Wireless connection help.

[Brain-ache]

Hi - I'm not a technical whizz so please bear with me..

I recently bought a Linksys WAG354G wireless adsl gateway along with a Linksys Wireless G PCI adapter (WMP54G) - I was fed up of ethernet cables all over my floor

Anyway, today it has started causing problems although i'm starting to think it is has been the cause of a lot of my internet problems for a while...

First of all the conneciton has been all over the place, it had no connectivity at all, then went to 18mbps and a low connectivity, even went as low as 2mbps with low signal too. I usually average around 36mbps with a good signal most days since I had it. But i know this can be down to all sorts of things with wireless. I pinged my router and got a 1ms return which I consider is as good as it gets.

The router is situated in the next room to my PC behind one wall. I also bought a linksys high gain anntena to try and boost the signal and started to get 54mbps with and excellent signal connection.

To put this in context I play a lot on MMORPG World of Warcraft and since installing this wireless network I have been getting insane lag spikes in game, which I had originally put down to being server side not mine. Today however I kept getting disconnected all together from the server and even though it said I was still connected to network, I noticed that I was no longer receiving or sending any packets. I pinged again and it timed out on all packets with 100% loss - so I am starting to wonder if this is the cause of my high latency in game.

Also I connected my Xbox 360 (which is downstairs) up wirelessly using the official Xbox 360 wireless network adapter - after it was all set up I get little to no connectivilty with the gateway what-so-ever.

I find the bad connetivity a little odd - I dont live under a pylon or anything, or leave microwaves constantly on - at the moment I have a connection of 54mbps with a vry good signal on the PC...just seems inconsistent.

Someone I asked said it could possibly be faulty hardware - could it be? Any help would be great.

[Brain-ache]

Oh and my internet provider is Wanadoo (1mb adsl) - just incase you would want to know.

[killie99]

It could be that you are suffering from interference from another device (probably a DECT cordless phone). Try changing the channel of the wireless connection to see if that makes any difference. To narrow it it down to whether it's a wirelss problem or a modem problem connect your computer to the lan port on the router and if that works ok then it is a wireless probloem.

[teachmech]

I agree it could be interference have your neighbours just set up a wirless network?

[Brain-ache]

I dont have a cordless phone, and i'm unsure if my neighbours have a wirless connection set up or not.

Problem I seem to be having is my router just randomly stops sending or recieviing packets for a moment or two, sometimes it lasts longer than others, and sometimes the only thing that fixes it is a repair on the connection.

I spoke to a few people and they said to update the drivers and firmware for my model of router and pci card, which I did. It appeared to help for a while but i still get the lag spikes on WoW and the often low signal strength.

[GDVS]

This isn't likely to be your problem but it is a possibility. Has the WAG got room to breathe? They run pretty warm at the best of times and if you cover the vents they tend to get very hot which would cause all sots of problems.

[Kumagoro]

also make sure that the wireless cards have the latest drivers and the firmware is
the latest on the router and windows is fully updated.

[Ingsy]

Hello. I have the same problem as you. I have the WAG354G wireless modem/router in the lounge of my flat, and the PC with a Linksys WMP54G wireless PCI card in the spare room - through 2 thin walls. Sometimes my connection is "Very good" with a speed of 54MBs. Sometimes it's "Very good" with a speed of only 5.5! Other times it's "Low" with a speed of 24. It just jumps all over the place. I've got the latest firmware for the router, but not sure about the PCI card.

I don't play online games on my PC, but I do stream music and video to a unit in the lounge which is wired into the router and both music and video pause sometimes. I don't know why.

There is another wireless network in the flat either above or below me, but they are on Channel 6 and I'm on 11. Not really sure what the answer is, but you're not on your own with this!

Have you managed to solve it since you first posted this?

[LWA]

I have that exact router and have it situated in my living room. My computer is in the bedroom meaning that the signal is travelling through three walls and I almost always get an 'Excellent' signal.

I have updated the firmware on my router a couple of times and I am currently on "Firmware Version: 1.01.05" - I would definately try updating it to this version.

[Norky]

I have the exact same set up as well, no problems here I'm afraid

[Ferral]

I used to have the same problems when I was on Wanadoo.

The livebox was on the 2nd floor of the house but my connection was on the third floor, turned out that wiring, dect phones and also pipes in the vicinity killed the signal. Neighbors on each side of the house have the old pipes and are still on coal which also contributed to the problems.

All I can suggest is to try and move the wireless router if possibe to somewhere with less interference. I would suggest wire the PC directly and try going wireless on the 360.

[Ingsy]

I'm on the Firmware v 1.01.54 which is what it came with (only had it a few weeks) and that is the most up to date one. I have updated the PCI card driver, and now my signal strength is nearly always Excellent, dropping occasionally to Very Good.

I have set the TX speed to be 54MBs, but it does seem to vary and doesn't stick at 54.

[Brain-ache]

Just to give an update, as I haven't for a while.

After comunicating with Linksys for about 2 months to no avail I stripped out the router and put my old LAN back in, which I might add has caused me no problems since.

Linksys have the worst troubleshooting department ever! They kept telling me to do the same stuff over and over again, sometimes with a 7 day turn around time before they replied to me. I think all I wanted in the end was a refund on it, but they seemed to dodge the request everytime I made it.

I still have no idea what was causing the interference or whether it was a faulty unit (which it appeared to me). But neither of that matters now, I have a working connection, cables over my floor again, and no xbox live....oh and a linksys router gathering dust in the corner of my room....over£100 down the drain, and a new hatred for all things wireless. Good job Linksys!