Wireless LAN Speed Drops

[elbyj]

I recently installed a wireless router (LINKSYS) in the house and put in a wireless board in my PC. Both are running 802.11g. The problems I am running into are two-fold.

1 - My speed does not stay constant. It will start out at 54 Mbps and within 15-20 minutes it starts dropping. Right now I am setting at 1 Mbps, but the signal strength is excellent. Distance between the router and PC is only 15 feet. What is causing the repeated drop in speed?

2 - Periodically, I will totally drop the connection between the PC and router. The PC cannot find the signal at all. I have to do through several procedures to get the signal to return. Why?

Thanks

[BuckeyeChris]

You might want to try posting your questions on the Linksys (http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/linksys) board of DSL.Reports.com.

Some things you might try first is to upgrade the firmware of the router from the Linksys Web site. Also, make sure you have all Windows patches/updates installed.

You could be experiencing interference from another wireless LAN or cordless phone. Try changing the channel of the router and see if that helps. But definitely post your questions on the Linksys board; those people have heard it all.

[HappyGoLucky]

Trying different channels is the first thing. Go with channel 6 or 11, they are the best shots at having less interference. If you have a cordless phone or microwave oven nearby, those can be problematic, too. Even a neighbor's wireless system could cause a problem, so channel changing could help alleviate that.

[cdru]

Trying different channels is the first thing. Go with channel 6 or 11, they are the best shots at having less interference. If you have a cordless phone or microwave oven nearby, those can be problematic, too. Even a neighbor's wireless system could cause a problem, so channel changing could help alleviate that.6 is the default channel for just about everything it seems anymore, so I usually recommend 1 or 11 but you can also try some of the intermediatary channels as well.

How do you have the antennas positioned? The antennas are omni-directional perpendicular WRT the antenna. If you have the antennas "pointing" towards the other AP, then your signal is being emitted in the wrong direction.

What are your signal strengths when it starts to drop?

[ibglowin]

Linksys WAP's are known to just stop working for no reason. You have to do a power cord reboot (like the 921) to bring it back. Google it and you will see what I am talking about. We bought one for my father in law, had the same problem, took it back and got another one, had the same problem again. Have had better luck with Netgear and D-Link. If you can I would take it back and try and swap it out for another brand.

[DonLandis]

Yes, the older Linksys boxes did that but I replaced mine with a new version last August and that problem stopped.

Regarding "G". Yes the speed is most inconsistent. It is extremely sensitive to signal as opposed to B. I had enough problems that I switched back to b for a reliable 11Mbs which works fine until I need speed. This usually happes at my pool side location where I edit video and need to often transfer large video clips. When that need comes up I havd a cable I connect temporarily across the patio for a 400 Mbs connection. Other than that the rest access this for mostly web surfing and the 11 Mbs is more than adequate. IMO, the G was just too sporadic to use. Maybe other brands like NetGear is better but the B with Linksys using the latest WAP version seems to be just fine for reliability here.

[BuckeyeChris]

My experience with the Linksys WRT54G router has been a good one. I've had it for 14 months now in combination with a Linksys WAP54G access point used as a repeater for the router. My speeds are usually 36 Mbps or higher, though with broadband connection of only 2.5Mbps, it's overkill since I rarely transfer large files back and forth on my LAN.

Without the repeater, however, it would be a different story. The repeater helps make the signal excellent, but it also reduces the thoroughput of the signal by half. I've also found that each firmware upgrade makes the product better and the signal more reliable. However, everyone's environment is different. Wireless signals are prone to interference with different construction materials like metal beams and other LANs, microwaves and cordless phones that operate on the same 2.4ghz frequency.

