Wireless connection dropping?

[throdgrain]

As title really.

A mate of mine is trying to play games online with wireless, something he managed no problem on his old pc.

Now he's bought a new one with Vista, and it drops after 20 minutes (or less) of playing, and he has to reconnect.

It's a Netgear router of some sort, they are mostly pretty good from my experience, I suspect it's a setting somewhere, any ideas?

 

[nath]

First thing to try would be to change the wireless channel - just flick them about from 1-11 (ignore 12 and 13 if they're available, lots of devices are not compatible with those channels).

Also, it might be total bollocks but I've found that WPA encryption to be more solid than WEP with respect to maintaining a stable connection. I'm not sure why that would be the case but in my experience it's proven to be the case, so if he's on WEP, maybe suggest he move to WPA. Also, is the old computer still connecting and staying connected?

 

[throdgrain]

Ive told him to reconnect the old pc, but he hasnt yet.

He hasnt checked WPA/WEP, I'll tell him, thanks

 

[Trem]

I already told him about the channels throdbacon, the useless twat probably hasn't even tried it yet.

Yoda is a massive gay beyond help

 

[throdgrain]

No he says he's tried changing channels and it's no different.

 

[MYstIC G]

As this is Yoda, tell him to take the empty heinz tin off the aerial

 

[Trem]

No he says he's tried changing channels and it's no different.

He's tried it for 7 seconds mate, I told him he needs to try each channel for a day or so.

 

[throdgrain]

What try each channel for a day or so even if it's already dropped?

 

[Trem]

What try each channel for a day or so even if it's already dropped?

Thats fine but then he needs to move on to the other channel until its dropped and so on. I really do think another wireless item is messing with his connection, especially seeing as he has a Netgear router I had loads of trouble with mine until I sussed it out.

How is his PC connecting to the router, is it with a dongle or built in wireless?

I am also thinking it could be his power management on his dongle, Vista could be turning his wireless dongle/card off to save power. Tell him to go to power management and disable it for his card.

Also in network properties tell him to turn off the automatic connection for his wireless, worth a try.

Also who manages his connection, is it Windows or Netgear (dongle/card etc) software? He may have both running which won't help matters, I would exit the Netgear software and use Windows to control his connection.

We need to sort him out if we are doing matches more

 

[nath]

He really needs to connect his old machine to see if it behaves the same way. When I was working for my old company I visited someone whose wireless was totally fucked. Turned out she'd had an extractor fan installed recently and the wiring was dodgy which fucked it up. When we switched it off, bang - no wireless problems.

 

[throdgrain]

Thats fine but then he needs to move on to the other channel until its dropped and so on. I really do think another wireless item is messing with his connection, especially seeing as he has a Netgear router I had loads of trouble with mine until I sussed it out.

How is his PC connecting to the router, is it with a dongle or built in wireless?

I am also thinking it could be his power management on his dongle, Vista could be turning his wireless dongle/card off to save power. Tell him to go to power management and disable it for his card.

Also in network properties tell him to turn off the automatic connection for his wireless, worth a try.

Also who manages his connection, is it Windows or Netgear (dongle/card etc) software? He may have both running which won't help matters, I would exit the Netgear software and use Windows to control his connection.

We need to sort him out if we are doing matches more

I thought it was a power management thing as well. I'd laugh if it was automatic connection that is causing the problem, that was the reason he went to Vista from XP, as he couldnt get his pc to connect automatically.

Nath -

The bike mechanic in me says exactly that - go back to where you were when it worked, and then go from there However, I do suspect it's a Vista issue.

Thanks so far though chums

 

[YoDa]

Lo lo! Ive done everything you have said. Ive just been on my old comp and played css fine without dropping at all and i also had more signal in Xp then vista. Ive been running both to manange my connection so im just using windows now see if it gets me anywhere. Using a netgear dongle btw! Cheers for the help.

 

[nath]

The same dongle transferred from one machine to the other or two separate dongles?

 

[YoDa]

Its the same dongle but on xp i didn't update the drivers fully only off the cd and it still worked fine. I had to go on the netgear website and get the latest ones for vista though.

 

[nath]

Hmmmmmm, that is a little weird. Are you always using the same USB socket on your Vista box or have you tried different ones?

 

[YoDa]

No i havent tried a different one. I will move it about abit.

 

[Trem]

Hmmmm USB power management, does Vista have such a thing Nath?

Get rid of the Netgear connection manager then luv and just use the windows one.

Give us the dongle model number and also the router model number as well twat face.

 

[nath]

Oh christ Yoda, you're not using the Netgear software to connect are you?


Trem, dunno about USB power management, just thinking it could be a slightly faulty port.

 

[YoDa]

Dongle - WG111V3 Router - WGR614V9 Im just using windows now but still happening =( Shall i get rid of the netgear stuff?

