Networking & wireless forum: Home wireless network connection getting intermittent connections, help!

Basically there are 3 components in this chain. First, the WAP. Second, the cable modem. Third, the USB adapter. You can systematically eliminate each in a test cycle. If this elimination process ends successfully, it should point to the top suspect. My guess is either your USB adapter or the USB port drivers on your laptop.

I have been having the same problem for a very long time.my desk top is always connected but my laptop it have all kind of connection.I might not have any connection. It depend on how much time I allow my self.I connect by sharing or finding the address my company allow me to use.The second plan is to go to my desktop and reconnect in this order. It is a lot of trouble but this my only solution unless I want to call the cable guy every day

After successfully installing (for someone else) a wireless network supported by a wireless router and a USB wireless adapter, I got a call from the user to redo the installation. The wireless router had failed and had been replaced. So I went back to reinstall the network connections and left. Subsequently, I received a call indicating that the user was once again experiencing problems.

So I returned for another attempt. This time I came prepared to mount the router on the opposite side of a wall of the room in which it was located. But before taking that step, I decided to play with the antenna. What I discovered was very surprising. Positioning the router's antenna parallel to the USB wireless adapter (horizontal), made all the difference in the world!

I do not have an explanation for this phenomenon, but a varied the position of the router's antenna several times. The USB wireless adapter was fixed in a horizontal position, and the signal strength for the wireless network was always stronger when the router's antenna was also horizontal.

Leo Toribio
Pittsburgh,PA

I had a similar problem and it turn out that the router was bad. Do you use the reset button on the back of the router that can cause problems for netgear router. Disconnet the router power from the back of the router for one minute and reconnect the power if your poblem clears up and does it again I would change the router

I had the same exact problem with 'cheaper' wireless modems. I went through two different 'cheaper' modems and still had the same problem. I then bought a Linksys expensive wireless modem and the problem went away and never returned. With the Linksys wireless modem, my signal strength almost doubled for my 2 wireless laptops and the physical distance from the modem that I could roam almost doubled. Hope this helps

Hi Cory,

I'm not sure I have an answer to your question but I have seen the same problem, so here's what I found. It may or may not help you get to the bottom of your problem.

I've had a wireless network for several years now. My initial configuration was a cable modem plugged vis an Ethernet cable into my "server" (a Win XP machine running Internet Connection Sharing). That machine had an RJ45 Ethernet cable out to an unmanaged switch, I had an access point plugged off the switch. DHCP and NAT were running on the "server". The access point initially was an 802.11B unit and my laptops were also 802.11B (11 Mb/s). Subsequently, the access point was replaced under Belkin's excellent lifetime warranty programme (the power unit failed) with an 802.11G unit (54 Mb/s). Recently, for reasons we don't have time for here, I replaced this setup with an 802.11N1+ (300 Mb/s) router into which the cable modem was directly plugged, eliminating the "server". DCHP and NAT are now provided by the router. None of these configuration changes made any noticable difference to my wireless network, which seems to tie in with your symptoms.

When I first set up the network, I never saw any wireless drops within the house. At that time, my bandwidth was 600 Kb/s. There were then only a couple of other networks in the area - at least, those broadcasting their SSIDs. Subsequently, my cable provider increased the bandwidth to my present 10 Mb/s speed. The number of networks in my vicinity have also increased to up to about 15 - again, those broadcasting SSIDs, there may be more.

I started to get connection drops about 18 months ago, particularly on the laptop with a built in 802.11B NIC. Same symptoms as you, acquiring network address, followed by a reconnection but some services, Youtube in particular and some downloads, don't restart and a page reload in the browser is necessary.

Possible causes? Well, there have been times when the download speed has exceeded my contracted 10 Mb/s - the ISP offers 10 Mb/s by throttling back its higher speed premium services, and indications are that this is overrunning the 802.11B NIC in the older laptop. Turning it off and using an 802.11G PCMCIA NIC reduces the frequency of drops dramatically. So one step I'd recommend, if you haven't already done so, is to make sure your NIC bandwidth and router bandwidth match and that both are higher than your cable modem supplies.

Another cause of my problem is also increased wireless interference from the increase in the number of networks drifting through my house and a significant number are N class routers being supplied by BT here in the UK. Most people just use the default settings that come with their routers and so most people are transmitting on Channel 11 here. I've experimented using alternative channels and have found a more stable connection on one of these. You might want to try this approach - usually, you can specify the primary (and secondary for N class) channel in the control panel for your router.

Caveat: I'm certainly not a networking expert (it is all cocoa tins and wet string isn't it?), you what helped for me may be useless for you. I'm sure other members will have more educated suggestions!

Good Luck!

This is probably a hardware issue, and your post suggests that the first place to look is the wireless network adapter that you have installed on your desktop.

That said, if using a cable rather than a wireless connection is not terribly inconvenient, a wired connection is always better than a wireless connection. It is:

-Faster
-More reliable
-More secure
-Usually cheaper

But, obviously, if you can't conveniently run a cable (and I'm talking about a permanent setup that does not have cables stretched across the middle of rooms and hallways), then you may have no choice.

