laptop sometimes fails to find wireless signal

I have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I use WEP encryption and
broadcast 80211.b and g (I have one computer with an 80211.b card). I
have Broadcast SSID set to on.

I have an HP Pavillion zv5000 laptop with built-in 80211.g capability.
It uses the standard Windows XP Wireless Network Connection tool.
Normally it picks up the signal from my Linksys just fine, but
sometimes it can't find it, even though it finds all the neighbors'
signals with no problem. I've found the only way to remedy this is to
change the channel on the Linksys, but I shouldn't have to do that,
should I? I never have any trouble getting a signal at a hotel or
espresso shop.

Is there any way I can get my laptop to recognize the Linksys signal
consistently without having to change the channel?

Thanks,

Mike Christie
mike [at] csquared [dot] com

"MikeChristie" <mike@csquared[nospam].com> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I use WEP encryption and
> broadcast 80211.b and g (I have one computer with an 80211.b card). I
> have Broadcast SSID set to on.
>
> I have an HP Pavillion zv5000 laptop with built-in 80211.g capability.
> It uses the standard Windows XP Wireless Network Connection tool.
> Normally it picks up the signal from my Linksys just fine, but
> sometimes it can't find it, even though it finds all the neighbors'
> signals with no problem. I've found the only way to remedy this is to
> change the channel on the Linksys, but I shouldn't have to do that,
> should I? I never have any trouble getting a signal at a hotel or
> espresso shop.
>
> Is there any way I can get my laptop to recognize the Linksys signal
> consistently without having to change the channel?

Have you changed the default SSID? There is no downside from changing
the channel if there are competing networks on the default channel. The
channel is changed in the router setup and the network cards should
still find your network. Changing the channel for your network will not
affect you ability to connect to any other networks. So, change the
channel.

Q