Bizarre networking problem

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Cycloptersaurus

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Jun 27, 2006
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I’ve recently had a very strange networking issue. I normally use my computer upstairs, which is connected via Ethernet cable to the router which is right next to it. This is also a wireless router, and I have another computer downstairs that accesses it wirelessly. When we first moved into this house, I had a laptop downstairs that had no problems. Then I got a desktop computer with a wireless card, and they both worked peachy keen. Until…

Eventually the desktop’s internet stopped working. When looking at the network status, it had low bars, and the light on the computer monitor icon things would flash blue and gray (I think this means it was an intermittent conection). It would still work occasionally and for short periods of time, but there was serious problems. The laptop still worked.

I got a new, more powerful wireless card for the desktop, and it worked fine. It was faster than it had ever been in the past and worked 100% of the time. Eventually though, the same problem occurred again. 1-2 green bars, but the connection would go on and off, and it would only connect intermittently. Usually it would work in the mornings, but would stop working at about noon. The laptop still worked.

It was suggested to me that I get a range extender, and I did today. I set it up, and I now get 3-4 bars… but the connection still goes on and off. What could be causing this? Could the motherboard be killing the wireless cards? The fact that it worked certain times of the day seems to kill this theory… what could this be? Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Are you using Vista on any system? I've heard of this problem caused by the IPv6 network stack in Vista (which you can disable if this is causing issues).

Open up 3 command prompts:

I'll assume your router is 192.168.1.1 and your AP is 192.168.1.2. 4.2.2.2 is a root dns server that I like to use for testing internet connectivity.

In cmd prompt 1
ping -t 192.168.1.1

In cmd prompt 2
ping -t 192.168.1.2

In cmd prompt 3
ping -t 4.2.2.2


When you start getting timeouts, see which windows are affected. That will help determine where the problem is.

You could do the same test from a wired system to see if your access point becomes unresponsive...

Also, try changing authentication methods and channel. Specifically try 2 and 11 and see if you run into the same issues.

If your AP has any speed boost features like SuperG or RangeMax, disable those for testing purposes.
 
No, I'm not using Vista on any of the computers.

As for the tests, I am unable to connect to the internet at all now, perhaps I'd have different results if I ran it in the morning, but I ran them all just now and they all come back "Request timed out" over and over.
 
What is the actual IP of your router? AP?

try ipconfig /all

The default gateway will probably be the IP of your router (unless you also have your access point configured as a router.. in which case, you could be having issues since you are NAT'ing a NAT'ed IP address... )
 
You are probably getting wireless interference, such as from a cordless phone, microwave, or pretty much anything.

Try a different wireless channel that you currently use. Try to stick with 1,6, or 11.
 
I tried setting up the range extender with all sorts of different channels, but it wouldn't implement the changes. The main router is set to automatically detect the channel.

And those were the correct IPs you were using, default stuff.
 
Cycloptersaurus said:
I tried setting up the range extender with all sorts of different channels, but it wouldn't implement the changes. The main router is set to automatically detect the channel.

And those were the correct IPs you were using, default stuff.
Click to expand...

If it wouldn't let you change channels, then some sort of MIMO function is still enabled.

I have a DLink RangeMax router at home and there were settings on 3 different pages I had to change in order to disable MIMO so I could manually choose my channel. This actually resolved all my wireless networking issues between this AP and my onboard 802.11g on my P5K Deluxe -
 
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