Wireless connection driving me crazy.

I have two XP laptops accessing a wireless access point (actually
currently a Cable & Wireless router just working as an access point).

Mostly it is fine, but fairly frequently the connection doesn't work,
with the Wireless network connection showing Connected - Signal
strength Good, but I have no connection and cannot ping the AP.

Today for instance I switched on the Lenovo 3000 laptop and got the
above issue. Ran Network Stumbler and the AP shows up fine. Tried a
repair connection (sometimes this worked especially on my now defunct
DLINK AP), then I switched on the Dell Inspiron. Even without logging
on the Lenovo connection suddenly became active once the Dell had
booted up.

Without fail a switch off/on of the C&W AP works as also did when I
had the Dlink 700AP.

Currently I'm on fixed IP's but that doesn't make any difference.

The network is not straightforward and is as shown below:

C&W AP (home) -> Linksys WAP54G -- 400m wireless bridge mode --
Linksys WAP54G (office) -> C&W router -> ADSL and LAN

The Linksys work perfectly, on Channel 6, the C&W AP is on Channel 1.

Where do I start to get a reliable wireless connection every time?

Is the a Windows XP wireless issue?

Many thanks


--
AnthonyL

On 19/03/10 15:39, AnthonyL wrote:

> C&W AP (home) -> Linksys WAP54G -- 400m wireless bridge mode --
> Linksys WAP54G (office) -> C&W router -> ADSL and LAN
>
> The Linksys work perfectly, on Channel 6, the C&W AP is on Channel 1.
>
> Where do I start to get a reliable wireless connection every time?
>
> Is the a Windows XP wireless issue?

If multiple machines fail to connect to the same AP, which a reboot of
the AP fixes, then I can't see how it can be anything other than an
issue with the AP. Latest firmware on the AP? Tried another AP? If you
still suspect XP, try booting of a linux live CD and check the wireless
from that.

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On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:42:06 +0000, alexd <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>On 19/03/10 15:39, AnthonyL wrote:
>
>> C&W AP (home) -> Linksys WAP54G -- 400m wireless bridge mode --
>> Linksys WAP54G (office) -> C&W router -> ADSL and LAN
>>
>> The Linksys work perfectly, on Channel 6, the C&W AP is on Channel 1.
>>
>> Where do I start to get a reliable wireless connection every time?
>>
>> Is the a Windows XP wireless issue?
>
>If multiple machines fail to connect to the same AP, which a reboot of
>the AP fixes, then I can't see how it can be anything other than an
>issue with the AP.

But that isn't the only fix. Switching on the Dell often allows the
Lenovo to connect.

When I had the Dlink the Lenovo just about always connected but the
Dell would usually connect only if logged in with my wife's non-admin
credentials but then would fail when I logged in with admin
credentials. A repair would usually fix that.

>Latest firmware on the AP?

Can't find it.


>Tried another AP?

As stated in original post and above two out of two AP's have given
problems.

>If you
>still suspect XP, try booting of a linux live CD and check the wireless
>from that.

Good thought.


--
AnthonyL

On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:50:01 +0000, Bob <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On 20/03/2010 09:38, AnthonyL wrote:
>
>>> Tried another AP?
>>
>> As stated in original post and above two out of two AP's have given
>> problems.
>
>Irrespective of that neither of the C&W ADSL Modems have had good reviews.
>
>"This router has a mind of its own and only chooses to work when it

<snip>

><http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Wireless-802-11G-ADSL-Router/dp/B0009HJEMO>
>
><http://www.deanmarshall.co.uk/store/Action::IFind--ASIN::B000I1OCR8>
>
>I would try and borrow another AP. Given that these models are several
>years old and do not appear to have access to any firmware upgrades I
>would be looking to replace them.

I won't disagree with the reviews. I ended up with 2 units, one I use
as the ADSL router. That is fairly solid and has been for a couple of
years except the wireless side died. Having said that I'm in a
'remote' village and the router is hardly being pushed at 1 Mbit/s if
we are lucky.

The other is the one that this post refers to, though I have never had
to do more than a reboot.


>When you used "Netstumbler" did you check to see if there were any other
>Channels in use that might cause an intermittent failure?
>

There is a neighbour a few houses down who also uses Channel 1. The
signal is pretty weak.


