# I hate my wireless network! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008 "2004-05-19T18:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/1 "2004-05-19T18:41:52Z")
Ok… what would cause my wireless connection to disconnect about every 30 seconds, requiring me to take my card out of the card slot and put it back in, wait for it to find the connection and then tell it to connect? What can I do to fix that? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/2 "2004-05-19T18:54:52Z")
Oh… Yes, we have a 2.4 Ghz range phone… yes it messes it up. ☹ However, this phone is on its charger, not messing with anyone. Playing nicely. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/3 "2004-05-19T19:17:21Z")
Give us some more details please. Router and card make/model, OS, computer make/model, do you have WEP enabled? Are you getting any errors? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/4 "2004-05-19T19:20:58Z")
oh… sorry. D-Link AirPlus card… looks like model DWL-G630, a 2wire router, Dell Inspiron 5100 with XP home (shh you! Pro costs more.) WEP is enabled… the password is saved to my computer. No errors, it just disconnects randomly. It has increased in frequency over the last couple days. Every couple hours is no big deal… 30 seconds is. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/5 "2004-05-19T19:32:57Z")
Oh… it’s not distance… router is 10 feet away. Router model number is 1000SW. ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/6 "2004-05-19T20:51:26Z")
> [@](#): > > oh… sorry. > D-Link AirPlus card A friend of mine was having this same problem. We threw out all of his D-Link hardware and he hasn’t had problems since. Most of th D-Link wireless equipment was routers and AP’s, but I’ve seen multiple cards have trouble with them. I’ve never had a problem with Linksys hardware that I’ve been using with multiple systems for about 18 months now. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-wireless-network/246008/7 "2004-05-19T21:35:46Z")
I was having a similar problem with my NetGear wireless PCI card. The wireless cable modem was about 15 feet away in the next room, but my signal strength was abysmal. The card would drop the connection about every 20-30 seconds, then would start “channel surfing” until it found the signal again, then would drop again, etc. A friend of mine with a laptop with a wireless adapter came over, set his laptop on top of my PC and said he was getting great signal. He advised me to get a USB adapter (specifically LinkSys) rather than a PCI card. Two weeks later I did, and I haven’t had a problem since.