7 replies to this topic

[Viper EM]

Hey guys, i have a few questions about wireless internet connections from my router to my other two computers. Currently my household holds a computer that is wired to the router, and two computers are taking wireless access from the router upstairs. All worked perfectly fine for what i think is two years. But, just recently my brother-in-laws' parents just came into the area for the summer and brought their laptop with them. Well, the laptop picks up wireless internet from any connections nearby (Wi-Fi).

I set up basic wireless security by having the MAC addresses of only the two computers in my household to just run off the router, but i removed it because i had a friend over and we could not get his Network card to configure with our router. I wasn't too worried at the time of who was around me when i just had MAC addresses, just basic. Well i didn't switch back over to the MAC filter so his parents were getting free pickup of my wireless connection.

They talked it over with my parents and we all agreed that they could use it just until the summer was over and we can switch back to just the two computers. Well, here is where the question came in..

1. I am currently having a WPA Personal (TKIP) with pass code that only i know, as a security for now. But my question is, every id say 15 Minutes i would loose connection and my connection would reset itself automatically. I'm not sure if it is common for that to happen, but my question is, what do i do to make it not reset itself?? My Group Key interval is set to the highest setting of 7200.

2. Is there anything else that i could use to just keep people from sucking my wireless connection? I tried the MAC filter with their computer, but they are running the great oh magnificent VISTA (sarcasm) and all computers here are XP.

Anything could help me, i dont mind it at the moment, but when im in conference assignments and keep loosing connection it tends to suck.

Also some background that might help...
Router-
Linksys WRT54G

And to clarify some statements i live just outside of town, meaning i have like two neighbors about 10 car lengths away (except my brother in laws house).


Thanks,
Viper

[Sambo]

Same router...

That's why I use WEP 64bit 10hex digits with passphrase. Different level of security, but considering I have wireless neighbors all around and one of my wardriving friends couldn't get in, it is more than adequate. I have had no leeching. I have no disconnect problems either.

My wife has Vista on her laptop, and it detected not only the wireless, but that it had WEP and asked the "administrator" to enter the passphrase. It connected immediately and we haven't had a problem.

[rcthelp]

This is most likely a problem with the wireless PC and not the router. Does it also happen to other wireless users of your router?

Try disabling all power saving modes on your computer and see if that helps.

[Nighthawkbalt]

MAke Sure That Your "SSID" Code Is The Same For The Router, And Check To See If Your Name For Your Computer Is Correct . You Have To Go Into Wireless Advantced Settigs To Do This.
I Have 3 Internet Connections For My Laptop. 1) DP83815/816 10/100MacPhyter PCI , Internall Braodco 802.11b/g WLAN, Removable Belkin N1 802.11n/WLAN. Some Times I Run All Three At The Same Time Depending On Th File Size I Am Downloading. They All Work In Tandem With One nother So Tat If One Looses Connection Another Will Connect Very Rapidly So That I Do Not Loose A Web Site. I Do Not Run Any Power Savers To Shut Down Any of Them . There Set To Idle Till One Gets A Weak Signal ( Less Than 9Mbps ). It Took Me Along Time To Get Them To Work That Way,Alot Of Reprogramming To Accomplish This,..
Check Your Range On Your Card And Router As Well As Power Consumption Of Your Internet Card. Also If You Can Set The Range From Indoor To Outdoor, My Suggestion Is Setting It Too Outdoor You Get a Better Conection And Less Interfearance. Try This It Should Work For You .. ...

[Viper EM]

RCThelp-
This computer (in my bedroom) is the one that disconnects all the time. The other PC that was wireless disconnected each time it "Fell Asleep". Which is my Dad's computer, he only uses it at night and sometimes during the day. His just connects when he comes back from standby.
This computer would just randomly be right in the middle of something, for example i would be working in firefox and all the sudden i was "reestablish my IP address" sometimes it would just not connect period and i would have to do the repair function, which in turn would solve it.

After reading Sambo's post, i switched to WEP 64 bit 10 Hex and it has worked perfectly fine since. I had to reupgrade my dads driver, but it went all well. Went across the road and vista was very fast in connecting to it. I think it was easier in vista to connect to than in XP.

Long story short, it is working well now with the WEP security.

Thank you Sambo, RCThelp and Night for the help, not only did it help, but expanded my mind on the subject.

[Nighthawkbalt]

Your Quit Welcome Glad I Could Help !!!!

[Sambo]

[tomadam89]

After a while my Windows machines always disconnect from the wireless network. Then I go to restart your PC a new connection.These shift driver developers, WPA - informant people, like the network manager to include configuration utilities and change teams turn to catch up with wicd bound to the kernel.