Any recommendation for a solid adsl/wireless router + switch? I would
be buying two, one for use as the ADSL router, one for use as the AP
point, but the AP would serve as a backup for the main ADSL
connection.

Thanks


--
AnthonyL

"Bill Kearney" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > That is fairly solid and has been for a couple of
> > years except the wireless side died.
>
> Just get rid of the piece of shit C&W router and be done with your troubles.
> Honestly, routers are cheap these days, replace it with something else and
> move on.

What is "piece of shit C&W" that you got rid of?

To be hornest, I agree with you that router is dirt cheap these days, and
I got the one recommend by some experts here. My Buffalo works pretty nice
except I can connect more than 1 wireless.

Yes, I have (at least I tried) setting it to allow I don't remember 10-60
connections even we only have 5 notebooks, but just can't connect to more
than one wireless.

And I am thinking about replacing it with the LinkSys that many experts
here bitching about Linksys. But at least it works with my nephews and
cousin.

"Peter Pan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> >
> > To be hornest, I agree with you that router is dirt cheap these days, and
> > I got the one recommend by some experts here. My Buffalo works pretty
> > nice
> > except I can connect more than 1 wireless.
> >
> > Yes, I have (at least I tried) setting it to allow I don't remember 10-60
> > connections even we only have 5 notebooks, but just can't connect to more
> > than one wireless.
> >
> > And I am thinking about replacing it with the LinkSys that many experts
> > here bitching about Linksys. But at least it works with my nephews and
> > cousin.
>
> i have to wonder what you mean by "one wireless"... do you mean wireless
> NETWORK, wireless DEVICE, wireless etc?
>
> if you happen to mean wireless DEVICES (like notebooks) thats a pretty sure
> sign you have the dhcp server turned off, if you happen to mean wireless
> NETWORKS, there are very few clients that connect to/share multiple wireless
> networks at the same time
>
>
> rule of thumb, reset it to factory defaults, turn off any firewalls on your
> computer, and see if it works BEFORE you changed it

Wireless network! I have tried just about everything but just no go, I
Google for the answer but don't find the answer to the similar problem.

- I have reset to factory several times

- I tried without firewall

- It never work before, or the problem has been going on for years.

On 27/03/10 12:33, Joel wrote:

> Wireless network! I have tried just about everything but just no go, I
> Google for the answer but don't find the answer to the similar problem.
>
> - I have reset to factory several times
>
> - I tried without firewall
>
> - It never work before, or the problem has been going on for years.

Hmm, some more clarification needed, I think. By 'network', do you mean
you want more than one SSID on your AP [virtual access points], or do
you mean that you want to use it as a client-bridge to more than one
other wireless network? The latter is an unusual requirement [to say the
least] but if it's possible with the Buffalo hardware you have then
DD-WRT should let you do it. The former is easy enough, certainly with
DD-WRT.

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alexd <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On 27/03/10 12:33, Joel wrote:
>
> > Wireless network! I have tried just about everything but just no go, I
> > Google for the answer but don't find the answer to the similar problem.
> >
> > - I have reset to factory several times
> >
> > - I tried without firewall
> >
> > - It never work before, or the problem has been going on for years.
>
> Hmm, some more clarification needed, I think. By 'network', do you mean
> you want more than one SSID on your AP [virtual access points], or do
> you mean that you want to use it as a client-bridge to more than one
> other wireless network? The latter is an unusual requirement [to say the
> least] but if it's possible with the Buffalo hardware you have then
> DD-WRT should let you do it. The former is easy enough, certainly with
> DD-WRT.

I mean I have

- Wireless router connected to Win7 (new build) and WinXP and Vista before
that. As I have mentioned that the problem has been going on for years

- I have 2 desktops connected (wired) to the wireless router.

- We have 4 notebooks with wireless network capable, and the WII.

And I just can't be able to connect more than ONE laptop, or laptop and
Wii. I don't want anything else but be able to have more than one laptop
access to internet at same time like it supposes to.

Say I have laptop A, B, C, D. If

A = connected then B,C, and D can't

B= connected then A,C, and D can't

D=connected then A,B, and C can't.

The laptops are Toshiba, Dell, HP, Sony, and the Wii.

When the Toshiba was running Windows Vista, I can have 2 laptopns
connected to internet *if* I connect any of other laptop first then the
Toshiba 2nd. But it no longer work with Win7

And all laptops have no problem with other wireless network (from school,
friend, public).