Also, one other important point, always be sure to broadcast your SSID name. Disabling your SSID name does nothing to help you secure your network, use WPA or WEP encryption with MAC filtering and be sure to make your password a strong one and change it periodically. Check out this white paper on why enabling your SSID broadcast is important for a good connection: Debunking the Myth of SSID Hiding (http://www.icsalabs.com/html/communities/WLAN/wp_ssid_hiding.pdf)

[elbyj]

Thanks for all your help on this subject. I am checking freq conflicts with our portable phone today. I already played around with changing channels and I am currently on 11. Wasn't aware of the issue with the "G" cards/routers. Even on 11 I am seeing speed drops continually. It always boots up at 54 Mbps and starts dropping after awhile to as low as 1 Mbps. Based on the scan, I have two other wireless routers in the local area -- one is protected and one is wide open. My system has defaulted several times to the wide open one and I was on the Internet, not really knowing I was not using my router. Yes, my system is protected.

[invaliduser88]

Any cordless phones in the area? I know my GHZ cordless and my access points don't play well together.

[kwajr]

Linksys WAP's are known to just stop working for no reason. You have to do a power cord reboot (like the 921) to bring it back. Google it and you will see what I am talking about. We bought one for my father in law, had the same problem, took it back and got another one, had the same problem again. Have had better luck with Netgear and D-Link. If you can I would take it back and try and swap it out for another brand.
mine does the same thing but its older b version doest it matter if its a dlink adapter and a linksys ap

[Steve Mehs]

I have a Motorola Wireless G Router (WR850G) connected to this computer and a Toshiba cable modem and a Motorola Wireless G PCI Card (WPCI810G) on my other computer that's not even 10 feet behind me, purchased the gear at Walmart for $100 bucks in September. The wireless status indicator in the system tray has never been yellow and only got down in the blue range when I take the computer apart and happen to hit the antenna and have it pointing in the opposite direction, and usually then it's a strong blue/weak green. Other then that I have had no problems with speed or performance when surfing the net or transferring files. I have all of my MP3s on the other computer and it acts as a music server, the initial transfer of my My Music folder was 2.2GB, and it went pretty quick. I also have no trouble with the wireless on my IPaq, I live on a 130ft hill, my room is in the back of the house, and I can get to the bottom of the driveway by the mail box and still get one bar, surfing is super slow, but I’m still connected. I have never noticed any interference with the network, microwave or my Motorola 2.4GHz cordless phone either.

What is the actual purpose of a Wireless Access Point, is it just a repeater or what, since it has an Ethernet connection in back? From the descriptions I’ve read they sound like a router. If it’s a repeater I was thinking about getting a Motorola Wireless Access Point (WA840G) plugging it in one of the farther out rooms in my house and see if I can access the network from my uncles house which is around the corner from me. This would be after I get the Motorola Wireless Print Server (WPS870G) though.

[Chris Blount]

I have a D-Link wireless "g" router and had all kinds of trouble when I had the WEP turned on. Speed would vary and the signal would drop completely.

Once I turned off the encryption, everything worked fine. MAC filtering works good. Not as secure but good enough for now.

[SimpleSimon]

Steve: A WAP does act as a router, but is NOT a repeater (although some can be configured that way).

[kwajr]

i think simon is wrong i believe a wap is more like a hub than a router but you can get a wireless router also

[BuckeyeChris]

Steve: A WAP does act as a router, but is NOT a repeater (although some can be configured that way).

An access point does not function as a router. A router, like the Linksys WRT54G, is a switch with four LAN ports which can send IP traffic over any of the ports and via wirelessly up to something like 64 simultaneous connections.

An AP, however, does not have any switching or routing capabilities.

Access Point - Device that allows wireless-equipped computers and other devices to communicate with a wired network. Also used to expand the range of a wireless network.

Router - A networking device that connects multiple networks together, such as a local network and the Internet.

Also, the Linksys WAP54G can be configured as a repeater with only the WRT54G router.

[Steve Mehs]

Thanks for the clarifications Chris, you just answered a long time question of mine.

[SimpleSimon]

Sorry - I was taking about commonly used stuff like the ActionTec DSL modem with wireless (includes router/firewall), or of course, the most common Linksys WAP (since Wal-Mart is selling them by the thousands), the BEFW11S4.