Anyway, it sounds like your wireless network adapter is becoming marginal. It could also be the router. Other possibilities are that some other piece of equipment is creating interference, or that something is passivly affecting signal transmission from the wireless router (or access point) to the desktop. A last possibility is that a neighbor has installed a wireless router (or a cordless phone, or ......) on the same frequency (channel) as your system, and that it is interfering with your setup (try changing the channel !!!).

A couple of peripherally related comments:

My luck with the life of Wireless routers has been very poor, especially with one of the more popular brands ("brand L"). Very few of them have lasted a year, and honestly I think that they have a strong tendency to overheat and destroy themselves. I've had better luck with "brand D", but still have experienced a high failure rate.

Also, you didn't mention it, but, please, do not operate an unsecured (unencrypted) wireless network. That is asking for big trouble.

Interlogis PassPort has been out since at least 2002 to utilise household wiring..
The older system used serial ports to link computers.
The technology has improved but it isn't new

Open a Command Box by going to Start > Run > Command
In the Command Box type ipconfig /renew
This will renew the ip address on all adaptors.
Exit the Command Box, reboot, and see if this solves your problem.

I had the same probem 2 days ago. I switched off the
modum in the evening and switched it back on the next morning (RESET)
and it started working.
If you get the same problem after reset ask your provider to change the wireless modum for you.
Matt

This happened to me a while back. The wireless router really had expired. I replaced it with a new Netgear wireless router (different band from the failed one) and positioned it in a location where all sides have good air space for cooling. This one has been running fine for about 1 1/2 years.

Other likely issue: the signal strength coming from your service provider may be too weak. They can check this out.

I'm having a somewhat similar problem - According to Linksys, it's my router - it's 6 years old and prone to this problem (since it's out of warranty) - or did they say that to get me to buy the 29.95 "latest issue" product (which they slyly said cost 70-100 in stores) Hmmm. It's my Vista equipped new HP laptop that is having the problem - seems ok while I'm online, but when I log off the laptop and power down, the next time I power up, there's no connection, unless I power cycle the router - then all is well for the session. While I wait for other responses to this thread, I'm offering the possibility that you too, may have a router who's time has come, as a wireless piece of equipment, although the cable part will continue to work just fine.

Hi Cory,

I'm going to assume that your wireless equipment is in fact working perfectly normally since you only have trouble with connectivity with certain computers. So given that let's dive in to your problem.

Believe it or not but intermittent connectivity is a very common problem with wireless networking. In fact, it's a common problem with all wireless devices.

It's not necessarily that these devices break down after a couple of years of use. Remember that electronics are not like cars; they don't break down easily because of wear and tear. Most electronic devices will last longer than you or I. The real reason that wireless devices stop working over time is because of competition.

As you probably know all wireless devices use radio signals to operate. Unfortunately there is a finite number of radio frequencies in existence. Even worse, each type of product you buy (i.e. cell phone, wireless router, etc.) is limited to a very specific range of frequencies it is allowed to work on.

So as more people buy and use the same type of wireless devices the radio waves become more congested since each device is competing for access to the same radio frequency. At some point the radio waves are so congested that traffic crawls to a halt and you end up with intermittent connections or no connection at all.

The simplest way to imagine this is a freeway that constantly has new cars drive on it but no more lanes can be added to compensate. At some point there are just too many cars on the road.

Manufacturers constantly try to invent new ways to alleviate congestion. A good example of this is frequency hopping. Frequency hopping is when a device detects congestion and tries to use a different, hopefully unused, frequency to communicate as an alternative.

To make things worse new devices that become available may utilize radio frequencies that were originally given to older devices. Then you end up with signal problems because manufacturers expect that you've moved on from those old devices already. An example of this is using an old 2.4Ghz based cordless telephone while you have a 2.4Ghz based wireless router. You either end up with lots of static in your phone calls (which most people think is due to the phone going bad) or dropout problems with your wireless PC.

So what's the solution? Unfortunately there really isn't one. Despite all of the convenience that wireless provides the more we rely on it as a foundation for our technology the more likely it is to be unreliable.

In short use a hard line. It never fails.

I think, above all these other great suggestions on this particular subject, that this gentlement summed everything up quite accurately within his post.. He is right; wireless in inherently flawed, simply due to that nature of x-mission betweem router, computer, and vice-versa. I am still experiencing these similar connectivity issues, and seems my only remedy is to reboot both the modem and router (using Dlinnk Wireless N router (stay away from LinkSys for god sake, please!!!) I have tried everything ,, next to thrwoing my comp out the window.. tried all the ipconfig /XXX strings, and rebooting laptop,(brand new HP HDX premium series) and nothing works to re-estaablish the connection. The laptop "sees" the connection as vaild, butI get no browser activitty or download activity, which means I must resort to resetting the modem and router, as I mentioned abouve.. I will soon be reaching the conclusion of the simple fact that I must simply keep rebooting the R & M... Only other alternative is to do a hard-wire connection, but Im not sure about that due to the fact that all my hardware is in a room approx. 50' away. (around walls and such) so If ANYONE has a real viable alternative please help me as well!!!