Broadband Problem

TommyGun

I got BB yesterday. It was with BT and I got a wireless access point. I set it up fine on my first system and it worked fine, and also set up the security.

When setting up the second system everything went fine at first. I was able to surf the net fine.

Then i could not access the Internet but the wireless connection was still there and the signal was strong. Also when disconnected and then reconnected it took a long time to acquire IP address.


Any Ideas to help??

I will reinstall the wireless card drivers again later today.

irlrobins

Give us more details of your setup.

What OS are you using?
What modem/router/wireless cards (make and model)
What encryption do you have?
How are you assigning ip address? Static or Dynamic?

etc

TommyGun

irlrobins,

See update

What OS are you using?
XP pro

What modem/router/wireless cards (make and model)
ZyXEL Prestige 660HW - wireless router,
both laptops are Centrino with Intel (R) PROWireless 2915ABG wireless cards

What encryption do you have? I believe that I used WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK

I am using the Intel PROWireless software to manage the wireless not the standard XP software.


How are you assigning ip address? Static or Dynamic?
The addresses are assigned each logon (IP address obtained automatically) so take it that is is Dynamic

Ye, its weird as it shows a full connection but the traffic is almost zero.
There was one thing that i noticed - The router would show as connected but the network would not show as available.

irlrobins

First thing I'd do is switch off the encryption and see if you can get it working without it first. Help to narrow down the problem.

kiss103

Having the same problem setting up my sister's wireless

Also using same router
HAve tried netopia router and all is ok , i reeckon it's a problem with the zyxtel router

TommyGun

I will try that, Thanks lads.

TommyGun

I have checked everything with no success. So I have reordered the router, it will be due next week.

MunsterCycling

Try flashing the firmware in the Router, worth a shot seeing as its going back. Have you site scanned to check for other networks?

TommyGun

MunsterCycling,
Hi, I was looking at it last night i changed my receivers(wireless card) to only connect as 'b' changed my channel from 11 to 2. And it seems to be working better now, although not perfect. I will try the firmware upgrade.

Because it takes a while to 'Acquire a IP address' i was hoping to get the settings for BT, so it will connect quicker. Does anyone know them?

IP Address ---.---.---.---
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway ---.---.---.---
Preferred DNS Sever ---.---.---.---

TommyGun

Sorry and the :
Alternate DNS Sever ---.---.---.---

irlrobins

Your wireless router should assign an ip address to your laptop using DHCP. If this is taking too long you can assign a static ip address to laptop and disable DHCP on the router.

Assuming router ip address is 192.168.1.1 then you can set ip address of laptop to 192.168.1.100, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1 and DNS 192.168.1.1.

Edit: if you need the settings to connect to your BT account then read here

TommyGun

Thanks irlrobins,
I'll try this when I get home. Here's hoping......

MunsterCycling

TommyGun wrote:

MunsterCycling,
Hi, I was looking at it last night i changed my receivers(wireless card) to only connect as 'g' changed my channel from 11 to 2. And it seems to be working better now, although not perfect. I will try the firmware upgrade.

Because it takes a while to 'Acquire a IP address' i was hoping to get the settings for BT, so it will connect quicker. Does anyone know them?

IP Address ---.---.---.---
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway ---.---.---.---
Preferred DNS Sever ---.---.---.---

You change the channel on the router, if thats what you did then grand, in infrastructure mode you can set the receiving card to whatever channel you want coz when it searchs for the network ssid it will change to the channel the access point is on regardless of what setting you tell it.

The IP address is allocated by the DHCP Server (presuming you are using DHCP and not static IPs) in the router and the default gateway should always be the IP of the router (the IP you type in to see the config page) regardless of DHCP or Static IPs. Dunno offhand the bt dns address but on mine it is then ip of the router and the router acquires the dns address from the network, try that?

TommyGun

MunsterCycling wrote:

You change the channel on the router, if thats what you did then grand, in infrastructure mode you can set the receiving card to whatever channel you want coz when it searchs for the network ssid it will change to the channel the access point is on regardless of what setting you tell it.

The IP address is allocated by the DHCP Server (presuming you are using DHCP and not static IPs) in the router and the default gateway should always be the IP of the router (the IP you type in to see the config page) regardless of DHCP or Static IPs. Dunno offhand the bt dns address but on mine it is then ip of the router and the router acquires the dns address from the network, try that?

Ye, i did change the channel on the router to 2 from 11 and I changed the wireless cards on the Laptops to b (not g like i said in the mail).

What range should this give me, through wall etc. (im in a steel framed house)?

If I set the IP address, i do not have to change any of the DHCP or Static IPs setting as they will just see my set IP address, correct??

irlrobins

TommyGun wrote:

If I set the IP address, i do not have to change any of the DHCP or Static IPs setting as they will just see my set IP address, correct??

Nope. If you wish to set static ip address on every PC or laptop that will connect to router, then you must allocate unique ip addresses to each one. And since each machine will have it's own ip address, you need to disable DHCP on the router. (I think it is under LAN settings).

These ip addresses are on the private side of the router. If you are talking about the public or WAN ip address then this is automatically assigned to you by BT. Just use the settings in the link I provided earlier.

