Hey guys,

Got an issue with our new wireless stuff. I know i know - get wired, but it wasnt an option. Down stairs we have 2 pc's connected to the wireless router via cable and a laptop connected via wireless. Up stairs we have 2 pc's trying to connect using wireless. Both machines upstairs are having issues.

One of them upstairs i get 78% signal strength and it will connect sometimes. The other which is 2m and 1 wall away, very rarely pick's up the signal. I can take the laptop upstairs and be connected anywhere (Laptop is the only system running vista.

Spec's for wireless are:

- 5dbi indoor antenna for the router
- d1-524up router
- dwl g510 wireless cards

its got me f***ed y i cant get them to connect solidly.
Any help?

Update:

Moved the router a room closer to upstairs

Closest pc upstairs connected for ten mins, then dropped out, then connected

Other pc upstairs does same thing

Laptop is also doing the same thing

5dbi indoor antenna for the router

Was that the stock antenna? If not, put the original back on.

The higher the gain, the more horizontal directionality and the worse the reception will be on another floor.

(Does not address the laptop lack of issues, but give it a go anyway)

last edited by parabol at 19:32:57 14/Apr/08

i thought laptops have better chance of picking up wireless signals usually then desktops because their antennaes are larger as they are up the side of the screen..i know this is the case with my laptop also as it can be sitting right next to the desktop computer and has about 20% better signal strength upstairs also.

i thought laptops have better chance of picking up wireless signals usually then desktops because their antennaes are larger

Not really, a bigger antenna doesn't automatically mean it's able to pick up signals better from all directions. It doesn't work like that.

i know this is the case with my laptop also as it can be sitting right next to the desktop computer and has about 20% better signal strength upstairs also.

When you're talking signal level, are you talking about the router's status page citing signal levels that you can compare? Otherwise individual wireless adapter's signal level readings (that you see in Windows) are usually quite arbitrary and can't necessarily be compared between different models/brands.

Many PCI wireless card issues are due to the fact that the antenna is way behind and being blocked by the PC, desk and whatever else happens to be in the way .. blocking the signal and/or causing significant multi-path.

last edited by parabol at 19:50:46 14/Apr/08

ahh ok fair enough yeah judging by the individual adapter readings.. i can't say i have that much knowledge with wireless networks.. just enough to make our own one work. :)

na thats not the original but i was having the same issue with the stock one....

i might try putting the orginal one back on and the aftermarket on the PC

but the laptop drops out aswell now.....from 3m away from the router

i might try putting the orginal one back on and the aftermarket on the PC

I hope you don't mean the PC upstairs, because you'll have the same problem.

- d1-524up router

s*** router, my friend has one and has had no end of trouble with his laptops sometimes picking it up, sometimes not. One will pick it up while the other won't and they're both sitting next to each other, etc,etc,etc. You can only max out the transmission power at 100% you can't increase it any more without expensive antennas and you can't put 3rd party firmware on it in order to increase it more either.

edit: install this on your laptop and walk around the house with it running and see where the high signal strength and low strength areas are. You might find there's insulation in your wall screwing you up or maybe even some in the floor. Some sort of sound deadening material perhaps? That program works on xp or vista.

last edited by whoop at 21:45:09 14/Apr/08

belkin for me
3 x lappys wireless from router on ADSL via main PC.......piece of piss

some things - from the router end
1. have you set the DHCP to "on" and have a good range of IP's 2-100 is good
2. have you set the lease time to "forever"
3. connection type "dynamic"
4. wireless mode to suit the cards. 802.11g or b or whatever
5. not set as an "access point"

theres a few to get along with....just go find them in the dlink system

5. not set as an "access point"

what?

my settings are ->

Wireless > Use as Access Point
ADVANCED FEATURE! The Router can be configured to act as strictly an Access Point, bypassing all of the routing and firewall functions. To do so, select "Enable" and type in the IP address you want the Access Point to have.
More Info

Enable / Disable Enable Disable

with disable button ticked.....always been that way and it works

Um, I don't think any of those suggestion are related to intermittent signal reception problems.

have you shifted to a different channel? had a issue at my old house (lutwyche FWIW) with it dropping and reconnecting, found out a commercial (apparently) carrier was broardcasting on the same channel and from time to time the signal would overpower it.

That's a bloody crazyass setup then crazy because my dlink (which I threw away) and both my WRT54G based routers have their wireless mode set to "access point" with the firewall stuff being on a separate page all together. Just saying, with the D-Link I'm pretty sure it should be set to access point. I can't confirm because my mate (the one with the 524) now has my dlink 624s which actually seems to be working for him. Weird eh.

last edited by whoop at 23:19:46 14/Apr/08