"Peter Pan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> "Joel" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news(E-Mail Removed)...
> > alexd <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >
> >> On 27/03/10 12:33, Joel wrote:
> >>
> >> > Wireless network! I have tried just about everything but just no go, I
> >> > Google for the answer but don't find the answer to the similar problem.
> >> >
> >> > - I have reset to factory several times
> >> >
> >> > - I tried without firewall
> >> >
> >> > - It never work before, or the problem has been going on for years.
> >>
> >> Hmm, some more clarification needed, I think. By 'network', do you mean
> >> you want more than one SSID on your AP [virtual access points], or do
> >> you mean that you want to use it as a client-bridge to more than one
> >> other wireless network? The latter is an unusual requirement [to say the
> >> least] but if it's possible with the Buffalo hardware you have then
> >> DD-WRT should let you do it. The former is easy enough, certainly with
> >> DD-WRT.
> >
> > I mean I have
> >
> > - Wireless router connected to Win7 (new build) and WinXP and Vista before
> > that. As I have mentioned that the problem has been going on for years
> >
> > - I have 2 desktops connected (wired) to the wireless router.
> >
> > - We have 4 notebooks with wireless network capable, and the WII.
> >
> > And I just can't be able to connect more than ONE laptop, or laptop and
> > Wii. I don't want anything else but be able to have more than one laptop
> > access to internet at same time like it supposes to.
> >
> > Say I have laptop A, B, C, D. If
> >
> > A = connected then B,C, and D can't
> >
> > B= connected then A,C, and D can't
> >
> > D=connected then A,B, and C can't.
> >
> > The laptops are Toshiba, Dell, HP, Sony, and the Wii.
> >
> > When the Toshiba was running Windows Vista, I can have 2 laptopns
> > connected to internet *if* I connect any of other laptop first then the
> > Toshiba 2nd. But it no longer work with Win7
> >
> > And all laptops have no problem with other wireless network (from school,
> > friend, public).
> >
>
>
> are you by any chance using profiles or duplicated mac id's or forcing a
> certain port #? sure sounds like they are getting port assignments ok from
> other wireless networks, but on yours it's only getting the same one (or
> it's overriding the one handed out and using one that conflicts with one
> already assigned)
>
> you may want to try each one (connect and do the equivalent of
> start/run/command ipconfig /all <--- xp commands, change for whatever opsys
> you are using) that will tell you absolutely for sure what ip/port address
> each laptop is using.... they should all be different, if not, will help
> narrow down the problem

Besides trying to get the router working, I don't know much about network
to change whatever factory and default setting. And because of the issue I
have with the current Buffalo wireless router for 2-3 years (?) I only tried
to change few small things like

- Different security option that doesn't help

- Increasing the number of connection (like 30-40+?) lot more than I really
need that doesn't help.

- And as I have mentioned that I have been using the same Buffalo wireless
router WHR-HP-G54 (about time to upgrade to N speed?) on several different
motherboards and Windows (from Win98, WinXP, and now Windows 7). Many
different versions of firewall, as well as I tried without firewall. None
helps either.

- Since none of the laptops having problem connecting to other wireless
network (like in school, other house, public, other privated network, in and
out of USA), and nobody in my family knows much about networking so we don't
change the factory setting of the laptops.

- About the INCONFIG, only to the desktop with the Buffalo router, I have
tried to RESET (or renew whatever) several times and that's about all I did.
I don't know much about IP/Port address but whatever automatically, and NOT
the laptops cuz they don't have any problem with other networks.

On 29/03/10 09:09, Joel wrote:
> "Peter Pan"<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>> are you by any chance using profiles or duplicated mac id's or forcing a
>> certain port #? sure sounds like they are getting port assignments ok from
>> other wireless networks, but on yours it's only getting the same one (or
>> it's overriding the one handed out and using one that conflicts with one
>> already assigned)

What type of 'port' are you talking about here?

> - And as I have mentioned that I have been using the same Buffalo wireless
> router WHR-HP-G54 (about time to upgrade to N speed?) on several different
> motherboards and Windows (from Win98, WinXP, and now Windows 7). Many
> different versions of firewall, as well as I tried without firewall. None
> helps either.

I've got one of those in the office with DD-WRT on and it works great.

--
<http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) ((E-Mail Removed))
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It is better to have been wasted and then sober
than to never have been wasted at all