Wireless keeps disconnecting

[Elie]

I have my Linksys wireless in the basement, one of the PC's is in the second floor of my house, so the distance is not that great.
It keeps disconnecting/reconnecting. I tried 802.11G and stepped back to B and still the same thing. The one thing I'll do is upgrade the firmware on the router, it seems to be running ver 3.0, and Linksys is now up to 4.21.1.

I have the WRT54G ver 3.0. I wonder if I need an AP upstairs or a better wireless router?

Thanks,
Elie

[UtwigMU]

I have two 54GLs and at previous job we sold more than 50 a year with no such problems. I stay connected into work VPN over wireless for hours with all my Thinkpads (A21p with Trendnet PCMCIA g, T42p with Intel b and X61s with Intel s, my flatmate with R51 and old Latitude with PCMCIA adapter also reported no problems).

I'd try: upgrading firmware, updating wireless card drivers, different wireless card. Could also be the router might be toast, some routers which got hit by current disturbances started acting. In some cases reflashing firmware fixed the problem, in others the router had to be replaced.

[Marshmallowman]

Can you try it it on a different channel?

[Elie]

So I bought a new Linksys N router, and the PC upstairs is doing the same thing, I will buy a wireless N NIC and see if that helps.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

[VJ]

Powersaving settings on the PC?

I had a problem with an acer laptop (of a relative), which slowed down connections as a result of power saving settings. There, it was in the bios. However, in the Windows device manager there is also a setting for most devices, indicating whether or not Windows is allowed to power down the device in order to save power...

Marshmallowman's suggestion of trying a different channel is also very good. Most people keep the default channel, which may cause this to be quite crowded. Best is to try to find out which channels are in use (I use wifofum on my mobile for that). Our sysadmin claims it is best to also try to avoid using neighbouring numbers.

Jörg

[Elie]

Here's is what I'm going to do...

I will run a CAT5 cable from the N router that sits in the basement to the old Linksys G mentioned above, I will then use it strictly as an access point which will give me two benefits...

1-Will be able to connect my Wii and PS3 physically to the switch/router instead of wireless

2-Gives me a better signal to the main floor and second floor computers.

I will upgrade the linksys G's firmware and change the channel to something not being used.

Cheers guys!

[Elie]

Update, so the Wii also lacks an Ethernet adapter...how lame!!!! Anyway...
I ran a cable from the N router to the G router which is now located on the first floor, and all is good, no more disconnects! I guess the wireless coverage is really poor in my house as if the walls are made of led.

[Fat Tone]

You can get an ethernet adaptor for the Wii. Just takes up a USB port.

[dZeus]

I have my Linksys wireless in the basement, one of the PC's is in the second floor of my house, so the distance is not that great.
It keeps disconnecting/reconnecting. I tried 802.11G and stepped back to B and still the same thing. The one thing I'll do is upgrade the firmware on the router, it seems to be running ver 3.0, and Linksys is now up to 4.21.1.

I have the WRT54G ver 3.0. I wonder if I need an AP upstairs or a better wireless router?

Thanks,
Elie

I know you found a workaround, but I still would like to mention this:

I've seen periodical disconnects when a certain feature on a wireless router was enabled, called "group rekey interval" or "group renewal interval". Apparently many drivers do not support this feature properly.

Also, to improve range, try using a directional antenna on the router in the basement; I've had good experience with those.

[Elie]

Cool... Thanks Fat Tone and dZeus for the input, will get on it ASAP!