Random Wireless Disconnection

Hey there,

I've been suffering from this problem for a week now and i cant seem to sort it more than temporarily. I have a wireless router which i have configured using an ethernet cable and a secondary computer using W98se, and all is fine. When i log on to the wireless router via my primary computer running XP, the signal strength is excellent and internet access is possible. Then randomly, the internet connection will disconnect, whilst the network strength remains strong. Messenger sometimes still runs which confuses me even more. Im using norton internet security and microsoft firewall but even if i switch both of these off, there is no improvement. Any advice would be greatly received!!!

Hi sanjbhupla welcomw to VDR
Did you try changing wireless channels as you may be picking up stray interference fromother sources?

yeah, have tried that but to no avail. have read somewhere it might be a problem with windows zero configuration utility? apparently this configures wireless lan adaptors and the advice said to restart this when the signal is lost, and true it returns but doing this every 2 to three minutes is not desired. could it possibly be that the software i installed with the lan usb device is conflicting with the microsoft config software?

Are you using a Wirless Auto Configuration in Windows XP or a third party utility to manage the wireless connection?

It could be that the utility you are using is having a conflict with the WZC. To solve this disable the WZC by following these instructions.

1. Open the Network Connections folder.
2. Right-click the Wireless Network Connection and choose Properties.
3. Click the Wireless Networks tab.
4. Uncheck "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings."
5. Then disable the Wireless Zero Configuration in the Services. Click Start, Run and "services.msc". Scroll down until you see it and double click on it and choose Stop and Disable.

If you are using the Wireless Auto Configuration then uninstall the utility.

I've followed your advice pal, but it hasnt seem to have done anything. The software that came with the lan adaptor is installed on the computer but it says that windows xp controls its settings.

When i followed what you said to do, the adaptor software took over trying to connect to the router but all it said was "connecting". However, it didnt manage to.

Ive heard that unistalling the lan adaptor software may help, what do you think? Surely it shouldn't be this hard to connect wi-fi!!!

The signal strength information given by Windows is, I've found, very misleading. An excellent or very strong level can still result in disconnects if you're trying to make a connection in an electrically noisy environment. What the first level feedback doesn't tell you is what your signal-to-noise ratio is, and this is critical. The connection can't be maintained if this value is too small -- it can't separate the signal from the noise.

I avoid the Windows Wireless Connection manager (turn it off in Services) and strictly use the manufacturer's software. Linksys software will tell you all the relevent information in decibels, rather than as one of four aggregate levels.

What make and model of wireless adapter are you using?

its an 'integral lan usb adaptor' and comes with ZD config. The signal is most likely very strong as the router is in the room directly beneath that in which the computer is, and there aren't really that many other electronic items close by.

Stopping and then re-starting the windows zero config in the services menu starts the connection back up but then it fails again pretty quickly.

Im so frustrated now, its getting really annoying!! :eek:

I wasn't thinking of electronic items nearby (although 2.4 GHz phones qualify) so much as other wireless routers in the neighborhood.

As for the router being in the room below you, are you aware that the typical antenna on routers transmits in a "donut" pattern around the axis of the antenna, and that unless you orient the antenna horizontally you may not see much signal above the router? Of course, orienting the antenna horizontally will tend to kill receptivity on the same floor as the router...

As to the make/model, is this wireless adapter built into a laptop? If so, is the laptop designated as a "Centrino"?

Ya know, if it is a laptop, the antenna for the adapter is probably in the laptop lid, and isn't oriented well for working with the router downstairs.

Ive just moved my desktop (sorry, i forgot to say it isnt a laptop) next to the router and the signal strength and link quality is now 99% but still no joy!! i followed the advice in the first message again but still nothing. The software that came with the adaptor took control and connected to the router but the internet connection kept dropping every few seconds. Ive also tried deleting the software that came with the lan adaptor to see if it was conflicting with the windows setup and that has done nothing either. This is so stressful!

Is the router set to use WEP or WPA security? Given the latest data, it sounds like perhaps the adapter is failing to provide the correct password.

the adaptor config software was set on WEP but the router on WPA so that could have been the problem, but i'm not really sure how to use the WEP security. As a consequence, I tried the network without any encryption, to see if i could get it running that way but it still wasnt working properly. I'm getting close to giving up :(

Are you running any form of firewall which may be blocking the signal for some reason perhaps i.e. misconfigured?

Im running windows xp firewall and norton, ive tried it with windows switched off but still with norton. What i shall try is no encryption at all and with both firewalls switched off. Then if it works i can find out what the problem is. I'll let u know later

PS Thanks for all the advice pals!!

If you get nowhere with that try it with the Norton firewall unistalled just in case its still interfering you can always reinstall it again.

With one side set to use WEP and the other set to use WPA, it was never going to work. The problem you might be facing with trying it after turning off all security is that somehow (and this gets into the realm of the superstitious) even when you change the settings on the adapter side, it never quite resets correctly/completely. At that point, the best thing to do is to pick a different SSID for the router, delete the adapter connection profile, and create a new adapter profile for the new SSID. This ensures that Windows starts over on the adapter side. I cannot give you a rational explanation for why this works, but I'm not the only person to have experienced this phenomenon.

hey people,

after a few days relaxing and destressing about my wi-fi problems ive decided to have another go. Followed the previous advice, set up a new SSID and switched off all encryption (they way i figure is to get it working first, then look at security). Switched off firewalls and tried using the software that came with the adaptor, then win xp auto configuration but i still have had no joy. The connection is still intermittant. Should i invest in a different wireless adaptor and see if that makes any difference?

I am glad this came up I am having the same problem with my laptop. I have tried about everything I can think of.

Anybody got any new ideas about what i could try? anything would be helpful!