Wireless Network Trouble

Hi there,

Trying to setup a wireless network but having not much luck.

First, my configuration:

PC A: XP3200+, NF7-S, Asus WL138-G Wireless card.
PC B: XP2700+, KX7-333, Asus WL138-G Wireless card
PC C: Duron 900, KT7, Asus WL138-G Wireless card.

All machines are running XP Pro. PC A has SP2. The other two have SP1a.

PC A is about 13 metres from PC B. There are not really any walls - they are
in rooms either end of a corridor. PC A is 6 metres from PC C, through a
wall. PC B is about 15 minuites from PC C, through a few walls.

I want to connect the 3 machines together in Ad Hoc mode. But before I did
that, I decided to check it all works by connecting 2 machines together.

Whatever I do, I cannot get PC A to connect to a wireless network.
Occasionally, it finds one, but never actually connects.

PC B and C *will* connect to each other - I've even been able to browse
files on the other machine, but the signal strength is almost always 'Very
Poor' and never more than 5mbps (They are 802.11g 54mbps cards).

I've tried using both the Asus software to connect, and also the Windows
stuff, but nothing really seems to work. I've tried turning either PC B or C
*off* and then trying to connect just A to one of the others, but again, it
doesnt work.

The Asus software I have claims, in its help file, to be able to run a
software access point. So I thought I'd give this a go, but the SoftAP
option was missing from the utility.

All I want to do is replace my wired 10mbit network with a wireless solution
to link the 3 PC's in order to share my 56k connection. But I can't even get
two to link let alone all 3.

Any ideas short of throwing it all out the window?

"Michael Rodgers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi there,

<snip>

Just got machine A and B in the same room, 30cm apart now. A wont find any
wireless networks. B reckons its happily connected at 1mbps with excellent
signal strength. There are no other networks for miles around.

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 19:36:43 +0100, "Michael Rodgers"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>Trying to setup a wireless network but having not much luck.

>I want to connect the 3 machines together in Ad Hoc mode. But before I did
>that, I decided to check it all works by connecting 2 machines together.
>
>Whatever I do, I cannot get PC A to connect to a wireless network.
>Occasionally, it finds one, but never actually connects.

To the best of my knowledge only TWO machines can be connected in Ad
Hoc mode. To do more than two you need an access point and all
connected in Infrastructure mode.
>
>PC B and C *will* connect to each other - I've even been able to browse
>files on the other machine, but the signal strength is almost always 'Very
>Poor' and never more than 5mbps (They are 802.11g 54mbps cards).

Don't believe too much what is printed on the box, mine sruggle with a
signal about 30 feet away.

Geoff Lane

"Geoff Lane" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>Whatever I do, I cannot get PC A to connect to a wireless network.
>>Occasionally, it finds one, but never actually connects.
>
> To the best of my knowledge only TWO machines can be connected in Ad
> Hoc mode. To do more than two you need an access point and all
> connected in Infrastructure mode.

I've been assured by a number of people that this isnt the case - either
way, I can't even get two working currently.

For some reason, when reading Ebuyer & other comments,
the combination of XP + AthlonXP + Wireless has problems.
Think more of that is to do with drivers than CPU :-)

Check 2 things:
o BIOS version
o Driver version - in particular

It would appear that release candidate of h/w comes before s/w,
where you become the Beta tester. I've stayed away from Wireless,
except for some Cisco kit a colleague sent to me (which does seem
to have very good signal strength - although price is disproportionate).


Get 2 PCs working with range, there are a few issues with XP - some
hotfixes cause issues with WPA and other functionality of Wireless. It
would seem from a quick google the biggest fix-for-the-time is drivers.

Range is one factor which is noted re drivers.
--
Dorothy Bradbury
www.stores.ebay.co.uk/panaflofan for quiet Panaflo fans & other items
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy...ry/panaflo.htm (Free Delivery)

Dorothy Bradbury wrote:
> For some reason, when reading Ebuyer & other comments,
> the combination of XP + AthlonXP + Wireless has problems.
> Think more of that is to do with drivers than CPU :-)
>
> Check 2 things:
> o BIOS version
> o Driver version - in particular
>
> It would appear that release candidate of h/w comes before s/w,
> where you become the Beta tester. I've stayed away from Wireless,
> except for some Cisco kit a colleague sent to me (which does seem
> to have very good signal strength - although price is disproportionate).
>
>
> Get 2 PCs working with range, there are a few issues with XP - some
> hotfixes cause issues with WPA and other functionality of Wireless. It
> would seem from a quick google the biggest fix-for-the-time is drivers.
>
> Range is one factor which is noted re drivers.


