager fine, and
delivers a solid connection.

It has one problem - if there's no activity for more than a couple of
minutes, it drops the link and the only fix I've found is to remove and
reconnect the power lead to it. If I set my email prog. to check every
minute or two, the link holds up for hours but if I set the gap to 3 mins,
it drops out every time, under both Win and Linux.

Any ideas please?

Thanks,

Steve

"Steve" <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> As a newbie to wireless stuff I'd be glad of suggestions here. I
have a
> BY Voyager 2000 ADSL wireless modem at one end. At the other I've
been
> using a USB dongle thingy under W98 without any problems at all,
> installed, hooked up and sits there for hours without a hitch.
>
> I really want to use Linux on this pc, and the USB part isn't
supported so
> I hit ebay and got a network card and a cheap ethernet connected
Access
> Point. It's a Mercury KOB WL460C ver A1. I'm using drivers
downloaded from
> the manufacturer's web site. A week of learning to drive it (and
figuring
> that it needed a crossed CAT5 cable, not mentioned anywhere!) and I
have
> it working as an Access Point client. It links to the Voyager fine,
and
> delivers a solid connection.
>
> It has one problem - if there's no activity for more than a couple
of
> minutes, it drops the link and the only fix I've found is to remove
and
> reconnect the power lead to it. If I set my email prog. to check
every
> minute or two, the link holds up for hours but if I set the gap to 3
mins,
> it drops out every time, under both Win and Linux.

Im assuming that this is the same PC in a dual boot setup.
Do you have any power management running that would
shut the adapter down after a few minutes of inactivity?

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 15:28:17 -0600, Airhead wrote:

>
> "Steve" <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
>> As a newbie to wireless stuff I'd be glad of suggestions here. I
> have a
>> BY Voyager 2000 ADSL wireless modem at one end. At the other I've
> been
>> using a USB dongle thingy under W98 without any problems at all,
>> installed, hooked up and sits there for hours without a hitch.
>>
>> I really want to use Linux on this pc, and the USB part isn't
> supported so
>> I hit ebay and got a network card and a cheap ethernet connected
> Access
>> Point. It's a Mercury KOB WL460C ver A1. I'm using drivers
> downloaded from
>> the manufacturer's web site. A week of learning to drive it (and
> figuring
>> that it needed a crossed CAT5 cable, not mentioned anywhere!) and I
> have
>> it working as an Access Point client. It links to the Voyager fine,
> and
>> delivers a solid connection.
>>
>> It has one problem - if there's no activity for more than a couple
> of
>> minutes, it drops the link and the only fix I've found is to remove
> and
>> reconnect the power lead to it. If I set my email prog. to check
> every
>> minute or two, the link holds up for hours but if I set the gap to 3
> mins,
>> it drops out every time, under both Win and Linux.
>
> Im assuming that this is the same PC in a dual boot setup.

Yes.
> Do you have any power management running that would
> shut the adapter down after a few minutes of inactivity?
Not that I know of. The wireless bit is totally external and runs from a
separate mains adaptor. When the link drops I don't have to reset the
ethernet card in the computer, or renew any network settings (manually
anyway), just turn the wireless link off and back on.

Both the ethernet card and wireless link are set to use DHCP with the
modem as the server. Cycling the wireless part on and off will (I guess)
force the address to be renewed but I don't know if that would cascade on
and force a renewal on the ethernet card as well. On the other hand, if I
connect the ethernet card to the modem with a cable, there's no timeout
problem so I think it's probably something in the wireless box.

Steve

"Steve" <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 15:28:17 -0600, Airhead wrote:
>
> >
> > "Steve" <no-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> As a newbie to wireless stuff I'd be glad of suggestions here. I
> > have a
> >> BY Voyager 2000 ADSL wireless modem at one end. At the other I've
> > been
> >> using a USB dongle thingy under W98 without any problems at all,
> >> installed, hooked up and sits there for hours without a hitch.
> >>
> >> I really want to use Linux on this pc, and the USB part isn't
> > supported so
> >> I hit ebay and got a network card and a cheap ethernet connected
> > Access
> >> Point. It's a Mercury KOB WL460C ver A1. I'm using drivers
> > downloaded from
> >> the manufacturer's web site. A week of learning to drive it (and
> > figuring
> >> that it needed a crossed CAT5 cable, not mentioned anywhere!) and
I
> > have
> >> it working as an Access Point client. It links to the Voyager
fine,
> > and
> >> delivers a solid connection.
> >>
> >> It has one problem - if there's no activity for more than a
couple
> > of
> >> minutes, it drops the link and the only fix I've found is to
remove
> > and
> >> reconnect the power lead to it. If I set my email prog. to check
> > every
> >> minute or two, the link holds up for hours but if I set the gap
to 3
> > mins,
> >> it drops out every time, under both Win and Linux.
> >
> > Im assuming that this is the same PC in a dual boot setup.
>
> Yes.
> > Do you have any power management running that would
> > shut the adapter down after a few minutes of inactivity?
> Not that I know of. The wireless bit is totally external and runs
from a
> separate mains adaptor. When the link drops I don't have to reset
the
> ethernet card in the computer, or renew any network settings
(manually
> anyway), just turn the wireless link off and back on.
>
> Both the ethernet card and wireless link are set to use DHCP with
the
> modem as the server. Cycling the wireless part on and off will (I
guess)
> force the address to be renewed but I don't know if that would
cascade on
> and force a renewal on the ethernet card as well. On the other hand,
if I
> connect the ethernet card to the modem with a cable, there's no
timeout
> problem so I think it's probably something in the wireless box.

Sounds like your right. If its not busy it goes to sleep.