Solved Laptop connection problems - please help

[pwimpenny]

Ive been having the same problem for some time now I can't find a solution.
I have a new samsung r530 laptop with windows 7. Ive connected to my home network as normal but my laptop disconnects when I use it in the garage. My old HP laptop worked fine in there and its meant to have an inferior WLAN card.
I have an Atheros AR9285 WLAN card in my samsung and it can pick up my network intermittantly in the garage with a maximum 2 bars but it will not connect. I have the latest driver ( 8.0.0.366 ) installed.
Why did my old broadcom device find it easily in win XP but my new one cannot in W7.
Do I need to replace the card of get a usb device for it? Do I need a better router ( I have a sky netgear DG834GT with the latest firmware.
Or is there a network setting I need to change to pick it up.

 

[chev65]

Once you get down into the 2 bar range the connection can go either way, sometimes it works ok, other times not so well.

I had a weak signal out in my garage also and ended up installing a Dlink access point under the eves of my house pointed towards the garage which got me a really strong signal.

It might be worth while to check and make sure you are using a clear channel for your wireless connection.
I use the Xirrus wifi inspector for this. You may need to make an adjustment to your routers channel after finding one that isn't being used. Usually 1,6, and 11 are used the most.
Xirrus: The Leader in High Performance Wi-Fi - Advanced IT Wi-Fi Networking Tools

 

[patwhatsthat]

There are many things can impact wireless performance. Proximity and ambient interference as well as encryption levels creating more overhead and causing poorer performance. Try experimenting with the encryption you are currently using on the router. Windows 7 seems to like WPA2 / AES, so if your router supports that you might start there. Some people have reported less then optimal performance with Win7 machines using WEP so you may want to make whatever adjustments you can to help diagnose the problem.
Improving Wireless Range: Tuning Equipment

 

[pwimpenny]

It might be worth while to check and make sure you are using a clear channel for your wireless connection.
I use the Xirrus wifi inspector for this. You may need to make an adjustment to your routers channel after finding one that isn't being used. Usually 1,6, and 11 are used the most.
Xirrus: The Leader in High Performance Wi-Fi - Advanced IT Wi-Fi Networking Tools[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that. Ive already changed the channel so I have an independent one to neighbours but that hasn't helped. Problem is I don't want to have to install a new BT phone point unless I cannot resolve this.
I have ordered an extendable antenna for my router to see if the signal improves. Obviously moving my access point nearer the garage would help but Im trying all other possibilities first.

 

[EvilOzzmess]

Has anyone put up a new 802.11n network in your area? If so, that would most likely be your culprit. They hog the airwaves like you wouldn't believe.

We just got the new Netgear WNDR37AV and I put up all FOUR 802.11n networks (2 2.4GHz bands and 2 5GHz bands - one of each type is a Guest Network). As soon as I did that, everybody else's 802.11g networks dropped by about 2 bars (on my available connections list anyway). Still trying to figure out how to tone that down a smidge, to be courteous...

Anyway, check that out and see if there are any 802.11n networks listed - it will tell you when you hover over them. If there are, there is NOTHING you can do about it. At least if that's true, then you will know it isn't your hardware to blame.


If not, I would highly suspect your Router. In the case of drop/dead zones it is usually always the router's fault, not your NIC's fault. You can test that out with another wireless device connected to your network. If that one also has difficulty in the same places, then it's 100% your router's fault. If not, then you can point the finger at the NIC - but not until clearing your router's name first lol.

I'd say a new router or else getting an inexpensive "repeater" router is your best bet, if it is proven to be your router's fault. If you want to go the super-cheap route, a CAT5 LAN cable from the router to your garage will most definitely solve the problem.


Good luck and I hope you resolve this soon!

 

[SouthernImp]

I don't know what your feelings are regarding powerline adapters but I've used them to fix specific issues like this. I'm not a fan of wireless, it has great potential but there are issues, like the one you're experiencing. If I could go wired everywhere, I certainly would - Cat 6 and gig speed rule!

 

[chev65]

Thanks for that. Ive already changed the channel so I have an independent one to neighbours but that hasn't helped. Problem is I don't want to have to install a new BT phone point unless I cannot resolve this.
I have ordered an extendable antenna for my router to see if the signal improves. Obviously moving my access point nearer the garage would help but Im trying all other possibilities first.

What might also help is going to a USB adaptor with one of the extendable antennas. They come with about 3 feet of extension but you can add a USB extension cable and move the adaptor even closer to the router or to a better location.

I did both, added the AP outside the house and extended the USB adaptor another ten feet closer from my garage machine. It worked great with a 300Mbps connection, now I can easily stream movies from my media center machine out to the garage with no problems.

Wireless is only as good as you make it, no special tricks other than getting the best signal possible and using wireless 802.11N with the correct security and encryption which is WAP2 and AES. I'm also using channel bonding "broadcasting over two channels" for extra bandwidth which is something that hardly anyone even knows about.

 

[pwimpenny]

There are many things can impact wireless performance. Proximity and ambient interference as well as encryption levels creating more overhead and causing poorer performance. Try experimenting with the encryption you are currently using on the router. Windows 7 seems to like WPA2 / AES, so if your router supports that you might start there. Some people have reported less then optimal performance with Win7 machines using WEP so you may want to make whatever adjustments you can to help diagnose the problem.
Improving Wireless Range: Tuning Equipment

shame but my router does not have the option to use WPA2 encryption. Thanks for the pointer though.

