Router Connection Help

[Andorhal]

Hello, I need help with my NetGear RangeMax (WPN824) wireless router.

I'm having a problem where all of the computers connecting to it wireless have disconnected in intervals ranging from 3 to 9 minutes every day.

One thing that stands out about it is that, on the computer, when i reconnect and I get internet access it says next to the favorite network star that its not connected in bold. (See picture below)

[johnwill]

You appear to have a pretty low signal quality. Have you tried changing channels to see if you have wireless interference?

[Andorhal]

I think thats due to the low quality chip in this computer, the closer i get the better.

(Oddly I was right above the router) It might have to do with the placing, but thats not my problem...

[johnwill]

The wireless signals propagate horizontally like a figure 8 laying on it's side. If you looked from above, it would look like a donut. Having the wireless device above or below the vertical antenna is the worst place for signal quality.

As far as the disconnections go, are you sure you don't have both WZC and a 3rd party wireless client running?

[Andorhal]

Originally Posted by johnwill

The wireless signals propagate horizontally like a figure 8 laying on it's side. If you looked from above, it would look like a donut. Having the wireless device above or below the vertical antenna is the worst place for signal quality.

Humm...well true but the same thing happens at areas diagonal from it. I dont see why there would be much of a problem though considering that it has multiple antenae with self adjustments. Its also vertically mounted.

Originally Posted by johnwill

As far as the disconnections go, are you sure you don't have both WZC and a 3rd party wireless client running?

No idea what WTC is but I do have Network Magic running on most comps on the network.

[johnwill]

WZC is (Windows Zero Configuration), the XP wireless client. If you are using your adapter's client, you need to disable WZC in Services.

[Andorhal]

An adapters client?

[johnwill]

Depending on what kind of wireless adapter you have in your machine, you may have a 3rd party wireless client.

Since you didn't specify the make/model of the machne and/or wireless adapter, that's just a generic guess.

[Andorhal]

Ok well heres one of the laptops with the problems:

OS: Windows XP Professional
Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
Model: Latitude D600
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A09
Processor: Intel Pentium M processor 1600MHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c

[britannic]

As johnwill says, you may have wireless interference, eliminate that possibility by checking out these links:

http://www.netgear.com.sg/upload/support/supportsg/4improving_wireless_range.pdf
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101496.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/wirelesstips.mspx

[johnwill]

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

[Andorhal]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

D:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxxxx.XXXXXXXXXXX.###>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DELL-4052167
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : sacredheart.edu
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : sacredheart.edu

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated Con
troller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-DB-DE-79-FC

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell TrueMobile 1400 Dual Band WLAN
Mini-PCI Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-14-20-86
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, June 09, 2007 9:05:26 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, June 10, 2007 9:02:23 PM

D:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxxxx.XXXXXXXXXXX.###>

I blanked out the file path for security reasons, sorry for any inconvienience

[johnwill]

That appears to have a normal connection, do you ever see this display change when you can't connect?

[Andorhal]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

D:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxxxx.XXXXXXXXXXX.###>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DELL-4052167
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : sacredheart.edu
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated Con
troller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-DB-DE-79-FC

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell TrueMobile 1400 Dual Band WLAN
Mini-PCI Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-14-20-86
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255

D:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxxxx.XXXXXXXXXXX.###>

Missing
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

[johnwill]

An IP address of 0.0.0.0 normally indicates one of the following things.

Duplicate IP address on the network.
NIC Driver issues.
NIC Hardware issues.

The fact that all the computers connected wirelessly are having issues seems to suggest the router has a problem.

I'd try upgrading the firmware to the latest available, and doing a factory reset of the router and reconfiguring it for your network.

[Andorhal]

Both have been done, that second post is the one when i'm NOT connected

[britannic]

Have you tried configuring the wireless router to use a different channel? In one installation, I had to try each of the 11 channels in turn, since the client's 2.4GHz phone was blocking most of them and causing similar symptoms to the ones you describe.

[johnwill]

I'm leaning to a possible bad wireless NIC here. A disconnection would not result in the IP address changing to 0.0.0.0 as a rule.