Strange wireless issue .....pls help

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kimshapiro100

Strange wireless issue .....pls help
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1. I have a reasonably new laptop that came with a 802.11b/g and IEEE
1394, Win XP etc.

In addition, we have
a Netgear wireless Router with Comcast Motorola Modem. We have comcast
cable internet.

The wireless connection worked fine for many months but now all of a
sudden my wireless connection to "my laptop' does not work well. It is
inconsistent and sometimes just hangs.

Other wireless laptops and wireless desktops in the house get good
internet connection using our network. But with my laptop, I cannot.

My signal strength says "excellent" 54. Mbps. Yet there is no or an
inconsistent connection.
I am in the next room to the router and modem.

2. Now ... a funny thing that happens. When I click on View Wireless
Networks and choose another network in the neighborhood, I get fast
internet connection...even though it says
signal strength "very low".

3. Comcast checked the modem they say all is fine. They said the
problem could be the wireless router.

4. So I bought a new top of the line Linksys Wireless Router..about 200
Mbps.
The problem is still the same ...sometimes I get kicked out of my
wireless network and get connected to some other...all this
automatically.

I have disabled and enabled the wireless network on my laptop, turned
off and on the router and modem etc ...but nothing has helped.

If the problem was with my laptop, then how do I get good internet
connection using someone else's network ? I do not want to rely on
other people's network.

Can anyone pls help me.

I am not technical.

Thanks in advance,
Kim
 
What happens if you take the laptop into the same room as the router? Do you
get a better connnection? Is there a firmware update for the router? Is the
other network (the one it connects to instead of yours) closer, that is,
next door neighbour but in the very next room. Maybe the other signal is
stronger and it is picked up by your laptop.
 
Just use the neighbours... I believe it's legal to tap into their networks
and use their bandwidth if they have an unsecured wireless network.
 
Kim:

This is not all strange, as I had it happen to me, more than once. I might
have a BALD spot on my head because of it. I'm no network guru, but manage to
get things going. Call it trial and error, and it annoys the heck out of my
wife as I'm spending days on it instead of straigtening out the house. A
number of things to check

SInce you say the signal strength is good etc., then

- If you go to network neighborhood, you can see all of your other connected
resources such as printers, shared folders etc.

Other things to check includes:

- What happens when you type the command (in DOS window):

IPCONFIG/ALL

Do you have DHCP, and DNS ??, in other words, are they enabled??

With DHCP enaabled, then the laptop should have an IP address for the
laptop. The router should have an IP address as well. Usually 192.168.1.1 -
but confirm it

- Then in the DOS window in the laptop, can you ping the router??

ping 192.168.1.1

Does it go thru??

- Do you have firewalls blocking things?? An easy way to check is turn the
firewall off for a few minutes.

Note: This is what happened to me:

I had the firewall set to ALLOW ip addresses for a certain range, but after
adding MORE stations on the network, when the Laptop was turned ON, the NEXT
ip address was assigned va DHCP, putting the laptop's IP address BEYOND the
allowed range.

Often, problems are caused by firewalls, and turning it OFF (give it a few
minutes) temporarily will help you determine.

- Somtimes, software updates causes problems (conflicts), and a "system
restore" may help.

- My ISP is AOL thru TimeWarner, and it sometimes the INTERNET goes OFF
inexplicably (once a month), and I have to play around with the AOL software
to re-gain the connection. The connection will be suddenly gone, and there's
a feature inside the software that regains the connection, if you go in and
say you want to search for a "new connection". BUT if you call the AOL help
line, they time you to uninstall some drivers, and reinstall them. This does
not appear to be the case with you here, though I don't know how the Comcast
connection is done. When this happens to me, I can surf the WEB using some
neighbor's connection, and not my own. Sounds odd, but AOL needs these
drivers to work, but other services don't, which explains why I can surf
using the neighbors connection, but not mine. Yes, There was one guy DUMB
enough on my street that didn't encrypt his connection.

- Did you try connecting the laptop by HARD WIRE directly to the router??
Does it work?? This would eliminate any issues having to do with wireless.

- DId you try "Creating a connection" again using "Connectios" in the
control panel.

- Worse comes to worse, get a local geek, and watch him try. My dad learned
all about plumbing watching plumber work, and finally didn't need one for
years.

Frank
 
Since the problem is with just that one laptop, it is probably the laptop,
not the router or interference from other devices. If you have the option,
you could try changing the channel the router is using (you'll have to make
a corresponding change to all the other wireless devices or they won't be
able to connect). But my money is still on the laptop being the problem.

Go to the laptop vendor's web site and see if they have any driver updates
for the wireless card in the laptop. It is also possible that a Windows
update installed a Microsoft driver for the wireless card in the laptop,
and if you just do a driver rollback, it might just fix your problem.

Let us know if you find a fix, and what it is.
 
No effect if I move to the next room. My signal strength says Excellent
but doesn't connect.

The neighbhor's network is much further. When I am in my neighbhor's
signal it says low.
Yet it is very fast. My own Netgear for the most part does not work but
signal says Excellent.

If I connect directly via wires to the modem the connection is good.

My question...how can the connection say signal strength : excellent
and yet I cannot connect to the internet.

What could be going on here ?

Thanks
Kim
 
The neighbhor's network is much further. When I am in my neighbhor's
network it says signal is low.
Yet it is very fast.

My own Netgear for the most part does not work but signal says
Excellent. I am in the next room yet it doesn't work. I am so close to
the modem and router - only 10 feet away

If I connect directly via wires to the modem the connection is good.

