Wireless problems

[smoke show]

I've been having this recurring problem with my home wireless internet connection.

I'm not overly computer literate, but understand the basics.

Randomly and frequently when using the internet I get booted off.

When I click on my internet signal strength in the lower right corner it shows its disconnected.

So I proceed to try and reestablish a connection and it says unable to connect, so I click on explore addition problems(something like that).

Then I get a message that says unable to connect to hidden network. And a few seconds later it reconnects.

Now when this happens I see my neighbors wireless signal is present also.

It appears that she turns hers on when using it and off when not using it.

That's when I get booted, when hers comes online and then again when she shuts down.

This has also been ongoing and I've changed wireless routers with no help.

Any suggestions???

 

[Lighting Up]

you can change the channel on your router try that.
md

 

[smoke show]

you can change the channel on your router try that.
md

Details?

Thanks.

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

you can change the channel on your router try that.
md

Details?

Thanks.

Which type router do you have?

You have to log into router and change the frequency. If you are running windows 7 search for "cmd" and then type "ipconfig /all", your gateway ip address will be your router address.

If its g and you get interference most likely you are using the default which is 7... Try either 1 or 12.

If its n try One of the 5 ghz channels.

Wifi runs on the ism band, same band as microwaves and tons of other stuff and is generally unregulated, so running a microwave may interfere with your network as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band

 

[denjohn]

you can change the channel on your router try that.
md

Details?

Thanks.

The manual that came w your router probably has straight forward details for your particular unit.
Good luck

 

[smoke show]

The manual that came w your router probably has straight forward details for your particular unit.
Good luck

Your gonna make me read the manual? :lol:

I'll hafta take a look. thx.

Which type router do you have?

You have to log into router and change the frequency. If you are running windows 7 search for "cmd" and then type "ipconfig /all", your gateway ip address will be your router address.

If its g and you get interference most likely you are using the default which is 7... Try either 1 or 12.

If its n try One of the 5 ghz channels.

Wifi runs on the ism band, same band as microwaves and tons of other stuff and is generally unregulated, so running a microwave may interfere with your network as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band

Its a N. All the other stuff you stated might be over my head?

I'll try the manual idea first. If my wife hasn't lost it. ;-)

Thanks.

 

[Czech]

You can get freeware wifi 'sniffer' apps to show you what wireless signals you have, this will show you if your neighbors and you are on the same channel. Then reset yours to a 'clean' channel or one with least interference. I'm a mac guy so not much help with PC if that is what you're running, but the wifi part is the same either way (same channels). What make and model router are you running?

 

[ironpony]

go outside and grab the first 12 year old you see
tell him/her your wireless does not work
wait 5 mins whalaaaaa
wireless now works

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

The manual that came w your router probably has straight forward details for your particular unit.
Good luck

Your gonna make me read the manual? :lol:

I'll hafta take a look. thx.

Which type router do you have?

You have to log into router and change the frequency. If you are running windows 7 search for "cmd" and then type "ipconfig /all", your gateway ip address will be your router address.

If its g and you get interference most likely you are using the default which is 7... Try either 1 or 12.

If its n try One of the 5 ghz channels.

Wifi runs on the ism band, same band as microwaves and tons of other stuff and is generally unregulated, so running a microwave may interfere with your network as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band

Its a N. All the other stuff you stated might be over my head?

I'll try the manual idea first. If my wife hasn't lost it. ;-)

Thanks.

My understanding is that N can operate in the 5ghz or 2 ghz range... if the wireless cards support it and are full "N". Try to force it to the 5ghz range if you can, there should be much less interference in that band. On the other hand the channels are "wider" and just a few clients can take up the entire 5ghz range.

Or just play around with the channels and placement of the router until you find something that works. I'll almost guarantee that you're running into interference from a crowded channel.

Wireless spectrum is finite, unfortunately.

 

[smoke show]

Czech- Its a Netgear N600.

ironpony- Sorry, No 12year olds hanging out at my place. ;-)

WTF- I'll hafta read up on changing channels, sounds like a viable option.

Thanks to all.

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

Czech- Its a Netgear N600.

ironpony- Sorry, No 12year olds hanging out at my place. ;-)

WTF- I'll hafta read up on changing channels, sounds like a viable option.

Thanks to all.

ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/WNDR3400_SM_23MAR2010.pdf <--- copy and paste this in your browser

Smoke from this manual, it appears that the N600 is "dual mode" it operates in both 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz mode, and creates a separate SSID for both:

4. Set up the 2.4 GHz wireless network:
a. Enter the SSID name. The default is NETGEAR.
b. Select the operating channel for the wireless mode. The default is Auto. When Auto is
selected, the router finds the best operating channel available.
If you notice interference from nearby devices, you can select a different channel.
Channels 1, 6, and 11 will not interfere with each other.
c. Leave the wireless mode set to the default setting of Up to 145Mbps for 2.4GHz.
5. Select security options for the 2.4GHz wireless network.
The wireless Security Options are set to None by default. NETGEAR strongly recommends
that you use wireless security. You can select a different Security Option and a different
passphrase for each wireless network. For the highest performance of the 2.4GHz wireless
network and the most secure encryption, NETGEAR recommends that you use WPA2-PSK as
your security option.
6. Set up the 5GHz wireless network:
a. Enter the SSID name. The default is NETGEAR-5G.

Can you see an SSID called "Netgear-5g"? Try using that, if you can remember the password you used. Otherwise the instructions for changing the channel should be in the link I pasted.