 

[Trem]

Hmmm the dongle is version 3, apparently that has issues with Vista but the version 2 didn't.

From Netgear forums -

i tried using the v3 on vista home premium and it connects but keeps dropping connection. I hook v2 up to same computer and it works !! Tried everything and i cant get it to work !!

This should keep you busy as well -

1) Change the channel on your router from 6 to 12. Ultimately, I think this was the most important thing for my situation.

2) In your Wireless Connection Network Properties, "Networking" tab, disable QoS Packet Scheduler. Don't need it.

3) In your Wireless Connection Network Properties, "Networking" tab, disable Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). You must leave IPv4 enabled, you need this.

4) In your Wireless Connection Network Properties, "Networking" tab, disable both of the LinkLayer Topolgies. Don't need it.

5) Switch the power setting on your Wireless Adapter to "Max" or "Always On". Powering it up and down to save energy *might* cause connection problems.

6) Disable UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) on your router. This feature can be handy in some cases, but *might* cause connection problems.

7) Get the latest firmware from your router manufacturer's website, and install it. Some router manufacturers have updated their router firmware for Vista.

8) Enable "Broadcast my SSID" on your router. Some people think that unbroadcasted SSIDs don't connect properly in Vista. A diagnostic test on my machine flagged this too. It *might* cause connection problems.

9) Disable Wireless Security on your router. I've since turned this back on (WPA-TKIP) with no connection problems, and it's critical to turn this back on if you broadcast your SSID.

10) Turn off Windows Firewall. Some folks think the handling of packets by Windows Firewall (and other firewalls) *might* cause connection problems. I've since turned this back on just to be safe, even though I'm behind a router.

11) Turn your Wireless Adapter's romaing tendency to "conservative" or "minimum". Don't let it roam in "aggressive" or "maximum" or "seek best connection" mode.

12) Disable Auto-tunneling Start -> Run CMD -> netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable

13) Disable Teredo Start -> Run CMD-> netsh interface teredo set state disabled

140 Disable windows firewall --> Services --> Windows Firewall

I reckon get a new dongle or swap that one chum.

 

[YoDa]

Ive just been on play looking at the dongle alot of people saying is disconnect's for them whilst playing game like cod4 and css. There also saying that it overheats alot and it does get quite hot. So another dongle it is. which one though. lmao trem i did all that =)

 

[MYstIC G]

We've got a WG111v3 dongle in the office. It = utter poo. The rest of our kit uses BT Voyager dongles and never has issues. I wish the v3 was like that but it really is god awful.

I've only used the v3 and the BT Voyagers so I can't make a lot of good suggestions tbh, I'll leave that to the others.

 

[nath]

I've had pretty shitty experience with all USB wireless receivers so I'll be no help. I've used an awful lot of Belkin dongles and they work *OK* but they're not without their foibles.

 

[Trem]

I am loving Buffalo stuff, quite sure they will make a USB dongle but like Nathbacon says it would be nice if you could just get an internal one.....and they are cheaper.

This seems spangly -

Belkin N1 Mimo Wireless Wifi PCI Network Card 300MB! PC on eBay (end time 28-Aug-09 12:05:08 BST)

I fucking hate Belkin though

 

[nath]

I didn't say internals are better - though it is nice not having to fuck about with USB shite. The problem with internals is usually the aerial so if you can find one with an external aerial that can be moved about, you might be in luck.


In fact, that Belkin might do the job nicely.

 

[YoDa]

Belkin F5D8055UK 300Mbps N+ Wireless USB Network Adapter Echoes has this one and says it very good so im probly going to go with this. Thanky muchly for all the help.

 

[nath]

Holy unnecessarily expensive computer stuff Batman!

Do you have an N level router? If not, that's probably overkill. Plus, Overclockers are the shittest most awful terrible shit and crap awful fuckwit filled shitty lame cunty lame shit fucking awful online retailer ever.

I don't like Overclockers.

edit: Since Trem seems to like Buffalo - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/142052

 

[Trem]

Holy unnecessarily expensive computer stuff Batman!

Do you have an N level router? If not, that's probably overkill. Plus, Overclockers are the shittest most awful terrible shit and crap awful fuckwit filled shitty lame cunty lame shit fucking awful online retailer ever.

I don't like Overclockers.

edit: Since Trem seems to like Buffalo - Buffalo Airstation Nfiniti Wireless-N Compact USB Adapter - Ebuyer

Lol!

I had just warned Yoda about OCUK and how he will be fucked if he needs to return owt to them.

Tbh that Buffalo one will probably be filled with sex, I know which I would get.

 

[throdgrain]

I like Overclockers

 

[nath]

I like Overclockers

Well you ruddy shouldn't. They're overpriced and run by absolute bastard bastard bastards.