Why does my new ADHOC 802.11b Internet connection keep crapping out on me? Did I set it up wrong? Help out a newb plz :)

[CZroe]

I just bought two Belkin Wireless Notebook cards with two free PCI adapters for less than $80 total (I'd normally avoid Belkin but the price was OK and I needed at least one PCI adapter). Anyway, my cable ISP allows me to lease multiple IP addresses through a simple hub, so I threw a PCI adapter with one card into the Internet-connected machine and told XP Pro to "bridge" the two devices (I didn't really know what I was doing, but it worked. Both are online with real "outside" IP addresses, ie no Network Address Translating). The wireless network was set up on SSID "Newnan" on channel 1 in peer-to-peer "ADHOC" mode (I just have the two cards w/ no access point) and no encryption. The Internet connection seems responsive enough, but I can't finish a single download over 4MB or so without it nearly or completely stopping before the download finishes. Any download will also make all websites slow to a crawl and start timing out (No longer "responsive" at all). The Tx Rate fluctuates between 1 & 2 Mbitsps and sometimes reaches 5 for a split second. If I transfer files over the network by disconnecting from the Internet and specifying IP addresses I can hit 11Mbitsps but it still only 11Mbitsps for a split second as it wildly fluctuates. Is this normal? Should I set it up differently? I can't tell if something is interfering because aparantly the "connection quality" meter doesn't work without an access point, but I have the problem when I'm sitting right next to the other card.

 

[JackMDS]

11Mb/sec. is part of American Advertising Myth (fast is always better), not real life.

In real life (pending on distance, and obstructions) you get 4-8Mb/sec.

I would disconnect the system from the Internet, and configure it AD-Hoc with regular local IPs (no bridging etc.)

Use the LAN ft transfer files, and see if it is stable.

If it is stable under such condition you will know that the PCMCIA Cards are OK, and you have to work on your Soft configuration.

If it is not stable under simple local config, then the Cards should go back to where they came from!

 

[CZroe]

11Mb/sec. is part of American Advertising Myth (fast is always better), not real life.

In real life (pending on distance, and obstructions) you get 4-8Mb/sec.

Yeah, but I'm looking at it's speed via the utility that shows the Tx rate with control and overhead data. I'm not testing real throughput, just looking at what Tx rate the card is using.
I tried setting both cards to "11 Mb" instead of "Fully Automatic" but the Tx rate still fluctuated.

I would disconnect the system from the Internet, and configure it AD-Hoc with regular local IPs (no bridging etc.)

Use the LAN ft transfer files, and see if it is stable.

If it is stable under such condition you will know that the PCMCIA Cards are OK, and you have to work on your Soft configuration.

Thanks, I'll try that.

If it is not stable under simple local config, then the Cards should go back to where they came from!

I agree, thanks again!

 

[CZroe]

Actually, I've got another idea to try first... I'll switch cards around with my other PC using the PCI adapter first. See if PC1-to-PC2 craps out like Laptop1-to-PC1 then try Laptop1-to-PC2. I'll report back