laptop wont connect until it feels like it

happyhero

Hi please help me somebody I am going mad with this problem.

I have a Toshiba satillite laptop, a Belkin wireless modem router and a PC, wire connected to the router. I am running XP home. I have just set up WPA security but the problem has been here even before doing this so I dont think the security makes a difference.

I have read a lot on here but can't find the answer I need.

The laptop sees my network but doesn't connect for ages (sometimes an hour or more) even if the laptop is 1 foot away from the wireless router. Sometimes after trying everything many times, ie restarting, deleting my connection and making new or switching the aerial switch on and off, it will connect randomly so that you can see what could have helped that I just did.

Once connected the connection is solid and remains, even if you walk to weaker areas, so it just seems to be struggling at the connect stage.

I have found a strange trick to connecting, sometimes I see my neighbours secure network and when that is present I click to connect to that from the Wireless Network Connection screen and a few seconds after you see my one start on aquiring address. The neighbours connection then asks for a key so I close it and a few seconds later my connection finishes it's connecting process and says connected and works fine for ages.

I did once have a problem on the laptop a long time ago with a connection setup which I cant really remember anything about now, and eventually got it going but I feel that it seems to have had this problem since then. When my daughter comes over with her laptop it connects very quickly even in weak areas.

To me this tells me there is nothing wrong with my wireless network, I believe there must be some odd setting to alter on the connection deeper than I would understand. I think the clue is the fact that trying to connect to my neighbours kicks my connection into life, but what could work like this. I can get it connected without the neighbours connection being available but it can take a long time.

Help please.

albertross_2

So, have you told your laptop to connect to infrastructure networks, and autoconnect to yours when in range?

Tried changing channels?

happyhero

albertross wrote:

So, have you told your laptop to connect to infrastructure networks, and autoconnect to yours when in range?

Tried changing channels?

Hi albertross and thanks for the help. Yes to infrastructure networks, and autoconnect to mine when in range. I have tried different channels before but I will try again now as soon as it wont connect and report back here.

For info it would not connect just now and I saw that there were 2 other available secure networks so I thought I would try the other one I don't see very often. This tried to connect and failed as expected as I did not have the network key for it, but the interesting thing is, it didn't make any difference to my connection, i.e. my connection didn't kick into life as it does normally when I try my neighbours, so I then tried my neighbours and it said detecting type of network first for hers, and then hey presto mine kicked into life, very weird. I occasionaly see up to 5 networks so I may try those to see if it is only my neighbours that has this positive effect.

dickibobboy

make sure that your is not on the same channel as other ones around you.

albertross_2

http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

Browntoa

have you tried letting windows Xp manage the wireless connection by using WZC

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg1102.mspx

happyhero

dickibobboy wrote:

make sure that your is not on the same channel as other ones around you.

What happens if you are using the same channel? It appears we are so I have moved down one. Are channels like frequencies?

As I say I have changed channels but what worries me is I had problems connecting even when there doesn't appear to be any other networks around, so I am not convinced I have cured anything yet. I wont really know until I have tried again tomorrow I suppose.

albertross_2

channels are frequencies, but the interference can overlap upto 5 channels away, there are 13 channels.

1 6 11
2 7 12
3 8 13

are the only settings for 3 routers that don't overlap,

so if 1 6 and 11 are in use, try and pick a number as far away as you can from the nearest neighbour.

video senders can also interfere with a range of channels.

happyhero

cheers albertross, I will change mine again to a further away channel from my neighbours. Something I read somewhere, question, can you get stronger signals on different channels?

albertross_2

Think the range can vary slightly, but I could be wrong, and any variation is minimal.

One thing you could try is to make sure the laptop wireless is on the same channel as the router, it is supposed to tune in, but setting it the same may be something to try.

happyhero

albertross wrote:

Think the range can vary slightly, but I could be wrong, and any variation is minimal.

One thing you could try is to make sure the laptop wireless is on the same channel as the router, it is supposed to tune in, but setting it the same may be something to try.

I didn't know that was possible, I thought they wouldn't connect if all were not on the same channel.

How do you get to check the channel on the laptop?

Don't know if it means anything but I tried changing the channel on the router from the laptop each time, and successfully did this, but I had expected some kind of interuption or dissconnection as the laptop didn't see it's original connection and settings, but there was no faltering at all, it just kept connected perfectly as if nothing happened or it was super fast at sorting it all out.