[SOLVED] Laptop wireless connection vs. Linksys WRT54G

[TXDZul]

Having problem w/ dropped connection between Dell laptop & Linksys router. Had nearly exact setup @ my old residence, but moved to new house & have had nothing but issues.

Current setup:
RoadRunner service thru Time Warner Cable
Arris TM402G/110 cable modem (model?)
Linksys wireless router WRT54G w/ WPA-PSK TKIP, but now set to WEP
1 wired desktop (XP Pro SP2) w/ no issues
1 wireless desktop (XP Pro SP2) w/ no issues
Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop w/ 1300 mini-PCI wireless card w/ no issues @ old house, but now having problems.

Prior setup exactly the same, except different cable modem (model?) w/ no digital phone. Laptop hard drive crashed, so I replaced it, reinstalled XP Pro & all updates including SP2, as well as all drivers straight from Dell. System shows no conflicts in Device Mgr & all drivers updated.

Set up my network once I got RR installed @ new house. Built the network w/ no probs until I tried to use wireless cnxn on my laptop. Cnxn established initially, but speed started @ 54Mbps & started dropping to 48, then incrementally lower until it hit 1M &, even though all system settings says connected, got nothing.

Repair of cnxn does nothing. Removed network cnxn, reinstalled, & got same problem w/ dropped cnxn after about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, wireless & wired desktop running fine & @ full speed (the wireless desktop is across the house but running @ 54M; the laptop can sit right next to the router & rarely, if ever, hit that fast).

Took network down & rebuilt from scratch. Same issue. Linksys TS rep begins telling me to change network cnxn settings to OPEN w/ WPA, which wasn't a selectable option (was set @ WPA-PSK TKIP @ the time). Then he tells me to reset router, rebuild network from scratch (again) & set security to WEP, despite the fact I was able to run WPA-PSK TKIP @ old house.

Reset modem, router, rebuild network w/ WEP & get same thing. Issue isn't w/ wireless card b/c it sees other networks in the area. Also, although laptop NIC is lit green w/ no cable inserted, it goes red when one is connected, but still get a cnxn.

Several times, I've connected the network cable only to have the wireless card (re)establish a connection, then drop it when I d/c the network cable. Currently, laptop wireless card sees my network (& others), but won't connect to it.

I've seen some forum postings on the net asking about digital phone/cable modem conflicts w/ Linksys routers, but haven't seen any definitive answers. (RoadRunner TS denies any conflicts from their equipment & suggested I contact Linksys - SHOCKER!)

I hope I haven't overlooked something obvious, but I've tried everything I know & am stumped, not to mention peeved. Any ideas?

BTW, being a new member, I attempted loading my system specs into my profile. If it doesn't show for some reason, I'll be happy to provide more info. Thx in advance for any advice!

Sorry for such a long post. Cheers.

[johnwill]

I hate to suggest the obvious, but did you try changing channels on the router? This sounds a lot like wireless interference. Also, did you try with no encryption for a test, perhaps we can get that working first.

I'm assuming that wired connections are not a problem to the machine, right?

[TXDZul]

JW,

Thanks for your reply. I did try a channel change, to no avail.

I thought about interference as well, but my wireless desktop is inside a desk cabinet on the other side (but same floor) of the house, & it hits @ a rock-solid 54M all the time. Plus I didn't figure the card would be receiving such strong signals from other networks in the neighborhood if there was so much local interference, you think?

Next stop is an unencrypted cnxn as, no, I haven't tried that yet. Assuming it works when I try it, what then?

You're correct that any and all wired connections work without fail. As a matter of fact, I'm currently using the laptop on a wired cnxn right now.

This may be completely off-base, but since I'm out of rational thoughts...

Any chance of interference from wireless peripherals (mouse, keyboard)? I can't think of what range they run on off-hand. What about interference from a flat-panel monitor or speakers? May be reaching, I know, but...

Thanks again.

DZL

[johnwill]

Well, the wireless peripherals might be an issue, but I've never heard of LCDs or speakers having an effect. As far as wireless interference, those strong signals from other networks are probably on different channels.

Do you have any wireless 2.4ghz phones? You might try unplugging the base station and moving the handset far away from the machines, just as a test.

The only other thing that comes to mind is updated drivers for the wireless NIC. I've seen signal issues be resolved with driver updates.

[TXDZul]

Well, funnily enough, I don't even have a phone hooked up to the digital phone jack on the modem - just a phone cord hangin' there. I'd read a post somewhere from a guy that lost his wireless cnxn every time his 2.4Ghz phone would ring. That got me to thinking about a possible hardware/firmware conflict from the modem, but I know I'm probably reaching. Just seems strange that this exact network setup & config worked flawlessly @ my last house, but now, with the modem being the only hardware change, I've got cnxn probs.

Also, as far as I know, I have the latest-n-greatest drivers for the wireless card. Checking Dell's website & trying to update them thru Windows reveals nothing new. I'm sure a call to Dell would prompt a suggestion to call Linksys, but so far, I haven't been too impressed w/ LS TS so far. Might try Linksys one more time just to see what they suggest this time.

Still gonna try unencrypted network - just haven't had time yet.

Thanks for monitoring this issue for me. I'll keep you updated.

DZL

[TXDZul]

JOHNWILL,

Okay - it's taken a while, but it appears this issue has been resolved.

There is a critical driver update on support.dell.com from 12/2006 with details as follows:


Urgent Dell highly recommends applying this update as soon as possible. The update contains changes to improve the reliability and availability of your Dell system.

Additional Information
No information available.

Important Information
No information available.

Fixes and Enhancements
WLAN Card Features
The Dell Wireless WLAN Card has the following features:

IEEE 802.11a operation (5-GHz frequency band)
IEEE 802.11g operation (2.4-GHz frequency band)
Network data rate of up to 54 Mbit/s

New for this release

Fixes a security vulnerability related to wireless beacons


Although I had DL'd the driver already, apparently the installation failed, 'cuz I DL'd it again, installed it again & haven't had an issue since. I'm back to running a secure, WPA-PSK/TKIP network, with all machines running w/o issues. The laptop, which was originally experiencing the cnxn loss, has yet to d/c since, & I've even been able to travel about the house w/ it while maintaining the cnxn.

With Dell's self-described driver issue regarding "reliability & availability" & frequency operations, it appears this one driver, or lack thereof, was causing the problem.

NOTE TO ALL: The driver file is R143355.EXE, available from support.dell.com. For other readers out there who may be experiencing this same problem, note this "urgent" driver update affects both the Dell TrueMobile 1300 mini-PCI card AND the TrueMobile 1400 WLAN. You must be sure to DL the file, unzip it, go to the location you unzip the files to, and run the installation to ensure this patch is installed correctly.

So far, so good!

Thx for your help. I'll be sure to post should any other issues crop up.

Fingers crossed,

DZL

[johnwill]

Sounded like a driver issue, glad you were able to sort it out.