 

[pwimpenny]

Has anyone put up a new 802.11n network in your area? If so, that would most likely be your culprit. They hog the airwaves like you wouldn't believe.

We just got the new Netgear WNDR37AV and I put up all FOUR 802.11n networks (2 2.4GHz bands and 2 5GHz bands - one of each type is a Guest Network). As soon as I did that, everybody else's 802.11g networks dropped by about 2 bars (on my available connections list anyway). Still trying to figure out how to tone that down a smidge, to be courteous...

Anyway, check that out and see if there are any 802.11n networks listed - it will tell you when you hover over them. If there are, there is NOTHING you can do about it. At least if that's true, then you will know it isn't your hardware to blame.


If not, I would highly suspect your Router. In the case of drop/dead zones it is usually always the router's fault, not your NIC's fault. You can test that out with another wireless device connected to your network. If that one also has difficulty in the same places, then it's 100% your router's fault. If not, then you can point the finger at the NIC - but not until clearing your router's name first lol.

I'd say a new router or else getting an inexpensive "repeater" router is your best bet, if it is proven to be your router's fault. If you want to go the super-cheap route, a CAT5 LAN cable from the router to your garage will most definitely solve the problem.


Good luck and I hope you resolve this soon!

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. Ive been running the insidder network monitoring application and there is a 300n hogging the airwaves. Im not sure whether they began transmitting about the time I got the new laptop but I certainly can't get the signal in my garage anymore. Maybe I will have to match him and go supersonic. Can you recommend a good router to use with sky broadband? Will your Netgear WNDR37AV work with sky?

 

[Lunarpancake]

Your "wirelessN theory" sounds correct but just so you are aware not all wireless adapters are made equally. Also, just because it is newer doesn't mean it is designed better. Your new laptop may have its antenna positioned in a poor location inside of the laptop. This could affect the signal.

 

[EvilOzzmess]

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. Ive been running the insidder network monitoring application and there is a 300n hogging the airwaves. Im not sure whether they began transmitting about the time I got the new laptop but I certainly can't get the signal in my garage anymore. Maybe I will have to match him and go supersonic. Can you recommend a good router to use with sky broadband? Will your Netgear WNDR37AV work with sky?

All Routers work with all ISP's as far as I know. It's when you are thinking about replacing a Modem supplied by an ISP that it gets iffy (for instance, Verizon FiOS's VOD feature on TV uses the internet to work and therefore THEIR Modem combo WLAN Router MUST be used or this feature wouldn't work). The difference between a MODEM and a ROUTER is that a Modem has a Cable input, whereas a Router DOES NOT. Therefore, a Router MUST be working in tandem with a Modem in order to function through the ISP's DNS mumbo jumbo. Just FYI.

However, I would not recommend the WNDR37AV if USB NAS, Entertainment Networking ("AV") and/or cutting-edge Online Gaming don't interest you. This Router was $169.99 at BestBuy (atrocious! But we got ours for $130 because of rewards points). So, if none of that interests you a simple and significantly cheaper WLAN 802.11n Router without all of the extra bells and whistles will suffice.

And on that same note, let's make sure you even need to go this route in the first place. I'd hate for you to do this and discover it wouldn't help for whatever reason (just a good idea to rule out all other possibilities first).

Lastly, you wouldn't notice much performance increase if your Notebook doesn't support 802.11n @ 300Mbps either, despite if a Router was also transmitting 802.11n in tandem with 802.11g because your Notebook wouldn't be able to communicate with the stronger, broader and faster 802.11n signals... find out what NIC your Notebook has and check which frequencies and all of that good stuff it boasts. If it does support 802.11n, then it's a good idea to upgrade anyway because I can personally attest to the sheer, raw power of it - it's otherworldly!

Your "wirelessN theory" sounds correct but just so you are aware not all wireless adapters are made equally. Also, just because it is newer doesn't mean it is designed better. Your new laptop may have its antenna positioned in a poor location inside of the laptop. This could affect the signal.

I started off with wanting to mention that, but decided against it. I think everyone knows that hardware (especially over-inflated PC hardware) is becoming increasingly cheaper, flimsier and all around worse than their older counterparts. It's happening with everything now... but yet costs so much more.

 

[chev65]

This wireless N hogging all the bandwidth theory is incorrect. Sorry it simply does not work that way. Wireless N uses the same channels as wireless G, it doesn't overlap other channels in the process.

Now channel bonding on the other hand does use two channels at once to increase bandwidth which tends to hog two entire channels.

Normally channel bonding is used with the 5Ghz frequency because it's easier to find two clear channels in different frequency ranges when using the 5Ghz frequency. It does work with the 2.4Ghz frequency but it's harder to find two clear channels for it with the limited channels of the 2.4Ghz frequency.


Wireless N broadcasts on single channels do no ruin local wireless G connections in the least bit although with channel bonding it can make it more difficult to find a clear channel.

You can read up on channel bonding in the link below.
http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/sb/cs-025343.htm

 

[pwimpenny]

i purchased a new longer antenna to go on my router but if anything it made my signal worse. It was meant to give it a 16dbi signal enhance but I think I may have been suckered by marketing. I think my only option is to look for a 300n router that I can configure with sky broadband. Does anyone have any advise about which router to go for please?