Problems With Laptop Wireless

I have an Acer laptop which has the Intel 2200BG wireless card built in, when i connect to my Netgear router every 5 mins or so, the connection speed drops to 1.0mbps however the signal strength still displays excellent...

then the internet doesnt work at all and everytime this happens i "repair" the connection and its fine (for another 5mins). Also if i connect to the Netgear router with my Netgear USB adaptor its fine, no problems at all, got any ideas on how to solve this problem?

thanks

 

try updating the drivers on your inspiron 6400
and try switching off the router and reconnecting it again on a different frequency

 

its my friends laptop...

how do i change the frequency? Do you mean Channels?

 

yes i mean changing the channels may solve the problem
as the decrease in transfer rates maybe due to some inteference from other electronic devices
also make sure no one else other than you is illegally using the connection by setting up a WPA code

 

Yup done that

thanks i will try that

o btw does it matter what channel i change it to? will certian channels decrease the speed in any way?

 

i dont think there would be a speed decrease if any

 

5 min, sounds like the acer power management is reducing power. Check your advanced power managements properties on your wireless port.

 

i will check that, thanks

it seems as if the drivers had sorted it, but it seems to be alot slower compared to the Netgear USB adaptor provided with the router...

 

Your intel wireless is having trouble operating with the netgear router, sometimes when you've different products this will happen, seeing how the netgear card and router are going just fine I would just try to stick to the usb adapter.BTW have you tried not having any security WEP/WAP/FW setup to see if that is affecting the speed?

 

try the dell website for the driver upgrade first.
if not then try to find the manufacturer of your wireless card and get a driver from their website.
if all else fails get the flash bios update for your laptop from the dell website.

 

yeah, I have similar problems. I've got the Insipiron 6000, with the intel 2915ABG card. I'm using the Netgear WGT624v3 router.

Like he said before, sometimes, my wireless connection drops off (even up to twice a minute).

when you say "change the channels"...etc etc... how do you change the channels? I really don't know what I'm doing when configuring network connections (I'm using windows vista). I've also checked the power management settings, and they're all set to maximum performance for the wireless card.

Any more insight on this problem?
Thanks.

 

Your wireless router has a specific IP (e.g. 192.0.87.0.1) thing which usually located on the router itself (it is on my Netgear DG834PN). You simply type the IP code into the web browser address bar, and it should come up with a window to insert a username and password. The username and password defaults are located on the router aswell. Type them in, then it comes up with a menu, just look on "Wireless Settings" and it should be there...

thats how i do it, im just going by the fact that both of our routers are Netgear, so i think it should be the same principle.

Note: Make sure you are connected to the router wirelessly first.

 

okay, thanks with that. and do i try different channels a random to see if a specific one has better performance?

 

yeah...

if that doesnt stop the drop in signal, then try updating your drivers for the wireless card... if all else fails, buy yourself a proper Netgear USB adaptor, or PCMCIA Netgear card, i bought the Netgear WPN511 and have had no problems so far... Although you are using Vista i as using XP, so im not sure whther that will affect the Netgear software that comes with the Wireless adaptors or not...

 

Alright. I just wanted to identify what the problem was.

Also, concerning the Netgear wgt624v3 router (this is for anyone who knows something about this router)...Sometimes, the connection on the router just disappears (even though my computer network adapter is working fine). My internet connection itself is working fine.

Just for clarification, by "disappears", I mean the computer says my connection is fine and active, but I can't view the internet.

Basically, when I directly connect my computer through my cable modem, internet is fine, no problems whatsoever. However, once I use the router, wired or wireless, my internet connection will simply disappear (even though my computer says I'm connected to a network). This occurs very frequently some days, and rarely on others. I have no idea what's causing this, or what this means. Anyone else experience similar issues? I want to be sure what the problems are before I go out and buy like a new router or something...

This problem seemingly occurs randomly. I will reset my router, and the internet will be fine for the next couple of minutes (sometimes longer or shorter), but then the same problem will occur again: my internet connection disappears.

This issue vets very annoying...sometimes the connection doesn't even last long enough to finish an mp3 download...

 

how about downloading the latest Firmware for your router...

http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/WGT624v3.asp

the download links are on the left...

 

If that don't IMO you should look into getting a new router.

 

okay, thanks for the link. this is really pissing me off, i had to restart my router, like, twice just to make this post lol

 

I can't help you with the modem-router relationship problem but if you're all of a sudden dropping signal I believe it has to do with the wireless channel you are on. Do you neighbors have a wireless network? I believe the standard channel is 6, so choose a channel that's about 3 channels away from that. 9--personally I use 12, i think--or 3.

Also a cordless phone may mess with your wireless connection (usually older models, check frequency).

 

Okay, I'll try changing the channels.

Also, I have a 5.8 ghz phone near the router (the router website says that 2.4 ghz phones often conflict with the signal)

Should the 5.8 be a problem as well? I'd move it, but that's the only accessible modem jack anywhere close...

I basically don't understand how my connection can just simply disappear so frequently....my computer "sees" the existence of my wireless connection...i just can't connect to it some of the time...

in the past five minutes, i made four separate attempts to make this post...

 

Do a site survey using netstumbler. One of your neighbors may have a new 11n or mimo hardware which are known to conflict with existing 11g.

Normally 5.8 ghz phone do not cause a problem. Just have the base at least 3'ft form the router.

Or you have a cheap Raylink 2500. I have one in my NB. It only has a range of about 10' and drops signals constantly. There is some new firmware that is suppose to correct it. I never tried it due to the fact I purchased a PCMCI card. And the firmware did not happen till 6mo later.