Re: Wireless network hassles

["anon" <lkdlkj2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

you don't mention the model, but let me tell you what i did with my Belkin
router.  Belkin is horrible about never updating anything -- firmware,
drivers,
etc.  They are essentially a remarketer, though -- they don't design or
engineer
any of it.  The OEM often does provide updates that are SUBSTANTIALLY
better.

so go to dslreports.com and look in the Belkin forum.  I found that my
router
has the same motherboard as a particular Linksys model.  Well, they do
update
the firmware they get from the OEM.  So by changing two bytes, i was able to
flash my router, turning it into a Linksys.  For my Belkin wireless PCI
adapter,
I got the drivers from the OEM, which were a big improvement over the ones
Belkin made available.

world of difference, it truly is.  I used to get constant disconnects, and
now with
these changes, i've kept up VPN connections and remote control connections
for days without a hiccup.  I was ready to throw in the towel on wireless &
wait
another couple of years.... it's working pretty well now, it just depends on
your
vendor's willingness to make it so.  I won't buy Belkin again.  Let me
mention I
am using wpa2/aes (best level of authentication/encryption).  Another poster
who
said enabling security protocols can cause this is correct, but it's not the
protocols
themselves that are the problem, it's the implementation.... that's what
updates do,
fix bugs.  Belkin doesn't seem to care.

find out who makes your stuff.  The chipset mfr. often changes from revision
to revision, so that's very important.  For instance, the Belkin F5D7000 PCI
card uses a Ralink chip (ralinktech.com) for revision 300x, whereas revision
500x uses Atheros (Google for the drivers v.4.2.0.82, they don't make them
publicly available).

a benefit is that newer and better security (like WPA2) is enabled by the
driver,
so using a generic can get you new features.  I've seen several wireless
cards go
from supporting only WEP (easily cracked) to WPA/WPA2 with a new driver.

and for anyone reading this, if you cannot deal with a "blue screen of
death," don't
change your card's driver without verifying it works.  It's easy to back
out, but
the generic drivers won't work in all (most, yes) cases.  The integrated
Atheros
on a Toshiba laptop, for instance, blue-screened with a newer generic
driver.  I
had to go back to the one Toshiba provides, which supports only WEP.



> We recently moved to a new (for us) home.  I have a Belkin wireless
> router connected to a DSL modem in my office at one end of the house.
> My wife's desktop is at the opposite end of the home, about 120 feet
> away and through three walls, one of which is cement block.
>
> Her PC connects to the wireless LAN for a while then cuts out.  This
> happens at random with no apparent pattern.