Wireless Connection dropping intermittently

[fragment137]

I have three computers in my room. One has a wired connection, and I have two laptops (My girlfriends and mine) which run off Wireless connections. The router we're using is a D-LINK DIR-655. There are many other devices in the house that use this router, but most of them are wired connections. I have not checked the other wireless devices for the same issue.

The issue I am having is that my girlfriend and I will randomly lose our wireless connection without explanation. After less than a minute, the connection will come back. Other times, the connection remains but says "No internet access". Windows troubleshotting doesn't turn up anything, and I have tried numerous things, like disconnecting one or more wireless devices to see if that improves integrity. I have also updated the router to the latest firmware, without success.

I have no problems with wired connections, and I have NEVER lost internet access on wired connections either.

The only thing I can think of is that the router is located two stories beneath us, but the signal is always over 85% when connected, and changing to a closer location has not made any difference.

I have also tried an external wireless adapter (TRENDnet TEW-421PC) and the same thing is happening.

Because this is happening on more than one version of Windows, I can't imagine that it's just a driver problem in Windows 7.

Has anyone else encountered a problem like this? I should also mention that there are other wireless connections in the neighbourhood. I don't know how to change the wireless channel on my device.

Any help is appreciated.

Here are our computer systems' information:

Desktop (Wired connection): PowerMac G5

Laptop (Mine):
IBM Thinkpad T40 2gb RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
integrated wireless Adapter (Installed as "11a/b/g Wireless Mini PCI Adapter" in Device Manager)

Laptop (GF's):

Toshiba Satellite P200
Windows Vista Home Premium
Integrated wireless adapter

 

[zigzag3143]

I have three computers in my room. One has a wired connection, and I have two laptops (My girlfriends and mine) which run off Wireless connections. The router we're using is a D-LINK DIR-655. There are many other devices in the house that use this router, but most of them are wired connections. I have not checked the other wireless devices for the same issue.

The issue I am having is that my girlfriend and I will randomly lose our wireless connection without explanation. After less than a minute, the connection will come back. Other times, the connection remains but says "No internet access". Windows troubleshotting doesn't turn up anything, and I have tried numerous things, like disconnecting one or more wireless devices to see if that improves integrity. I have also updated the router to the latest firmware, without success.

I have no problems with wired connections, and I have NEVER lost internet access on wired connections either.

The only thing I can think of is that the router is located two stories beneath us, but the signal is always over 85% when connected, and changing to a closer location has not made any difference.

I have also tried an external wireless adapter (TRENDnet TEW-421PC) and the same thing is happening.

Because this is happening on more than one version of Windows, I can't imagine that it's just a driver problem in Windows 7.

Has anyone else encountered a problem like this? I should also mention that there are other wireless connections in the neighbourhood. I don't know how to change the wireless channel on my device.

Any help is appreciated.

Here are our computer systems' information:

Desktop (Wired connection): PowerMac G5

Laptop (Mine):
IBM Thinkpad T40 2gb RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
integrated wireless Adapter (Installed as "11a/b/g Wireless Mini PCI Adapter" in Device Manager)

Laptop (GF's):

Toshiba Satellite P200
Windows Vista Home Premium
Integrated wireless adapter

I would assume you are using "homegroup" for your networking. Homegroup is for
win 7 machines only. since you have a mac on it you should be using a "workgroup" setup. There is a tutorial on leaving a homegroup here. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43980-homegroup-leave.html?ltr=H

let us know if you need help

Ken

 

[chev65]

I have three computers in my room. One has a wired connection, and I have two laptops (My girlfriends and mine) which run off Wireless connections. The router we're using is a D-LINK DIR-655. There are many other devices in the house that use this router, but most of them are wired connections. I have not checked the other wireless devices for the same issue.

The issue I am having is that my girlfriend and I will randomly lose our wireless connection without explanation. After less than a minute, the connection will come back. Other times, the connection remains but says "No internet access". Windows troubleshotting doesn't turn up anything, and I have tried numerous things, like disconnecting one or more wireless devices to see if that improves integrity. I have also updated the router to the latest firmware, without success.

I have no problems with wired connections, and I have NEVER lost internet access on wired connections either.

The only thing I can think of is that the router is located two stories beneath us, but the signal is always over 85% when connected, and changing to a closer location has not made any difference.

