Network Woes

[Aro]

Internets -> DSL Modem -> Router -> Computers & wifi

Story time!
Found out the internet was being charged higher than the current rate and speeds were far less.
Upgraded to a 'newer' package at a reduced price with better speeds.
Had speed issues again.
Changed router.
Things were good.
Router dropped internet once in a while. #$YG@#
Tried stuff *1
Got a new router (f7d1301) out of town (on a visit to the us).
Ok this one is working well.
No. Wait. My vista laptop will not connect to the thing. Stuff that does connect: wired computers (of course), Blackberry, iPhone, wifi printer, different vista laptop


Authentication timeout my...
It shows as connected to the router. It somehow DHCP'd an address. Can't ping the router or another computer on the network. Can't ping to it.
Assigned an IP. Nope.
Nuked the network settings. Nope. Double nuked the network settings. Reset ipv4/6, the adapter, fiddled with ip helper and other nonsense.
Nope.

Ok. Where's a nice long cat 5 cable and something to bore a hole in the floor.
Before doing that there are a few other things to check.


1*
This router (wbr1310) was a bit older purchased for a friend, they didn't need it so kept it as a spare. Turns out many people have problems with the model. Looking online it seems the router is rebranded and others have flashed alternate firmware on it to fix the problems. Tried to stick the 'new' firmware on to no avail. Found a matching file size/layout firmware then hex edited it to match the original file beginning. Yay it worked! No wait, wifi doesn't work. Stick original firmware back on.

[travisdh1]

Have you thought about trying alternative firmware on one of the routers? I'm using DD-WRT at work and have heard good things about Tomato.

[Aro]

Supposedly DD-WRT could go on if a. spend a fair amount of time diggin for special kernels and stuff or b. swap out a 2mb chip for a 4mb chip. Information also leads me to think they were talking about an older revision of the router. Checked inside and most of the parts were similar. One chip may have heat damage...

Tomato, not listed as supported.

Looking at a few others. Have tried some stuff to get my lappy hooked up and it still does not work. Have one test left. Then maybe stick one router on the other as an access point...


Hmm yep. The 2mb chip is the limiter.


rofl, just checked walmart's site and the new belkin has horrible reviews. Guess the old SMC router is a hard act to follow.

[gunman127]

Netgear or Draytech for me.

The only ones that don't crap out after a fortnight!

Be sure to get the latest WIFI drivers for the laptop itself.

If you can, go to the WIFI chips own support page, not the laptop manufacturers own pages.

Intel are the most common, and their support pages are excellent.

Broadcom and Atheros are 2nd and third most common, but harder to find up to date support for.

[Aro]

Tried acers site and all the stuff is from a few years ago. Checking atheros site.

Bad news: still can not get the thing to connect to the belkin.
Annoying news: can connect via the other router linked to the belkin
The wifi network range seems less than it used to be now (did set one channel to be a high number and the other lower to hopefully avoid interference).

[Drainy]

Don't know if you've done any kind of survey of signal strength but I use inSSIDer when trying to troubleshoot wireless problems, gives me a good breakdown of local signals, channels and potential interference.

[BugMeister]

why do I have to keep restarting my Neatgear router to get online..?

- only happens since I installed Punkbuster