PLEASE PLEASE HELP! I'm desperate! Wireless connection dropping

sjhoughton · 23-08-2006, 13:15

I'm on blueyonder broadband at home and get connection drops anywhere between 5 minutes and last night I actually got to 55 minutes before my wireless connection dropped. If I connect wired its ok and never drops.

Also, I use the same laptop at work and at my parents accesssing a BT wireless router and never get any problems

The connection drops for a matter of seconds and then will come back on.
(occasionaly I need a reboot but nornally just reconnects on its own within a minute)

My problem is that I play a lot of online poker and this can be really costly by the time I get logged back into the game, if i was just browsing internet I wouldnt be that bothered. Its absolutely driving me mad!

Ive posted before about this but still not solved problem and would be really
grateful if anyone has any ideas what the cause may be.

I am now on my 3rd wireless router, a belkin - the previous 2 peak and sweex it was exactly the same (all tried within the space of a few weeks)
Ive tried turning off cordless phone, microwave
Ive tried turning off windows firewall and also my AVG antivirus software
Ive tried encryption
The laptop is only about a month old and this didnt happen on my previous laptop
Ive also asked telewest to double the broadband speed I have, although i didnt notice any difference

Belkin or Telewest Tech help cant help me

One thing that I thought was strange is that when i look at available wireless networks, sometimes it will find my neighbours wireless router and others it wont, no idea if thats relevant - i wondered if maybe mine tries to look at other routers and causes disconnection problem

I just dont know what else to try and have searched the internet and found loads of similar problems but no solutions

thanks for any advice

si

Flobajob · 23-08-2006, 13:19

Have you tried using a different channel on the wireless router?

danielf · 23-08-2006, 13:24

Do you use software that came with the wireless card, or is windows managing the connection. I believe there are problems with the windows 'wireless zero configuration service' that could cause this to happen.

http://www.overclockers.com/tips1164/

Basically, Windows drops the connection when it detects another network.

Edit: that is if windows manages the connection.

Gareth · 23-08-2006, 13:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flobajob

Have you tried using a different channel on the wireless router?

That's what I would have asked, if you hadn't beaten me to it

sjhoughton · 23-08-2006, 14:59

Thank you for such quick responses, really appreciate it.

Does the following help?

Its an internal network card - Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG installed in an Acer Laptop
Yes, Ive tried on several different channels within the router setup.
I tried last night to untick 'allow windows to manage my network connection'

Thanks for the link, I've print that off now and had a read through . So tonight i'll try to go into SERVICES CONTROL PANEL AND CHANGE WIRELESS ZERO CONFIG TO MANUAL FROM AUTO and see if that does the trick

That might make sense as to why it doesnt give me the problem at work because there are no other wireless routers nearby that i pick up

The thing that really confuses me is that I never get problems with same laptop at work or at my parents and its not the isp because its fine when wired.

So you think I should try to

thanks
si

---------- Post added at 14:59 ---------- Previous post was at 14:45 ----------

sorry above message is a bit mixed up, i typed it before i had read the link and forgot to delete last bit
and so i know it might be that there are no other wireless connections near work which it would try to connect to

thank you

sjhoughton · 24-08-2006, 08:27

Hi

Tried everything last night (5 hours), finally given up now !

I guess i'll just have to put up with wired at home.

longest connection was about 5 minutes without dropping last night

Might try again in a few weeks

Thanks anyway for your advice

si

Gareth · 24-08-2006, 13:08

Hmm, that is a bit strange... Is there any chance you can borrow another wireless router for a couple of days, and try that one at your home? It could be that your router itself is dodgy...?

danielf · 24-08-2006, 13:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjhoughton

Hi

Tried everything last night (5 hours), finally given up now !

I guess i'll just have to put up with wired at home.

longest connection was about 5 minutes without dropping last night

Might try again in a few weeks

Thanks anyway for your advice

si

I've actually been having similar problems to you (also on an Acer, windows managed), which is why I posted about the Zero Configuration Service. I suppose one other option you could try is to get an external wireless card which comes with its own software. I've been using another laptop (with an external card and software) in the same location without any problems. I have yet to try the external card in the Acer myself, but it wouldn't surprise me if that would do the trick.

sjhoughton · 24-08-2006, 14:24

Gareth

I'm on third wireless router in a month and they all have given me the same
connection dropping problem.

Just installed an external wireless card to see if that makes a difference so
i'll have to wait and see when i get home tonight

si

Tightscot · 24-08-2006, 15:02

have you updated the onboard wireless drivers? and updated the firmware on the router (if possibe)
Also i know it sounds wierd but when it disconnects is anything else happening in the room/house such as cordless phone ringing, microwave running etc etc?

My mate had a similiar problem which was solved by upgrading the drivers for his intel card...

sorry just read your first post again, ignore the stuff about cordless phone/microwave etc...

Have you tried turning off WEP/WPA temporarily to see if it helps?

Cobbydaler · 24-08-2006, 15:38

Could be the BT router supports PSP (power saving polling) & the routers you've tried at home don't.

See this for an explanation & how to set your internal card to CAM (continually aware mode)...

sjhoughton · 24-08-2006, 15:56

Hi Tightspot

Ive updated the firmwire on the belkin router page

Ive tried Wep both off and on

Just updated the onboard wireless card driver to see if that makes any difference.
(but surely it wouldnt work ok at work and home if this was the problem

thanks
si

25-08-2006, 14:24

Hi, this is my first reply to a thread. Are you getting a stable signal to your router. I had a similar problem and my pc was in a room furthest from the router under my computer desk. Signal strength was 50% and worked fine till i sat infront of the desk between the pc and router. This would kill my connection and i had to repostion the pc to rectify the situation.

pachelbel

ADd · 25-08-2006, 16:15

Have you got a wet dog in the house

But seriously, WiFi ain't what it is cracked up to be, and is heavily influenced by surrounding physical structures, and waves. Have you tried reseting the router back to factory defaults (usually a button) powering down everything, then powering up modem (wait 1 min)>>>wireless router (wait 1 min)>>>>then pc.

Have you tried a different postion for the wireless router, do you live in a terraced house where next door may be 'polluting' your house with waves.
Are there any strange lights outside, are there crop circles near your house, have you been having strange dreams recently....... these questions may seem ridiculous, and for a cheap laugh - but to be honest they are probably easier to answer than sorting out the mysteries of WiFi.

Gary Cuba · 30-08-2006, 13:55

Yup, I have just started to encounter the very same problems...

Normally I would be running a wired Telewest/SurfBoard/Broadband connection which has been extremely reliable... but a little slow in the past.

Recently I have moved in 2 new house mates and set up a wireless Telewest/SurfBoard Modem/Wireless Belkin Router connection. I reside in the basement for my sins and can only recieve half to quarter strength signal (sometimes it is non existent). The wireless network is working (albeit low signal) atleast 99% of the time, but I keep dropping my internet connection too. Frustratingly these drop outs occur excessively and only seem to die out during anti social times (ie 3am in the morning)!

I shall reconnect my computer to the modem directly to see if this is just a wireless network problem first, but if not... has there been any work done recently to the Bristol area Telewest network which may explain my modems innability to do the buisness anymore?

Glen