I have also tried an external wireless adapter (TRENDnet TEW-421PC) and the same thing is happening.

Because this is happening on more than one version of Windows, I can't imagine that it's just a driver problem in Windows 7.

Has anyone else encountered a problem like this? I should also mention that there are other wireless connections in the neighbourhood. I don't know how to change the wireless channel on my device.

Any help is appreciated.

Here are our computer systems' information:

Desktop (Wired connection): PowerMac G5

Laptop (Mine):
IBM Thinkpad T40 2gb RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
integrated wireless Adapter (Installed as "11a/b/g Wireless Mini PCI Adapter" in Device Manager)

Laptop (GF's):

Toshiba Satellite P200
Windows Vista Home Premium
Integrated wireless adapter

I'm running the same router with Homegroups on 6 different machines with absolutely no problems at all.

Most likely this is a channel problem with the router. If anyone near you uses the same channel for their router it will cause dropped connections. Try using another channel on the router which should fix this sort of problem.

To change the channel on the DIR-655.

Login to router first, then click on Setup (top of page), then Wireless Settings (left of page), click on Manual Wireless Network Setup (scroll to bottom), check/uncheck Enable Auto Channel Scan button, then select which channel you want.
That's it, hope that helps.

 

[fragment137]

I have tried changing channels on my router, and there are LESS drop-outs, but they are still occurring. Another issue that seems to be happening is that the router is losing it's internet connection, but ONLY the wireless users are feeling it?

I was in the middle of playing online with my wired PowerMac G5, and when the two laptops indicated that the router had lost it's WAN connection I didn't get so much as a lag spike... This has happened on more than one occasion.

This is a very confusing problem and it's quite annoying. Has anyone else had a problem like this with this router?

 

[chev65]

If you have a wireless phone system in the house, they use the same band as your router 2.4 GHz and will also cause connection problems if your router is too close to the phone.
You could also try upgrading your router with one that uses the 5GHz band with wireless N, but you would also need to upgrade your wireless adaptors for that.

That is about all I can think of for this type of problem.

 

[fragment137]

Thank you for this insight. I'll check the physical location of the router when I get home (it's my GFs dad who set it up).

 

[mshelton5000]

There's a lot of issues here being that you are two floors up. The first issue is there are two floors of electrical wiring, duct work, pipes, and everything else that makes up the guts of a house between you and the router. You're going to want to find a more central location for the modem and router.


If you have a cable modem:


Cable modems operate using a few frequencies: the forward data carrier and the reverse data carrier (in/out)

Always when connecting anything to cable be sure you screw the cable on first and THEN plug it into power. Having something hooked up to power with out cable signal can turn certain ISPs modems into what is called "auto provisioning" status where you'll need to call their customer service dept for assistance.

You'll want to make sure that you find a place that has proper forward and reverse signal between you and your ISP, along with a signal to noise ratio that is greater than 31. Furthermore you want to make sure that the cable is being split using a splitter with a proper signal passage. If it is old and gold chances are it stops at about 600mhz which is well below most foward data carriers of cable ISPs. So if you find a spot in the middle of your house, log into your modem. There will be a signal tab in most modems. Make sure that:

The forward signal is greater than -10dbmv but less than +15dbmv. The signal to noise ratio should be around 36 up stream and 34 down stream but so long as it is greater than 31 you are okay. The reverse (or upstream in some modems) should be ideally a 40dbmv but will operate from 34 to 55dbmv. You'll encounter problems if your reverse is lower than your signal to noise and if it is greater than 55dbmv in most cable system plants and you'll experience packet loss.

To check all of these you need to log into your modem which is not complicated. If you post the details of your modems model number I will assist you in logging in.

If you have DSL it is more complicated to move, requires quite a bit of rewiring, and without proper training and tools can cause damage to your phone system and personal injury from the live voltage on your wires. Most phone systems carry enough amperage to kill you in the worst situations (but we can rest assured that you won't be rewiring your phone wires while they are live and you are standing in a bucket of water)

So call your provider and ask them to move it.

If neither option is valid you can get Wireless Range extenders. They are annoying to set up but actually are very useful in a situation like this. You'll probably need one for each floor but they're nice in these situations.