 

[smoke show]

After glancing at the online manual I found this-

Channel- The wireless channel fields determine the operating frequency
used for the 11N or 11G wireless networks. Do not change the
wireless channel unless you experience interference (shown by
lost connections or slow data transfers). If this happens, you might
need to experiment with different channels to see which is the
best.
Mode- Specify the wireless mode to be used. The options are:
• Up to 54 Mbps. Legacy mode, using a maximum speed of up to
54 Mbps for b/g networks.
• Up to 145 Mbps. Neighbor friendly mode, for reduced
interference with neighboring wireless networks. Provides two
transmission streams with different data on the same channel at
the same time, but also allows 802.11b and 802.11g wireless
devices. This is the default value for the 2.4 GHz b/g/n wireless
network.
• Up to 300 Mbps. Performance mode, using a maximum
Wireless-N speed of up to 300 Mbps. This is the default value for
the 5 GHz a/n wireless network.

I'll see if I can change the channel.

Regarding the mode, could I change something here to possibly speed up my connection?

Sometimes while streaming video wirelessly I get freeze ups.

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

After glancing at the online manual I found this-

Channel- The wireless channel fields determine the operating frequency
used for the 11N or 11G wireless networks. Do not change the
wireless channel unless you experience interference (shown by
lost connections or slow data transfers). If this happens, you might
need to experiment with different channels to see which is the
best.
Mode- Specify the wireless mode to be used. The options are:
• Up to 54 Mbps. Legacy mode, using a maximum speed of up to
54 Mbps for b/g networks.
• Up to 145 Mbps. Neighbor friendly mode, for reduced
interference with neighboring wireless networks. Provides two
transmission streams with different data on the same channel at
the same time, but also allows 802.11b and 802.11g wireless
devices. This is the default value for the 2.4 GHz b/g/n wireless
network.
• Up to 300 Mbps. Performance mode, using a maximum
Wireless-N speed of up to 300 Mbps. This is the default value for
the 5 GHz a/n wireless network.

I'll see if I can change the channel.

Regarding the mode, could I change something here to possibly speed up my connection?

I've always left the speed tweaks on the default mode, they are generally optimized already. This is for people who like "tweaking" (not that there's anything wrong with that).

But yes that is where you'd change the channel.

Sometimes while streaming video wirelessly I get freeze ups.

Try disabling hardware acceleration. On the video box on whatever you're trying to watch, say on youtube, right click, go to "settings" and unclick "enable hardware settings".

See if that helps, I had an old iffy laptop and that did the trick.

 

[smoke show]

I will try tonight when I get home. Thanks.

 

[JeffRey30747]

Not likely, but if you or any of your neighbors are using old 2.8Ghz wireless phones, try to get rid of them. They don't play well with most wireless networks.

 

[smoke show]

Old 900 mhz here, not sure about neighbor.

She's about 1000 ft away if that matters?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

smoke ole buddy do you have one of them newy fandagled electric meters?

There have been reports of them interfering with various other gadgets such as wireless routers.

 

[smoke show]

Nah, I'm almost positive its the neighbor doing it.

She fires hers up everyday at the same time and we get booted everday at the same time.

Gonna try changing stuff now. You may never see me again. :lol:

 

[Lighting Up]

you can change the channel on your router try that.
md

Details?

Thanks.

These are the basic instrution for changing a channel yours maybe different so check your manual.

1. Open your Internet browser and go to http://[b]192.168.1.1/ yours could be different.[/b]
2. When prompted, type admin for the username and password for the password.... unless you changed it when you installed the router.
3. Once logged in, click on Wireless Settings on the left.
4. Change the channel to 11 or 1 and click Save Settings.
5. See if that channel works with out disconnecting.

the http:// number could be different on yours should be in your manual
This work for me it's been a while since I did mine. I did use my manual for reference, remember Netgear has a support website.
md

 

[smoke show]

I successfully updated the firmware and I believe I changed the channel to 11, because now I can't get logged into the router just like this warning in the manual stated.



If you are configuring the router from a wireless computer and you change the
router’s SSID, channel, or security settings, you will lose your wireless connection
when you click Apply. You must then change the wireless settings of your
computer to match the router’s new settings.

How do I change the wireless setting of my computer now? so I can log back into my router?

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

I successfully updated the firmware and I believe I changed the channel to 11, because now I can't get logged into the router just like this warning in the manual stated.



If you are configuring the router from a wireless computer and you change the
router’s SSID, channel, or security settings, you will lose your wireless connection
when you click Apply. You must then change the wireless settings of your
computer to match the router’s new settings.

How do I change the wireless setting of my computer now? so I can log back into my router?

Do you see your old ssid? Just try connecting to that, the client cards should configure themselves.

 

[Lighting Up]

I successfully updated the firmware and I believe I changed the channel to 11, because now I can't get logged into the router just like this warning in the manual stated.



If you are configuring the router from a wireless computer and you change the
router’s SSID, channel, or security settings, you will lose your wireless connection
when you click Apply. You must then change the wireless settings of your
computer to match the router’s new settings.

How do I change the wireless setting of my computer now? so I can log back into my router?

You need to be connected to your router via an Ethernet cable... router to computer.
md

 

[smoke show]

Pardon my ignorance, in the error message I posted above it states

"If you are configuring the router from a wireless computer and you change the

router’s SSID, channel, or security settings, you will lose your wireless connection

when you click Apply. You must then change the wireless settings of your

computer to match the router’s new settings."

I did configure it wirelessly.

I also have a old desktop in series with my router.

Also I'm not sure how to view my ssid.

Do I need to finish the configuration on the desktop, and doesn't the laptop need to match the new settings?

 

[smoke show]

It state I'll lose my wireless connection. I'm assuming that refers to the wireless connection to the router, seeing how I'm typing this on said laptop?

 

[Lighting Up]

You need to be connected to your router via an Ethernet cable… then change the channel on your router. Your wireless computer should pick up the signal. You don't change a channel on the laptop or wireless computer...if I'm understanding your question.