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

Nope. If you wish to set static ip address on every PC or laptop that will connect to router, then you must allocate unique ip addresses to each one. And since each machine will have it's own ip address, you need to disable DHCP on the router. (I think it is under LAN settings).

These ip addresses are on the private side of the router. If you are talking about the public or WAN ip address then this is automatically assigned to you by BT. Just use the settings in the link I provided earlier.

Thanks I'll try this this evening.

irlrobins,
Would you to this if you had the same problem as me (i.e. it takes too long to logon to the network) or am i going a mad making these changes?

irlrobins

If it fixes the problem you have, then yes, I'd do it.

Using DHCP or static ip addresses each have their pros and cons.

I use static ip addresses on my wireless network as I share a printer from one machine to all the others. Others use static ip addresses as they have port fowarding setup.

Most would prob use DHCP as it is easier to setup.

But at the end of the day, regardless how a machine gets it's ip address it will function the same.

TommyGun

Thanks for you help, I'll set it up tonight.

MunsterCycling

irlrobins wrote:

Nope. If you wish to set static ip address on every PC or laptop that will connect to router, then you must allocate unique ip addresses to each one. And since each machine will have it's own ip address, you need to disable DHCP on the router. (I think it is under LAN settings).

These ip addresses are on the private side of the router. If you are talking about the public or WAN ip address then this is automatically assigned to you by BT. Just use the settings in the link I provided earlier.

Alternative to turning off DHCP is to set static IPs on the machines you think are taking to long to acquire and give them addresses outside the range of the DHCP pool, that way you maintain the best of both worlds.

TommyGun

I made all the changes with no real improvment.

I got the new router today, if this does not solve the problem I will be very confused.

MunsterCycling

Any improvement?

TommyGun

Lads,
:mad: :mad: :mad:

I still have the same problem as before. If I move more then 10feet away form the wireless router i cannot access the internet, aldought i still have the wireless signal.

Any more ideas, before i lose the plot?

MunsterCycling

Are the antenna wires after coming loose on the card?

irlrobins

Try a different laptop/card. If problem still exists, then it's either a prob with router or maybe something in your house is blocking signal. Some methods of construction block wireless signals. Stud partitions spring to mind.

What/how are your house walls made of?

MunsterCycling

Ok were all getting desperate here lol

TommyGun

MunsterCycling wrote:

Are the antenna wires after coming loose on the card?

I have 3 laptops have all have the same problem. I replaced one of the cards and it had the same problem.

irlrobins

And you replaced router right?

If you have tried a few different cards, replaced the router and the problem still exists then it seems factors other than the equipment are more likely factors to the problem.

What sort of building are you in?

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

Try a different laptop/card. If problem still exists, then it's either a prob with router or maybe something in your house is blocking signal. Some methods of construction block wireless signals. Stud partitions spring to mind.

What/how are your house walls made of?

Firstly, Lads thanks for all your help.

I have tried 3 different laptops and i have changed the router and still have the same problem.

The house is a steel framed house. Between is the plaster boards, but ill check this.

The strange thing is that i still have a good wireless signal but cant access the net.

irlrobins

mmm steel frame. could effect wireless signal alright. I lived in an apartment complex that had wireless fitted through out with one AP on each floor. However due to the constuction of the stud partitions and fire doors the signal never really penetrated into the apartments beyond the front door (6ft away from a Cisco AP). So they had to install repeaters just inside each door. Worked fine after that. But that's just an aside.

Can you post the output of "ipconfig /all" on the laptop here? Just so we can check your settings. Just in case....

TommyGun

Thats it, i am going to accept that i will have to live with problem.

I do have stud partitions and fire doors on all 3 floors which could be causing my problem.

I tried to get the IPCONFIG it would not work for me. I went into Start/run/cmd/ ipconfig/all is this correct?

irlrobins,
Can you recommend a good repeater, and around how much do they cost?

irlrobins

yep ipconfig /all should work. What error or message comes up when you enter it?

Off the top of my head can't think of the type of repeaters they used. Let me look into it.

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

yep ipconfig /all should work. What error or message comes up when you enter it?

Off the top of my head can't think of the type of repeaters they used. Let me look into it.

See pic. any ideas?

irlrobins

try a space between ipconfig and /all. But either should work. Type "path" and post output.

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

try a space between ipconfig and /all. But either should work. Type "path" and post output.

Sorry, It still does not work.

irlrobins

type "path" and post output.

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

type "path" and post output.

see pic

irlrobins

righto.

Start->control panel->system.

Choose Advanced tab, then click environment variables. Under system variables, click on Path and hit edit. Add this to the start of the variable value box "%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;"

Click ok a few times.

Then open command prompt and type "SET SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS"

Restart system. try ipconfig then.

TommyGun

irlrobins wrote:

righto.

Start->control panel->system.

Choose Advanced tab, then click environment variables. Under system variables, click on Path and hit edit. Add this to the start of the variable value box "%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;"

Click ok a few times.

Then open command prompt and type "SET SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS"

Restart system. try ipconfig then.

Thanks See enclosed

irlrobins

settings look fine to me.