WIFI network problems (linksys DD-WRT router)

TheTubes

First i'll describe my setup:
I have a phone socket behind the tv cabinet in the living room, the broadband modem goes in there, I have it setup as a gateway and its connected to a linksys WR54GL wireless router that i have upgraded to DD-WRT firmware.
My xbox1 and xbox 360 are wired into 2 of the ports on the linksys.
My pc is upstairs and connects to the linksys with a belkin wifi pci card.
my iphone also connects to the network.

My problem:
Last week i started having trouble with the internet on the pc, I could still connect with the iphone, which bothered me.
other times my router has crashed and I've had to restore a backup of the config, which isnt a big deal, it only happened a couple of times in the last year and it only happened when it was under alot of pressure from a certain network protocol which isnt allowed to be discussed here.
The fact that my iphone could still connect to the net led me to believe it was a problem with the pc (self build, no problems since i built it 6 months ago).
The pc could still see the ssid of the network but could not connect to it.
Thinking that it might still be a problem with the router i reset it.
normally when i reset it it shows up as an unsecured network with ssid of "linksys" (i use a diff ssid) and i can just go to 192.168.1.1 and restore the config file.
This time the pc can still see it but cant connect to it.
All this i have been doing under vista.

I have a sperate partition on my hd that ive been meaning to install linux on but didnt get around to, so i installed xp pro on that partition and i have the same problem, so im fairly sure its not a software/os/virus issue.

I also tried putting the pci wifi card into a diff pci slot, same problem.

Once or twice i was able to connect to the network on the pc and get into 192.168.1.1 but it was really slow and when i tried to upload the config file it just timed out.

The only things i can think of are:
1. its a router problem- for some reason it cant broadcast as far as the pc anymore
2. its a pc problem - a problem with the network card (but it can still see the network)
3. its something else - could there be another network or something intefering with my network? i can see a couple of eircom ssids.

I asked my neighbor on one side if he got in broadband recently and he said he has had it for ages.

I'm so lost.

The only things i can think of are to try and take the pc downstairs and wire it into the router to see if the router works then, and to see if it can access the wifi network when they are in close proximity.

Even if i knew where the problem is i could replace/return the offending piece of equipment.

its driving me mad.

I haven't done anything different to the network or installed or changed anything in months.

Any suggestions?

Lazarus2.0

First thing I'd check is the firewall settings on the PC and if you have ZoneAlarm running on it you probably neednt go that far . A recent windows update has caused serious issues for Zonealarm users i.e. no internet connection ( i dont know whether that would stop you logging on to the network but suspect it might) .
Have you got/can you borrow another wireless card/usb stick so you can start eliminating things ? Equally have you access to a spare pc so you could test your PCI card in that ?
To rule out - or at least reduce the likelihood of - interference you could log in to the router and change the broadcast channel .

I dont know how well up you are on connection settings but you could look in your PC's TCP/IP settings to make sure all is set appropriately there .

Voodoo2

Have you tried not using the config file? Go back to basics reset- setup a open network for test purposes only see if all the hardware works first? then add a device one at a time see if it helps!? Do you use DHCP or Static ip addressing?

TheTubes

nessyguin wrote: »

First thing I'd check is the firewall settings on the PC and if you have ZoneAlarm running on it you probably neednt go that far . A recent windows update has caused serious issues for Zonealarm users i.e. no internet connection ( i dont know whether that would stop you logging on to the network but suspect it might) .
Have you got/can you borrow another wireless card/usb stick so you can start eliminating things ? Equally have you access to a spare pc so you could test your PCI card in that ?
To rule out - or at least reduce the likelihood of - interference you could log in to the router and change the broadcast channel .

I dont know how well up you are on connection settings but you could look in your PC's TCP/IP settings to make sure all is set appropriately there .

No zone alarm installed and firewall turned off.
I will try changing the broadcast channel, i didnt think of that.
i dont have any other wifi card/pc that i can try.

Voodoo2 wrote: »

Have you tried not using the config file? Go back to basics reset- setup a open network for test purposes only see if all the hardware works first? then add a device one at a time see if it helps!? Do you use DHCP or Static ip addressing?

Yup, when i said i reset above i ment a back to basic reset, it reverts to the default linksys open network, i cant really connect to it.
sometimes the pc will connect and say limited connection and when i log into 192.168.1.1 its very slow, one or two pages might work, but then it times out.
I use dhcp but i have the 4 ip addresses that i use maped to each device using their mac address, for port forwarding, etc.

Didnt try anything last night,
will try changing the broadcast channel tonight
and if im not too lazy will try taking the pc to the router and checking the wired connection.

TheTubes

its fixed.

i took the pc down next to the router and it connected,
i increased the Xmit from 60 to 80 and changed the channel from 6 to 10,
the other network i could see was 7,
maybe it was 2 channels being so close?
i dont know.

anyway, main thing is its fixed now.

thanks for the help lads.