Wi-fi total crap - any ideas why?

[Eyam]

Hi,

I emigrated to Barcelona a couple of months ago, & just moved flat partly because the wi-fi in the first one was poor.

However, it turns out (despite assurances to the contrary) to be worse in my new one

The connection starts at 54mbps from a 3com 11g Firewall router on an adsl line. Within a minute or two it's down to 11mbps, then minutes later it drops to 1 or 2 mbps. Signal strength is reported as Excellent all the while ... I have my laptop literally 3 feet from the router.

Spain is a place of flats, & most have wi-fi installed.

My laptop detects 6 networks.

A slight weirdness of my problems tho, is that mornings & afternoons is when the problem is worse ... I can generally use the internet evening & nights, for gaming even. But mornings I have to give up on it.

If ti were interference, I'd have thought the problem would be the other way around ... lots of people in other flats using the net in the evenings, so knackering my connection.

Any ideas what the problem might be? I'm starting to wonder if the currently absent landlady actually paid for 24 hr internet, or maybe got a cheaper deal on evenings only
But then, it is there, detecgtable, & very brielfy usable, all day ... just a total pile of poo until the evenings.

Eyam.

[killie99]

Are you using the same AP and wireless card that you used previously? are you sure it's not either of them that's faulty?
Have you tried using a different channel?
Is your security set so that no-one else can steal your bandwidth? Make sure you set mac address filtering and hide your ssid. If your equipment supports WPA, use it.
If you give a bit more information someone might be able to help you further.

AP make and model.
Wireless card make and model
Laptop make and model

[Eyam]

My laptop is an Evesham model, xp3400 chip, 1gb of Ram 17 inch monitor.

The integral wi-fi receiver is an Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG.

I'm not sure what an "AP"? Assuming it's what I'm calling the ADSL transmitting/receiving router, it's a 3Com Officeconnect ADSL wireless 11g Firewall router.

I've not changed any equipement in my laptop.

WAP is enabled.

A different Channel(?) ... if you mean a different network, no I haven't, all the other networks here aere secure. However, at the flat I left last week, I could connect to a wireless network, poorly, but still a lot better than this.

I've lost & had to repair my connection three times now, in the time it took to post this.

Eyam.

[TheAnimus]

Wireless networks use radio 'channels' i forget how many you can actually have broadcasting in the same area before problems occur, but its know its not as many channels as some wireless routers claim to have.

Does it work when your sat in the same room, with perfect line of site to your AP (Access Point, the transmitting/reciving wireless thingie)

[Eyam]

Nope. Distance to the router makes o difference. I'm sat literally 6 ft from it atm ... there's maybe an arm of a sofa in the way, is all. It's still lost connection 4 times in the last 10 minutes.

Eyam.

[TheAnimus]

I would look at how many networks are around you (some might be 'hidden') so use NetStumbler

If there are say 8, then i'd have a look at buying new wireless gear.

[GDVS]

If there are say 8, then i'd have a look at buying new wireless gear.

If there are say 8, then i'd have a look at buying new wired gear.

[TheAnimus]

If there are say 8, then i'd have a look at buying new wired gear.

off the top of my head, i thought it was 11 channels.

[GDVS]

off the top of my head, i thought it was 11 channels.

There are, but if I was surrounded by 8 other wireless networks I'd be moving to wired. No matter what channel you use it's going to suffer.

[Eyam]

Hi folks,

To my own surprise I appear to have solved this.

Googled intel 2200bg & found a thread - currently 48 pages long! - of people with problems with this ... item.

It's at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=11402

So, if anyone else gets problems like me, & is reading this, go there. The solution seems to be to download Intel drivers, the latest ones.

I've done so, & my connection for past couple of hours has been ok ... it's just fallen to 18 mbps in my bedroom, but stayed at between 24 & 48 mbps for last few hours when I was sat 6ft from the router.

Eyam.

[Eyam]

Bah humbug, spoke to soon.

I tried connecting at lunchtime today, lost con 4 times in fewer minutes.

I've subsequently adjusted the power saving function on the laptop's wireless device, the 2200 bg, & that SEEMS to have fixed it, fingers crossed.

Eyam

[aidanjt]

WLAN was a peice of junk when it came out, and it's still a peice of junk today. Nothing comes remotely close to good old fashioned ethernet.

[RDL]

Also, try upping your security to WPA, much safer than WPA.

[TheAnimus]

I'm guessing you mean much safer than WEP?

I'd say that wifi has really come on leaps and bounds, when i first got 802.11b, this was before the wireless fidelity standard came out, it was bug ridden, needed to be restarted every other day, and only worked when it had virtual line of sight (outside the lounge, no signal).

I'd have to say now adays the problem is too many people have wifi, and people seam to expect one manifacturers gear to work with another without any bugs. When it first came out no one expected it to work under these circumstances.

[aidanjt]

Well thats exactly the problem, WLAN cannot scale, and far too subceptable to interference.

[EtheAv8r]

I cannot agree that WLAN is a piece of junk. I have been running a NetGear DG834G for over 2 years with 3 wired computer (2 desktops and the Windows SBS 2003 Server) plus 4HP laptops all on wireless and it has worked very well and been very reliable.

Only problem has been in the furthest downstairs room (poor to no signal) but this is through 4 walls (real brick) and to a lesser degree the furthest upstairs room (some brick some stud partition).

I have now replace the DG834G with an DG834PN and am so far very pleased (and passed on the 'old' one to someone else for a bargain price).