TrophyHusband 0 #1 June 27, 2008 for the last few days, my wireless network has been intermittant. internet on my desktop is fine and my laptop says its getting a good signal, but has slow or no connectivity. is there a way to test whether its a problem on the laptop end or the router end without having another laptop? "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taylor610 0 #2 June 27, 2008 Did you run a "repair" on the connectivity? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGUN 1,483 #3 June 27, 2008 Do you have all the security features turned on to prevent someone else from using your bandwidth? http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm Edit: There's some good tools on this site... http://www.dslreports.com/tools Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aardvarkeater 0 #4 June 27, 2008 Couple questions: Is you desktop connected via ethernet cable or wireless into the router? Does your laptop pickup any new wireless signals? It's possible someone else setup a new access point that's conflicting with yours. In that case you'd need to change the wireless signal's channel in the router's configuration. Does the intermittent connection problem happen in certain locations in the house/apartment? Possibly something has been moved to interfere with the signal. When the internet drops does the laptop indicate that the wireless signal is lost or does the internet just not work? What do you do to restore internet to the laptop? When the internet isn't working on the laptop does the desktop have internet connectivity? What are you doing on the laptop when the internet drops? Are you doing the same thing always or different things? Are you downloading large files over the web or via p2p apps? What model of wireless router do you have?Muff Brother #4026 Loco Zapatos Rodriguez SCR #14793 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #5 June 27, 2008 i've done that several times, but usually it does not work. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simplyputsi 0 #6 June 27, 2008 reset your router, or unplug it and give it ten seconds and plug it in again.Skymama's #2 stalker - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #7 June 27, 2008 no i don't, but i need to. i put in a wireless router that i'm told keeps people from getting into my computer, but i don't have anything that keeps people from using my bandwidth except that houses here are far enough apart that the signals are pretty weak. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #8 June 27, 2008 i've done that a few times and it restores internet for about 3 minutes. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simplyputsi 0 #9 June 27, 2008 How old is your router? Possible you just need a new one.Skymama's #2 stalker - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #10 June 27, 2008 QuoteCouple questions: Is you desktop connected via ethernet cable or wireless into the router? ethernet cable Does your laptop pickup any new wireless signals? It's possible someone else setup a new access point that's conflicting with yours. In that case you'd need to change the wireless signal's channel in the router's configuration. yes! someone moved in next door and i see a new wireless signal. it is weak because the house is a long ways away, but my computer connected to it a couple of times until i changed the settings so it wouldn't. how do i change the channel? Does the intermittent connection problem happen in certain locations in the house/apartment? Possibly something has been moved to interfere with the signal. it happens everywhere, even in the same room as the router. When the internet drops does the laptop indicate that the wireless signal is lost or does the internet just not work? normally the internet just doesn't work but the laptop will show a very good signal and high speed, but sometimes it will indicate that a conection has been lost. What do you do to restore internet to the laptop? restarting the computer and unplugging the router or resetting it sometimes works for a few minutes. When the internet isn't working on the laptop does the desktop have internet connectivity? sometimes yes and sometimes no. What are you doing on the laptop when the internet drops? Are you doing the same thing always or different things? Are you downloading large files over the web or via p2p apps? same thing everyone else does with a laptop, dz.com and porn. actually it drops no matter what i'm doing. i can't even google anything. What model of wireless router do you have? "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #11 June 27, 2008 i think its 4 or 5 years old. i should mention that the dsl modem from my isp has wireless capability, but i've been using the router. i don't know how to turn on the modem's wireless signal, but it can't be that hard. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simplyputsi 0 #12 June 27, 2008 it's a refurb, but have you checked out woot.com today?? coincidence?? I think not!! Skymama's #2 stalker - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #13 June 27, 2008 the model router is linksys, but i also have an actiontec dsl modem. i took the linksys out and am noe trying to figure out how to turn on the actiontec. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aardvarkeater 0 #14 June 27, 2008 QuoteQuoteCouple questions: Does your laptop pickup any new wireless signals? It's possible someone else setup a new access point that's conflicting with yours. In that case you'd need to change the wireless signal's channel in the router's configuration. yes! someone moved in next door and i see a new wireless signal. it is weak because the house is a long ways away, but my computer connected to it a couple of times until i changed the settings so it wouldn't. how do i change the channel? Typically to change the router's wireless channel you need to access the router's configuration screen. Most are accessed through your web browser. Thy some of these addresses: 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.10 192.168.0.100 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.100 Don't put www or anything else in when typing in the addresses. Hopefully one of these should get you to the router's login screen. If not click start, run, type cmd and click ok. Then at the command window type "ipconfig /all" (no quotes). Look for the default gateway address and type that into your browser. You'll probably come up to a login screen. Different mfgs use different login methods. If you haven't changed the login password then it's typically some combination of admin or administrator. Try those in both the username and password box. Try leaving one blank. Eg. Username: admin or administrator Password: . Or Username: Password: admin or administrator. Once in find a page or tab or something that takes you to wireless configuration. Every mfgs screens are different so just poke around until you find something labeled wireless channel. There could be 11+ channels listed but only 3 are non overlapping. Try channel 1,6,or 11. Save the settings and see if this helps.Muff Brother #4026 Loco Zapatos Rodriguez SCR #14793 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aardvarkeater 0 #15 June 27, 2008 With linksys routers, alot of times I've found that problems with the router can be fixed by upgrading the firmware with it. This is typically something I'll do later on because you can screw up things by doing so.Muff Brother #4026 Loco Zapatos Rodriguez SCR #14793 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #16 June 27, 2008 i've got it working on the linksys modem, so now i'm going to try your suggestions from post #14. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #17 June 27, 2008 changing the channel seems to be working, but i'll give it the rest of the day before making that official. now i have two unsecure wireless signals, so i should disable one, but a have a few questions first. does it matter which signal i use? is my computer protected by the router like i've been told? how do i secure my network so people can't use my bandwidth? (not much of a problem here, but i should do it anyway) "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aardvarkeater 0 #18 June 27, 2008 Quotechanging the channel seems to be working, but i'll give it the rest of the day before making that official. now i have two unsecure wireless signals, so i should disable one, but a have a few questions first. does it matter which signal i use? Well it depends. If you mean that your laptop is seeing 2 wireless signals. Just select the one that your linksys router is sending out and tell the computer to use this one when available. is my computer protected by the router like i've been told? Just having a router doesn't protect your computer. There's tons of things to do to protect your computer. The most basic thing you can do is to go back into the router's config settings and see if there's an option for the router to enable a firewall. That will give you a basic amount of protection but still not complete. The next thing would be to get a firewall installed on your computer specifically. Comodo makes a good free firewall and other utilities to start with. http://www.comodo.com/ Another thing that you should do to secure the wireless connection is enable wireless encryption from the router's config page. There's typically three levels of encryption WEP, WPA, and WPA2. If both your laptop and router support WPA2 I'd use that one. WEP is easily crackable by someone who wants to get in but the average use won't bother and should be ok if that's all you have. Realize that once you enable encryption on the router, you need to setup the wireless connection on your laptop to use the wireless key. Normally it'll say that the signal is encrypted and ask for a password. Quick tip: if you addicentally screw up the encryption, you can still get into the router to reconfigure it by using your desktop system. how do i secure my network so people can't use my bandwidth? (not much of a problem here, but i should do it anyway) See previous answer. Muff Brother #4026 Loco Zapatos Rodriguez SCR #14793 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHusband 0 #19 June 27, 2008 thanks for all your help. my network is fixed and is now more secure. "Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama www.kjandmegan.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
