Linksys WLAN monitor

I recently upgraded from B to G with the WMP54GS PCI card. It is bundled with
WLAN Monitor ver 1.1. What functions does the WLAN monitor handle? (this
computer is WinMe)
Do I need this application just to connect to the AP and Internet? I've noticed
that I can quit this program and still use the network and Internet. But I've
also noticed that when the WLAN monitor became slightly corrupted I could not
connect to anything. (DHCP Client said "disabled") (I could edit my profile to
re-enable)
With the WLAN monitor stopped via "end task" I power cycled my DSL modem and
WRT54GS AP. After they both came back up my WinMe machine with the monitor
"stopped" was able to establish communications with the AP and Internet. (new IP
also) But... if I reboot the WinMe machine there is NO network or Internet if
the WLAN monitor is not running. So it seems it must be running to connect but
after that there is no need for it. At time it uses 7% of system resources which
are released if I quit the program.
Also, along with signal strength it reports "speed". This reported speed can
vary from 1Mbs to 110Mbs. Where do these figures come from. Is it actually
measuring the speed or guessing? Obviously the 110Mbs figure can't be accurate,
can it?
Lastly, the linksys website indicates there is a later version than 1.1 for my
card but seems to say that it is for WinXP only.
Thanks for any advice or help on these issues.

The Linksys LAN monitor program is known buggy! It is known for causing
a memory leak, and can eat up horrendous amounts of your RAM if left
running for extended periods (days, weeks). According to Linksys, the
solution is to update the program to the new version 2.0. I did this and I
see no more "quirky" behaviour from the program.

One thing, though, I thought the Linksys had to be run on a Windows
2000 or later operating system? My Linksys info that came with my WUSB54G
unit indicates this, so I am puzzled that your system runs on ME OK.


Ed

Ed wrote:
> The Linksys LAN monitor program is known buggy! It is known for causing
> a memory leak, and can eat up horrendous amounts of your RAM if left
> running for extended periods (days, weeks). According to Linksys, the
> solution is to update the program to the new version 2.0. I did this and I
> see no more "quirky" behaviour from the program.
>
> One thing, though, I thought the Linksys had to be run on a Windows
> 2000 or later operating system? My Linksys info that came with my WUSB54G
> unit indicates this, so I am puzzled that your system runs on ME OK.
>
>
> Ed

The Linksys PCI adapter WMP54GS package states for minimum requirements...
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP. So I can only assume that the software that is
bundled should work with my WinME. Also on package is ATTENTION Speedbooster
Mode Available Under Windows 2000 and XP only. I missed that until after I had
purchased the unit. (and router/AP)
I've been using this hardware for a couple of weeks and the WLAN monitor does
strange things. It will sometimes crash and take me to the blue screen of death.
But when I press the space bar I'm returned to Windows and all is well except
the WLAN is no longer running. Today after I wrote the original post I ran new
wire from my outside telephone interface to the DSL modem. I had the modem and
router/AP off for about an hour. After I powered them back on the WinME machine
could not see the AP. It could see a neighbors AP with SSID broadcast on but not
my network with SSID broadcast turned off. Even clicking on the default profile
that knows my SSID it could not connect. Quitting the monitor program and
running it again did not work. Had to reboot the computer and then all was well.
In my original post I mentioned that I could quit the monitor program and then
power cycle the modem / router and the WinME machine would re-connect. So like
you say the program is buggy. I think I'll try the later version and see if it
runs on my system. If not I'll just let the program run at startup to connect
things and then close it.
Are their 3rd party apps that might work better?

