wireless problems

[joshd]

i have a problem with my belkin wireless access point + router.

every now and then, sometimes as much as every 5 minutes, it will need resetting, but turning it off and on again.

the connection drops out all the time, either it will just fail to connect, by "aquiring IP" indefinatly, or it will say "limited or no connectivity" or the network will just not appear at all in the list of avaliable networks.

we are running on a dynaic IP setup, using the router's DHCP server. there are 2 computers on wireless, and one is wired.

it happens much more frequently when my brother is playing CSS. either it will mess up for just me, or just him, or both of us. the wired computer is rarely on.

the problem can never be rectified by disabling and re-enabling the wireless adaptor, the router + access point itself has to be reset.


does anybody know what the problem is, as it has confused me greatly.


thanks in advance, joshd.

EDIT: just a thought, but could it be something to do with the channel? at the moment it is ch11 @ 11b and 11g mixed. could this be causing problems?

 

[mikesgroovin]

Well, here's the thing about the frequency. The frequency itself isn't the problem. It's all of the similar frequencies around you. At the 2.4GHz range you have phones, microwaves and other APs or wireless gateway/routers around you that can cause a problem. Do you have any other wireless gatway/routers that you can see as an available network? If so, check out which channel they are broadcasting on and set yours up to a channel that is completely different. The further you are away from those channels, the better. As for any other device or appliance using this range, it's more or less a trial & error shot.

Also make sure that there aren't any more firmware updates for your devices or driver updates for your cards.

 

[joshd]

there are no other APs that i can pick up in the area. we have a microwave though, but it isnt realated to that being used. shall i just switch channels, and try to find one that does do it?

and shall i be on b, g or mixed?

 

[mikesgroovin]

b and g mixed shouldn't be a problem. Change the channel for testing purposes though. Any firmware updates?

 

[joshd]

the router isnt listed on the site... i have mailed them.

 

[joshd]

my brother has been away for the last afternoon and night, and it has not done it once.

it only seems to do it when there is more than one computer connected. i have not changed the channel yet, or got any newer firmware. it does it VERY often when my brother plays CSS as I said, like every 5-15 minutes.

this leads me to belive that it would be something to do with the DHCP server settings or something? i dont understand why it would do it more often when playing CSS though...

 

[buzza24]

Check the network settings on your brother's computer. Some settings that may have been altered there can conflict with the router's DHCP.
Often having windows do eveything automatically in terms of network settings will over come this issue.

Also something else that you could try is switching network cable and even NIC as this can also have an impact on routers.

 

[Law]

Don't you seee, playing intensive bandwidth hogging games on a wireless connection will steal all the bandwidth away from the other user who are on the wireless connection. There shouldn't be any problem with the DHCP server, it's just that there isn't any bandwidth left after you get disconnected to reaquire and reconnect again. That's why you get those network error. It's usually fixable by just doing a repair on the connection.

 

[joshd]

well it isnt ALWAYS when he is playing CSS, only it happens more often.

i thought CSS didnt take up much bandwidth anyway, if it is possible to play on dial-up...

 

[Law]

You can play any game on dial-up. Doesn't really matter, it will just make people call you a lagger LOL.

There are things you can do to make the wireless connection more stable. Change the Channel/Frequency, change the data rate mode, preamble type. Sometime the encryption mode you selected might not be stable with your wireless adapter.

Check your wireless adapter properties in device manager, there should be some setting you can select to make it more stable. If you don't see the settings it's mostly using Microsoft drivers and you should update it to the latest driver from the manufacter.