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Wireless laptop woes...please help...

T

TEEZLE

Platinum Member
Well guys/gals, I just got the Compaq wireless option for my Compaq Presario 1500T laptop. And the Compaq CP-2W connection point. Even though the signal is at excellent, the performance is terribly slow. When I hook the cable modem directly to the laptop instead, it is quick. I'm thinking it's because the wireless card limits the connection to 10mbps? Either way it is very slow. Is there a way to tweak such things as wireless networks. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

EDIT: I know it is not placement of the router because I have it in the hallway at the top floor of my house.
 
I have an orinoco card and a SMC wireless router. I have no problems surfing the Internet. Your max on your wireless laptop is going to be far higher than any cable modem. You could try a different channel or maybe check to see if you have WEP enabled.
 
I did update the firmware and even the driver for the wireless card. When I change the channel on the card do I have to do anything to the router? I haven't tried it yet but I will change the channel on it when I get home. WEP is definitely not enabled, should I enable it? I thought it slows your speed when WEP is enabled?

Thanks a lot for the reply 🙂
 
The fact that your WAP/router is upstairs does not necessarily mean your signal should be good. In fact, the building materials between the floors of your home might be the issue. The best way to test this is to operate your wireless NIC very near (same room) the WAP. If you see the throughput is increased then you can limit the problem to interference of some sort.

After that, it will just be a matter of strategically placing the WAP so your wireless clients have the highest signal strength where you need it.

Best regards,

reza

 
In Infrastructure mode channel configuration occurs at the AP. Wireless clients configured for Infrastructure mode using the same SSID will obtain the appropriate channel from the AP directly - no need for you to fuss with it on the client side.

Unless you want your neighbors hijacking your bandwitdh and reading your mail I definitely recommend you take some precautions. First, enable WEP on the AP and configure your clients appropriately. This will slow your overall connection a bit, but the added security is worth the hit. Next, use your AP's MAC Address Filtering functionality to allow only specified MAC addresses to connect. You can determine your adapters MAC address by typing ipconfig /all at the command prompt in Windows systems.

Good luck,

reza
 
Well guys I changed the channel and everything is fine. One thing though, when I select to have WEP enabled, it doesn''t let me connect. I set it up to do apassphrase and assign a code automatically. But for some reason I can't connect? I just set it to default with it off. If I get a software firewall would it be the same as using WEP? That way I can have the port scanning? Thanks a lot for the replies you all are great.
 
You need to have WEP set up on the acces point/router before you can enable it on the card. If you've already done that...then just ignore me 🙂
 
Derango is right. You need to set up WEP on the AP first, then set it up on your wireless clients. I'm a bit confused, however, about the following statement you made:

"I set it up to do apassphrase and assign a code automatically."

All the WEP implementations I'm familiar with require 4 keys in varying lengths depending on the strength of the encryption you are implementing.

In regards to the firewall, it will help you lock down the IPs that can get access to your external gateway and so prohibit your neighbor, for example, from stealing some of your bandwidth. However, the firewall doesn't really replace WEP as WEP is an encryption scheme that provides confidentiality. Even with the firewall, all your radio communication will be in the clear.

Best regards,

reza
 
about the passphrase, some PC Cards allow you to create the WEP keys by typing in a passphrase. It generates the keys from the phrase
 
Aha! I was not aware of that. I'm assuming that the PC Cards and AP will have to be from the same manufacturer since that isn't standard WEP functionality?

thanks for the tip,

reza
 
Originally posted by: rchapman
Aha! I was not aware of that. I'm assuming that the PC Cards and AP will have to be from the same manufacturer since that isn't standard WEP functionality?

thanks for the tip,

reza
Click to expand...

Well, you can see the key it generates from the passphrase, so you just set your AP to use that key 🙂 Makes things a bit easier when you're setting up a lot of computers...espicaly with 128-bit WEP 🙂

This is how I generate my WEP key, since I switch between my access point at home, and an Ad-Hoc network at school (I have a 4 hour break with some friends who all have laptops...its game time!! 😉 ), so typing in a passphrase when I get home is easier than typing in a random stream of hex digits 3 days a week.
 
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