On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:53:04 GMT, Ron Thompson
wrote:
Ron Thompson wrote in message . ..
I enjoyed reading the previous thread, and I could use some help. I
recently installed a wireless router on my cable modem. The only
wireless computer is just in the next room. It connects fine and has
good transfer speed. But if I don't use Internet Explorer for a short
time (maybe 10-20 minutes) it "forgets" how to find the Internet.
Outlook Express still finds the email servers, but maybe because it
checks them every few minutes.
To get IE to reconnect, I have to reboot. Once IE is lost, Agent will
not find the news servers, either.
The router is a D-link DI-514 802.11b using 128 bit WEP encryption.
The card in the computer is another brand.
The OS is Win XP Pro. The processor is an Athalon running at 1.8G.
My wife's computer is in the same room with the router and is plugged
in with Cat 5 cable and has no problems.
I had considered adding another wireless card to the shop computer,
but not until I get this ironed out. The shop machine is a 200 Pentium
running Win98 and is used in dos mode with TurboCNC to drive a
Sherline mill. I don't anticipate network connectivity in dos mode, so
it shouldn't be a problem.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Ron Thompson
Ron, we have a very similar setup in our home, except it is serving 3
computers located all over the house, plus one Cat5 connection to my
old Pentium Pro 200. All the machines are running Win XP Pro.
Have you use the wireless monitor program that came with your
computer's wireless card to see what it is telling you? It should give
you, in addition to signal strength, a list of everything else it
sees. This is how we identified the source of a problem that sounds
very similar to yours.
As it turned out, there were other wireless units in the area from
time to time that shared the same band and channel. When they were in
the area, we lost our wireless connectivity. These included Sears
trucks, military vehicles, and others.
The solution was to shift the channel from the default channel to
something else, and the problem vanished.
The key is to employ the wireless monitor to identify the problem.
Once identified, the solution is generally trivial.
Then too, you may just have a flakey wireless card on the computer.
I've had trouble elsewhere with some of the off-brands, so I now use
nothing but Linksys and Belden equipment because it (1) works reliably
and (2) both firms have excellent phone support if it doesn't.
Harry C.
Thanks, I'll try that.
Ron Thompson
On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA
http://www.plansandprojects.com
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is
to fill the world with fools.
--Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
Harry's post is good, but if you've noticed that the "time-to-die" is
consistent, and the wireless PC is using a PCMCIA or USB wireless
adapter, it may have "power save" turned on in the WLAN card. You
might want to poke around in the configuration utility and see if it's
there.
Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific..."