Never had a problem with athlon / XP / Wireless on my setup - 3 desktops
(2 Athlon) and two laptops (Intel) running on wireless.


Different makes of kit can be a pain to get working ok - they are
supposed to be cross compatible but it ain't always the case. Ad-hoc
allows point to point with two PC's, it will not be a multipoint
Infrastructure network, you need a base station for that. The base
stations usually have better antenna's and their own power supplies
which can help with range / signal quality. I trialled a wide range of
wireless kit for a Wi-Fi schools project and found the USB adaptors to
be better than the PCMCIA adaptors for range and signal quality (many
desktop cards use the PCMCIA cards in an adaptor to make it fit PCI
slots), just moving the adaptor around can improve matters, an option
that is difficult with PCI / PCMCIA cards.

I noticed an impoved signal / connection when I set up the WEP coding
and limited the network to approved mac addresses only.

Also bear in mind there are many devices available for the home that use
very similar frequencies such as video senders, wireless phones PMR
radios, all of which could affect the transmission.

On Sat, 7 Aug 2004 00:05:41 +0100, "Michael Rodgers"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"Geoff Lane" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>>>Whatever I do, I cannot get PC A to connect to a wireless network.
>>>Occasionally, it finds one, but never actually connects.
>>
>> To the best of my knowledge only TWO machines can be connected in Ad
>> Hoc mode. To do more than two you need an access point and all
>> connected in Infrastructure mode.
>
>I've been assured by a number of people that this isnt the case - either
>way, I can't even get two working currently.

Interesting, not sure how that is done as in Ad Hoc mode you have to
connect to a specific machine; having said that Access Points have
better transmission capabilities and would be the better option with
three computers.

Geoff Lane

Looks like everyone has different experience. I have a router by one mfgr,
2-1/2 years old, that struggled to get through the floor to upstairs. I
plugged an access point by another mfgr into it, and same upstairs PC now
shows "excellent" signal strength and signal almost gets to opposite
exterior wall of house. Big improvement. Needless to say, I disabled the
wireless transmissions on the router and now rely only ont he access point.

"Michael Rodgers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi there,
>
> Trying to setup a wireless network but having not much luck.
>
> First, my configuration:
>
> PC A: XP3200+, NF7-S, Asus WL138-G Wireless card.
> PC B: XP2700+, KX7-333, Asus WL138-G Wireless card
> PC C: Duron 900, KT7, Asus WL138-G Wireless card.
>
> All machines are running XP Pro. PC A has SP2. The other two have SP1a.
>
> PC A is about 13 metres from PC B. There are not really any walls - they
are
> in rooms either end of a corridor. PC A is 6 metres from PC C, through a
> wall. PC B is about 15 minuites from PC C, through a few walls.
>
> I want to connect the 3 machines together in Ad Hoc mode. But before I did
> that, I decided to check it all works by connecting 2 machines together.
>
> Whatever I do, I cannot get PC A to connect to a wireless network.
> Occasionally, it finds one, but never actually connects.
>
> PC B and C *will* connect to each other - I've even been able to browse
> files on the other machine, but the signal strength is almost always 'Very
> Poor' and never more than 5mbps (They are 802.11g 54mbps cards).
>
> I've tried using both the Asus software to connect, and also the Windows
> stuff, but nothing really seems to work. I've tried turning either PC B or
C
> *off* and then trying to connect just A to one of the others, but again,
it
> doesnt work.
>
> The Asus software I have claims, in its help file, to be able to run a
> software access point. So I thought I'd give this a go, but the SoftAP
> option was missing from the utility.
>
> All I want to do is replace my wired 10mbit network with a wireless
solution
> to link the 3 PC's in order to share my 56k connection. But I can't even
get
> two to link let alone all 3.
>
> Any ideas short of throwing it all out the window?
>
>