intermittent disconnects with wireless network

Special K

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2000
7,098
0
76
Here is my setup - I have a Linksys WRT54GL router, and a D-Link DWL-G122 adapter connected to my main PC. The router is situated 2 rooms and about 50 feet away from the computer. What happens is I will randomly lose my connection many times throughout the day. The little wireless icon in my tray will still show connected, but websites will quit responding. Eventually AIM will disconnect and other apps will give timeout errors. I am currently running with WPA-PSK security but have noticed this same problem even when no security is enabled.

I can usually get around this problem by right clicking on the wireless icon and repairing it, but it gets annoying when I have to do it 10+ times per day. I have had the D-Link adapter for over a year now, and it worked fine with a D-Link router I was using a year ago, although that was in a house with no other networks nearby. It even worked fine at first with the Linksys router, which I just got two months ago. The problems seemingly came out of nowhere. Not only that, but they are very inconsistent. Some days I will never have a disconnect, but other days I will barely be able to keep connected for 5 min. without getting a disconnect.

How do you troubleshoot an error like this? Could it be that the D-Link adapter doesn't like to function with non-D-link hardware? I should also mention I am in a highrise apartment complex, with an identical tower right across a courtyard from me. I would imagine there are a ton of wireless networks in the area. I only see 10 or so when I do a scan, but maybe all of the others are set to not broadcast the SSID. Could I be getting interference? I have changed the channel many times but that didn't solve anything.
 

nweaver

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2001
6,813
1
0
it's most likely interference, and even from a non-802.11 device, like a 2.4 Ghz phone.

Get Netstumbler and use that to find the best SNR/channel for your apartment.