DanR wrote:
> Ed wrote:
>> The Linksys LAN monitor program is known buggy! It is known for causing
>> a memory leak, and can eat up horrendous amounts of your RAM if left
>> running for extended periods (days, weeks). According to Linksys, the
>> solution is to update the program to the new version 2.0. I did this and I
>> see no more "quirky" behaviour from the program.
>>
>> One thing, though, I thought the Linksys had to be run on a Windows
>> 2000 or later operating system? My Linksys info that came with my WUSB54G
>> unit indicates this, so I am puzzled that your system runs on ME OK.
>>
>>
>> Ed
>
> The Linksys PCI adapter WMP54GS package states for minimum requirements...
> Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP. So I can only assume that the software that is
> bundled should work with my WinME. Also on package is ATTENTION Speedbooster
> Mode Available Under Windows 2000 and XP only. I missed that until after I had
> purchased the unit. (and router/AP)
> I've been using this hardware for a couple of weeks and the WLAN monitor does
> strange things. It will sometimes crash and take me to the blue screen of
> death. But when I press the space bar I'm returned to Windows and all is well
> except the WLAN is no longer running. Today after I wrote the original post I
> ran new wire from my outside telephone interface to the DSL modem. I had the
> modem and router/AP off for about an hour. After I powered them back on the
> WinME machine could not see the AP. It could see a neighbors AP with SSID
> broadcast on but not my network with SSID broadcast turned off. Even clicking
> on the default profile that knows my SSID it could not connect. Quitting the
> monitor program and running it again did not work. Had to reboot the computer
> and then all was well. In my original post I mentioned that I could quit the
> monitor program and then power cycle the modem / router and the WinME machine
> would re-connect. So like you say the program is buggy. I think I'll try the
> later version and see if it runs on my system. If not I'll just let the
> program run at startup to connect things and then close it.
> Are their 3rd party apps that might work better?

Update: Linksys WLAN monitor now using 19% system resources on my WinMe machine.
World champion resource hog. Their email tech support said "The WLAN monitor
found in the website for the WMP54GS is the latest and greatest for that model.
The reason why it appears to be a resource hog is because it is constantly
running".
But they did answer my question with a personal reply.

>
> Update: Linksys WLAN monitor now using 19% system resources on my
> WinMe machine. World champion resource hog. Their email tech support
> said "The WLAN monitor found in the website for the WMP54GS is the
> latest and greatest for that model. The reason why it appears to be a
> resource hog is because it is constantly running".
> But they did answer my question with a personal reply.
>

You didn't say whether or not you updated the Linksys Monitor program?
By doing so here, my resource usage creep from this program was reduced
drastically, although it still seems to "creep" a bit. One added benefit:
the new monitor program is easier to turn on and off, so I still leave it
off almost all the time.


Ed

Ed wrote:
>> Update: Linksys WLAN monitor now using 19% system resources on my
>> WinMe machine. World champion resource hog. Their email tech support
>> said "The WLAN monitor found in the website for the WMP54GS is the
>> latest and greatest for that model. The reason why it appears to be a
>> resource hog is because it is constantly running".
>> But they did answer my question with a personal reply.
>>
>
> You didn't say whether or not you updated the Linksys Monitor program?
> By doing so here, my resource usage creep from this program was reduced
> drastically, although it still seems to "creep" a bit. One added benefit:
> the new monitor program is easier to turn on and off, so I still leave it
> off almost all the time.
>
>
> Ed

Hi Ed... Yes I did get the "latest" version of the WLAN monitor app. It is ver
1.25 and Linksys told me via support email that it was the latest for my PCI
card. (WMP54GS) The download contained an updated driver and the monitor.
Linksys website said for WinXP only but support said I could use it on WinME
machine. The main "setup" file stalled at 25% for over an hour. So I started to
wonder about the WinME compatibility. After a reboot I installed ONLY the
monitor and not the driver. So the monitor is version 1.25 from 1.1. Driver is
still version 3.50.21.11.
After reading your reply I did a reboot. The monitor starts and I get connected
to the router and the Internet. The resource meter tells me I have 58% resources
that are free. I click on the tray meter icon to open it and close it. Now I
have 55% resources free. (that's OK) I right click on the icon and select
"stop". I now have 58% resources free. So it gave me 3% back. Then I click
"start" and I'm back to 55%. All this is fine. But then I use Cntr-Alt-Del to
"end task" of the meter and now I have 71% resources free. So the monitor was
using 16% of my resources. That is a whole lot of resources for one program to
use.
It is normal for my resources to dwindle after a reboot. I load the resource
meter from startup folder to keep an eye on this. If I quit the WLAN meter I can
last much longer than otherwise. These tests also tell me that my original WLAN
monitor from the 802.11B card must have also been using a lot of resources as I
don't remember ever having 71% free resources after a bootup.
So lately I've gotten into the habit of quitting the monitor after I'm booted
and connected. So far there hasn't been a problem. The Internet is always there.
I'm not sure what happens if my DSL lease runs out and the modem gets a new IP.
Don't know what effect that has on the router and my connection to / from the
WinME machine.
In fact I don't even know if this monitor program is responsible for connecting
me to the network or is JUST a monitor. I will have to try disabling it with
msconfig and see what happens.

