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Wireless issues, i've tried everything.

R

rcasellas

Junior Member

Hey all... i'm having issues with my pc's wireless connectivity:
PS: I saw the sticky, and none of the suggestions helped, which is why I'm posting here. This is the 5th forum I post in... 5th one's the charm?



Problem: New computer, (see specs below) has really shoddy wireless access. However, my netbook and my laptop, placed in the same location as the PC have excellent wireless performance.

Troubleshooting so far:

1) Speed test on netbook and laptop give 4mb/sec speed download, 384 upload. On PC i get the 384 upload, but speeds vary from 3 megabits to 512 kilobits. Strangely though, my bittorrent performance is excellent... i get 3.6-4mbit peformance.

2) Ping test (continuous 1024 bit pings: ping -t -l 1024 192.168.1.1) on netbook give average of 3 millisecond return time, with no packet loss. on PC it gives an average of 40 ms, varying from 3 millisecond to 200 millisecond. Also, some timeouts occur (about 1% of the time).

3) dB meter test (Inssider) says netbook recieves -75 dB, while in the same spot as PC, which recieves from -85 to -90 dB.

4) Netbook is XP, laptop is Vista, Pc has run all three (now is 7). Problem has existed constantly (under xp it was worse).

5) This is my 3rd PCI wireless card (has 3 antennas, says it's Xtreme and by all means should get a better signal than my lowly netbook), and all 3 have been placed on both PCI slots. Device manager has said they all work fine.

6) Did I mention this has been a nightmare?

7) There are few sources of interference, one of which was my bluetooth mouse and keyboard... but the problem persists with them gone, and I've changed the wireless channel from 1-11 without change.

8) Antennas are pointed towards AP, case does not block them


9) I ran out of ideas, and came here for HELP!!!

So, I beg and implore you, community, to help me get this solved. Please... I'm gonna go mad.

Pc Specs:
i7 860, 4gig ram
Asus P7p55d EVO mobo

DLINK DWA-552

Wireless router: WRT54G v.6




 
one question, have you put the wireless card in the last pci slot on the motherboard? i know there have been motherboards in the past, that when assigning irqs to that last pci slot, it gets kinda jumbled... try moving it to another pci slot...
 
Yep. Right now it's on the topmost one, right beneath the vcard. Thanks for the reply.


(see 5) This is my 3rd PCI wireless card (has 3 antennas, says it's Xtreme and by all means should get a better signal than my lowly netbook), and all 3 have been placed on both PCI slots. Device manager has said they all work fine.


... although, how would I go about checking if my irqs are fine?
 
Ok, it's optimized now, yet that doesn't solve the really low signal (-85db). Download speed seems to have improved, but it's probably due to the reboot. I'm pretty sure this is a software issue with my hardware... probably motherboard. This is my 3rd pci card, all have had the same issue. I might try borrowing a USB wireless stick and see if that solves anything, but it'll be a while until I find one.

thanks jack
 
Does the laptop's signal change at all if you place it right next to the desktop's wireless antenna (i.e. below/behind the PC)? If so, something in or near the PC could be causing interference. If that is the case, the card that Jack linked to may solve the problem since it moves the antenna away from the computer.

edit:
8) Antennas are pointed towards AP, case does not block them
Click to expand...
Don't do this. Wireless signals radiate out in a donut shape around the antenna with the strongest signals perpendicular to the antenna itself. So if you point the antenna straight at the router, you are getting the lowest possible signal. Point the PC's antenna(s) and the router's antenna(s) straight up so that they are parallel with each other and not pointing toward each other.
 
By pointed towards AP I meant perpendicular to the line of sight leading to the AP. They're pointed correctly. The netbook's signal is still good, better than the pc when below/behind PC.

I'm pretty sure it's not a line of sight/physical problem. It's gotta be hardware interacting funky with software (i just don't know what). This deduction is based on the following:

1) As i said before, netbook and laptop perform well at any place in the room. pc does not.

2) PC has had xp, vista and win7, all with same problem (can't be OS related).

3) This is the 3rd PCI card I test (can't be problems with pci card, device manager also says they work fine).

4) I've tried both PCI slots with each of the 3 cards... low chances it is a pci slot issue.


What else does this set of facts point to?


Again, thanks all for your help and patience. Much appreciated.
 
The only variable that is of consequence is the actual transfer.

Whatever "Reading" is done showing Signal Strength, Noise, etc. is Nothing but a general approximation of the actual signal.

Thus the reading can vary significantly form one computer to another.

There is a reason to why standard real measuring tools can cost more than the whole computer+Wireless card.
 
Nope, you just have a very low signal. -85 is on the "barely even staying connected" range. Antennas can also be too close to each other and actually cause this so stay 5 feet away from the AP. Make sure the antanneas are like this |......|
Not -......-
 
Jack, I agree. Signal could be -150 and if I had 4mbit xfers and decent ping times i wouldn't care. Sadly, this isnt the case.

1) Netbook ping times to google are ~50ms constantly, whereas the pc gets 96, 140, 150, etc...

2) ping times to router are 1ms to router from netbook... Pc gets 2, 110, 2, 21, in that pattern.

3) xfer speeds are minimum 4mbit on netbook and laptop... PC 3mbit max on a restart... then drops to 1mbit.



Spidey, antennas are parallel to each other, and perpendicular to the line of sight to the router. All the computers are at least 30 feet away from router.
 
What other PCI cards you tried beside the "Kinky" PCI with 3 Antennae?

Did you ever tried one hard drive with just striagh XP on it?
 
From the details you're giving, everything is pointing to the Wireless Card/Antenna you're using in the PC being inferior to the Wireless Card/Antenna that's in your netbook.

The only other option I can think of right now is that you're running some Security Software(Antivirus/Firewall/Antispyware/etc) that is scanning and slowing down your traffic.
 
Hmm... At this point I can tell you what I do with my system.

I am not suggesting that every one else do the same since it might be costly to others.

I keep a side a whole slew of components that I know that they are working well, and I do not use them unless it is called for.

I have a Spare, Keyboard, Mouse, PSU, Wireless Router, Sticks of Memory, wire NIC, one very functional Edimax Wireless PCI Card, and few more components.

I would stick the Edimax into the computer and make a decision whether it is the Wireless cards per se or not.

If the card did not help, I would backup the HD (I use Acronis True Image to create an image file through the Network to a Windows Home Server ), and then install clean Win XP SP2 (Not SP3) with nothing but the default installation and drivers.

If it is still doing the same and did not help, then some thing in the computer's hardware contributes to this.
 
Yeah, at this point I'm pretty much convinced it's hardware incompatibility... something to do with the PCI lanes. I'm probably going to try and find a usb wireless stick and see if that works.
 
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