My question...how can the connection say signal strength : excellent
and yet I cannot connect to the internet.

What could be going on here ?

Thanks
Kim
 
Hi,
Had the exact same problem-identical!!! had netgear-couldnt figure it
out. Bought linksys. dont remember much;but I'll try to help? Can you give a
little more info about the Linksys router ? I have a WRT54GX2 and can tell
you how to configure it. My laptop works great now. Had to set the channel
to 11 only-not automatic. Connect every single time now! :-) My house only
has one wireless connection-my laptop;but it fixed it. And info about your
laptop card. I have Intel Proset card and its troubleshooter works great.
Post back to this thread if you still need help.

Jeff
 
Thanks for your input.

Here are 4 different bits of info :

1. I tried using the Toshiba laptop thru the Netgear Wireless Router
using a cable. (not wirelessly) The internet works ! So the info is
moving fine from the modem to router to my laptop via cable.


2. Then I tried repairing the wireless network...It said it could not
renew the IP address.

3. Also the wireless connection says Signal Strength : excellent BUT
Limited or no Connection. So wirelessly the same Router won't work.

No what IP is it talking about ? the laptop or Netgear Router ( Pls
note I am not technical...almost clueless !)

4. I can connect to my neighbhors wireless network .Internet works.

Can anyone pls help me now. How do I get the network to renew the IP ?

Again, pls note I am not technical...

Thanks
Kim
 
Maybe you can try checking this

1- See if your PC system is set up to assign IP addresses

-Control Panel
-Click Network connections
-Right click Wireless Network->properties
-Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-click Properties (below)

Verify buttons for Obtain IP addresses automatically (that's DHCP) and DNS
address automatically is checked off

You can check if the laptop HAS an IP address by opening up a DOS window and
typing in the command:

IPCONFIG/ALL

This will also tell you if DHCP is enabled, and/or DNS is enables. You will
not be able to go on the internet if DHCP and DNS is not enabled NO MATTER
how good your signal strength is!!

And the router has to be set to allow DHCP, and I assume its done if the
Router is configured OK, AND if your ISP confirmed that your router is OK
with their service. I had to get another router for my AOL service because
the first one would NOT work with the service.

2- When I had this problem of "little or limited" connectivity after having
the network working for a week after I got the router and wireless the USB
recevier, at least for my Linksys Router, tech support had me hit the Reset
Button on the Router, and walked the configuration through with me from
scratch, and that itself solved the problem.

The I had another eposide where I had the connectivity problem again, and I
didn't try figuring it out once again, so I just hit the reset, and that did
it. Turned out I had to do this twice in about 6 months, which isn't so bad.

I have since read that there's a cache somewhere in the router that might
not be properly cleared out.

This would be the case if you had the network working, as you mentioned, and
then it suddenly didn't work.

A LITTLE BASICS (you said you're clueless ..)

A regular PC going through a modem is like your home telephone. The phone
rings, you answer it. and speak directly with the caller.

A PC going through a router is like a small office with a switch board. The
call comes in, to ONE main number, and somehow, the call has to get routed to
an employee via an extension. In the network, all data from the ISP comes to
the router whcih then has to figure out when to sent to data, in other words,
which PC??.

There are "static IP addresses" where every employee has a fixed desk and a
fixed extension.

On the other hand, there are "dynamic" IP addresses where employees does not
have a fixed extension or desk, but has one "good for the day". In this
system someone (the operator or receptionest) has to keep track of the "cross
reference" between the employee and this ever changing extension. In the
network, this tracking is in the PC via DHCP. A cross reference exists in
the router. This is the most common scheme in home networks.

What does "signal strength" compare to. It only means there is a connection
between the switchboard and the extension, but if the "phone operator" don't
know the extension of the employee, the fact that the connection is good
means little.

In working with my ISP, AOL, the first question is if when the router
received data, does it know which PC it goes to?? Presumably, most routers
works with most ISP's in general, but not AOL.

Then, the router has to assign an IP address to the laptop when its turned
on. IN this aspect, is there a range in the router designating this?? In
other words, the swithcboard operator has to have a piece of paper by her,
big enough to list ALL the extensions, crossing referencing all the employees
at work.

What would happen if the paper has only room for six names, and ten people
are at work??

Of course, there's a bit more to this, but these are the basics.

Frank
 
Kim,

I was having exactly the same problem as you are having now. I am on
Comcast using a Motorola cable modem and a netgear wireless router. My
connection worked well for many months, then I came back from an
extended vacation and it all of a sudden worked horribly.

I made many calls to Camcast trying to get someone to help me
troubleshoot this, but kept getting the company line "we don't support
wireless routers and the signal to your modem is fine, have a nice
day." More on why Comcast should be ashamed of themselves in a little
bit. Anyway, I had the same excellent signal strength you have as
well. I finally tracked the problem down to DNS resolution of URLs,
and called Comcast back asking about this problem so that they wouldn't
just blow me off.

Anyway it turns out that Comcast made some internal changes to the way
that they handle DNS servers. This is what in fact "broke" your
wireless router.

Now the solution.
1. Go get the disk that you used originally to configure your wireless
router.
2. Leave the router on, but disconnect the ethernet cable to your modem
and computer.
3. Reset the router to its factory settings by pushing and holding the
reset button on the back for five seoncds.
4. Run the configuration wizard according to your instructions.

Jamie
 
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