DanR wrote:
> Ed wrote:
>>> Update: Linksys WLAN monitor now using 19% system resources on my
>>> WinMe machine. World champion resource hog. Their email tech support
>>> said "The WLAN monitor found in the website for the WMP54GS is the
>>> latest and greatest for that model. The reason why it appears to be a
>>> resource hog is because it is constantly running".
>>> But they did answer my question with a personal reply.
>>>
>>
>> You didn't say whether or not you updated the Linksys Monitor program?
>> By doing so here, my resource usage creep from this program was reduced
>> drastically, although it still seems to "creep" a bit. One added benefit:
>> the new monitor program is easier to turn on and off, so I still leave it
>> off almost all the time.
>>
>>
>> Ed
>
> Hi Ed... Yes I did get the "latest" version of the WLAN monitor app. It is ver
> 1.25 and Linksys told me via support email that it was the latest for my PCI
> card. (WMP54GS) The download contained an updated driver and the monitor.
> Linksys website said for WinXP only but support said I could use it on WinME
> machine. The main "setup" file stalled at 25% for over an hour. So I started
> to wonder about the WinME compatibility. After a reboot I installed ONLY the
> monitor and not the driver. So the monitor is version 1.25 from 1.1. Driver is
> still version 3.50.21.11.
> After reading your reply I did a reboot. The monitor starts and I get
> connected to the router and the Internet. The resource meter tells me I have
> 58% resources that are free. I click on the tray meter icon to open it and
> close it. Now I have 55% resources free. (that's OK) I right click on the
> icon and select "stop". I now have 58% resources free. So it gave me 3% back.
> Then I click "start" and I'm back to 55%. All this is fine. But then I use
> Cntr-Alt-Del to "end task" of the meter and now I have 71% resources free. So
> the monitor was using 16% of my resources. That is a whole lot of resources
> for one program to use.
> It is normal for my resources to dwindle after a reboot. I load the resource
> meter from startup folder to keep an eye on this. If I quit the WLAN meter I
> can last much longer than otherwise. These tests also tell me that my
> original WLAN monitor from the 802.11B card must have also been using a lot
> of resources as I don't remember ever having 71% free resources after a
> bootup.
> So lately I've gotten into the habit of quitting the monitor after I'm booted
> and connected. So far there hasn't been a problem. The Internet is always
> there. I'm not sure what happens if my DSL lease runs out and the modem gets
> a new IP. Don't know what effect that has on the router and my connection to
> / from the WinME machine.
> In fact I don't even know if this monitor program is responsible for
> connecting me to the network or is JUST a monitor. I will have to try
> disabling it with msconfig and see what happens.

I did disable the WLAN monitor (WMP54GS.exe) using msconfig. After a reboot I
had no connectivity at all. So the utility is needed to get me connected but
apparently not needed after that.
And I discovered that I still had the previous version of the utility on my hard
drive. It still works as far as getting me connected and seems to be more stable
on my machine. The newer version of the utility "sometimes" reports the speed as
"speedbooster" instead of an actual number as 54Mbs.
I'll have to do some more experimenting. After booting without the utility
loading I didn't have the71% free resources. More like 61 to 64. Sometimes when
I use Cntr-Alt-Del end task to quit the monitor I get the blue screen of death.
But pressing the space bar brings me back to Windows and all seems well. I have
no problems that I can notice. But now I'm wondering if when I quit the monitor
and do get the blue screen... is it taking out some other program with it. And
thus the giant increase in system resources. I'll play around some more tomorrow
and compare with blue screen to without blue screen.
Time to go to bed.