laptop wont connect until it feels like it

albertross_2

double click on wireless network icon, properties, configure, advanced, change channel.

Are you sure you are clicking apply or save on the router, the wireless signal would normally drop, and take maybe 15-20 to rescan/connect, as soon as you hit apply.

Are you positive that you are connecting to your own ssid?

happyhero

albertross wrote:

double click on wireless network icon, properties, configure, advanced, change channel.

Are you sure you are clicking apply or save on the router, the wireless signal would normally drop, and take maybe 15-20 to rescan/connect, as soon as you hit apply.

Are you positive that you are connecting to your own ssid?

Ok up to advanced tab, but the window this opens has nothing on it to do with channels, it has 2 boxes one entitled Property and the other value. Have I done something wrong or is there an error? Property has some bits in it but nothing to do with channels.

Definitely applying correctly and confident of it but to confirm, if I go back after to the Belkin configuration page the setting is changed to what ever I have changed it to plus I am pretty conversant with this part.

As for SSID also confident, but to confirm most of the time there is only my neighbours and my networks available and the neighbour's is secure so I cant get onto it, plus I sometimes enter my network key manually in an attempt to see if it will help my connection problem. This doesn't really seem to assist the problem, its more like me clutching at straws and hoping.

Chippy_Minton

happyhero wrote:

Ok up to advanced tab, but the window this opens has nothing on it to do with channels, it has 2 boxes one entitled Property and the other value. Have I done something wrong or is there an error? Property has some bits in it but nothing to do with channels.

Are you sure you're looking at the wireless adapter? What properties are listed?

happyhero

Chippy_Minton wrote:

Are you sure you're looking at the wireless adapter? What properties are listed?

Hi Chippy_Minton, after clicking on configure, I get the 4 tabs up, General, Advanced, Driver and Resources. This window is titled after my internal mini pci card, Atheros AR5001X + Wireless Network Adaptor Properties. I click on the advanced tab and get the window I described.

The properties listed are as follows:-

802.11 Authentication Type, 802.11b Preamble, Map Registers, Network Address, Power Save Mode, Radio On/Off, and Transmit Power

Chippy_Minton

OK, looks like the card automatically selects the correct channel.

What options are available for 802.11b Preamble? That determines initial connection.

Make sure Transmit Power is on highest setting to get best radio coverage.

happyhero

Chippy_Minton wrote:

OK, looks like the card automatically selects the correct channel.

What options are available for 802.11b Preamble? That determines initial connection.

Make sure Transmit Power is on highest setting to get best radio coverage.

Options available are, Long and Short which it is on and Long only, the only other setting.

Transmit Power is on 100%, the highest

happyhero

Net stumbler is confirming that there are no other networks and changing the channel did seem to lessen the problem, but even now with no other networks present I still took nearly 10 minutes to connect, what could be wrong?

Most of the other networks are present only in the evenings or at weekends, but they don't seem to effect how easy or not I get connected apart from using my neighbours to help me as I mentioned above.

espresso

So what encryption are you using now? Try setting up the encryption again using a a long HEX string and transfer this using copy & paste.

happyhero

Hi espesso, I can do this, I am using WPA-PSK, and currently my own key which I have copied and pasted as necessary, but why will doing this make any differenceto how well I can connect?

My current key is just a phrase of 25 characters which I will change to something more secure once everything is working ok.

My settings allow for up to 63 characters.

Why is HEX recommended so much when it doesn't even include all letters of the alphabet, surely if I made up a mixture of 63 letters and numbers and included all the letters of the alphabet and then copied and pasted it, it would be better than HEX wouldn't it?

zenmaster

happyhero wrote:

Why is HEX recommended so much when it doesn't even include all letters of the alphabet, surely if I made up a mixture of 63 letters and numbers and included all the letters of the alphabet and then copied and pasted it, it would be better than HEX wouldn't it?

It's the hex eqivalent of the normal letters and numbers that you use in your passphrase.

You've not answered Browntoa's question regarding whether you are using XP or the wireless card's own software to manage the connection.

In my experience I have invariably found the proprietary software to be rubbish and XP's wireless zero to be pretty good (despite the fact that it seems to report a lower signal strength).