I have a persistent problem with my wireless connection. I’ve done the usual (deleted spyware, re-installed the proper driver, etc.) to no avail. I seek the wisdom of the dope. Let me give you some data:
About 25% of the time when I connect to my wireless network, it’ll start out just fine but within the first three minutes the connection will slow down to a trickle (perhaps receiving 10 packets per minute or so while claiming to be at 54 Mbps – sometimes its’ still enough to load a website after 10 min., but mostly it just doesn’t work anymore). At which point I begin my system of solutions. First I try disconnecting and reconnecting from the network. This works about 15% of the time. If that fails, I reboot my PC. This works about 35% of the time. If that fails, I’ll reset the cable modem and wireless router. That works 99% of the time.
Now let me throw in an interesting twist. The wireless connection works 100% of the time on my Mac, even during periods of “trickle” on this computer. Also, while this problem occurs rarely on my work network, it doesn’t occur with anything close to the same frequency.
All of that adds up to “I have no idea what’s going on.”
Help.
I guess I should also include tech specs:
IBM Thinkpad T42 (but not using the IBM wireless software)
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Intel PRO/1000 MT Mobile Connection
Windows XP Professional
Is it physically possible to connect the same PC to the same home network via a wired connection? It’d be a good diagnotic to see where the issue is in the stack.
Sure it is. But given the probabilistic nature of the problem, I’m not sure how it would prove anything. (Because even connecting during a trickle crisis is the same as disconnecting and reconnecting, which works some percentage of the time.) I guess I could try it a bunch.
You say the problem is “persistent” on the wireless connectin. I interpretted that to mean it happens often, say 75% of teh time. So the idea would be to run wired for long enough, and enough sessions, that you’d expect to have several failures if those had been wireless sessions.
If the problem also occurs wired with about the same frequenecy, we can eliminate several issues. if the problem goes away completely when wired, we can also eliminate a lot of possibilities.
I had a very similar problem to yours, and I never figured it out. Yeah, I know that’s no help at all, but I’m curious to see if you some definitive diagnosis here. When my wireless network would “go away”, my laptop could still see and connect to any of my neighbors’ unsecured networks–it was just mine that it wouldn’t recognize. A couple of hours later, or the next day, it would work fine. Then it would go out again.
I searched high and low for some kind of fix, but nothing I tried ever cured the problem. I now have a 30’ ethernet cable running from my coffee table into my bedroom. Not pretty, but it works all the time, every time.
No, I wrote in the OP it happens about 25% of the time that I connect (which is somewhat infrequently as I try to leave it open to avoid this problem). I will, however, try to induce the problem and use a wired connection; I’ll let you know.
blondebear, you describe it perfectly. I’m in manhattan, I wonder if you are in a similarly high-traffic area.
Wireless can be a finnicky thing… it’s 1/3 of my worst tech nightmare of troubleshooting wireless via USB dongle in WinME.
The Mac working when the laptop doesn’t would indicate a laptop issue, but it functioning on your work network, along with a router reboot fixing the issue suggests a router glitch too.
Given you’ve updated your laptop drivers already, I’d try updating the firmware on your router. (Make sure you get the firmware update for your router model with the gold coloured sticker on the bottom that says B.1 and has 1 aerial, 'cause the company makes another one with two aerials and a silver sticker saying B.11 with the same model number that’s totally different. :rolleyes: )
