I have a laptop with a wireless card built into it. I have Road Runner Cable and have a wireless router in my room. Oftentimes, while I am connected here on the laptop to the wireless, it tends to disconnect and sometimes I have trouble re-connecting to the router. Why is that, when I am not even 10 feet away? I mean the router is in my room, and I am here in the living room. Why does it often disconnect, when I am soo close to the stupid router (it even happens in the room where the router is)? I mean I know that wireless is unreliable, but why? What is the cause of this? And yes, the cable lines have been checked and they are good..
2007-03-17 06:04:21 · 3 answers · asked by viva8la7ram 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Computer Networking
If there was no interference anywhere, would the wireless stay connected to the laptop?
2007-03-17 06:18:41 · update #1
Actually wireless is not really unreliable just misunderstood.
Wireless is radio, in this case in the microwave spectrum.
As with any radio it can be disturbed by things you don't even think about normally. I found my local problem which was similar to yours was being done by a bad fluorescent light bulb. It just happened to be generating noise (radio noise) on the channel I had picked for my wifi connection.
So try changing some of the "variables". Change channels, see if the issue goes away. Try a different wireless card on your laptop. (sometimes wifi cards are not compatible inspite of the fact they are supposed to be). Even with a built in card you can still use a usb or pcmcia card on the same machine, just turn the internal card off. Move the router to a slightly different location (sometimes a little change creates a big difference in result). If you are running encryption (which you should be) try turnning it off and see it the problem goes away. If it does you have an encryption issue. (that could be the router or the card).
Hope that helps.
2007-03-17 06:56:46 · answer #1 · answered by Tracy L 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It could be interference. Most wireless routers default to channel 1, 6 or 11, so if there are other networks nearby they could be interfering. Cordless phones usually start at channel 1 and switch channels to get a better signal if necessary. Microwave ovens put out interference mostly on channels 7-11. If the disconnects happen when the phone or microwave is used or when people get home from work, that's a clue. I find channel 4 works well in most cases. And remember to change the default SSID and router password and enable WPA encryption on your network.
2007-03-17 13:11:36 · answer #2 · answered by Fix My PC Mike 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If your notebook is working in another place where you get wireless very wel, then I think there is something wrong with the router
2007-03-17 13:16:52 · answer #3 · answered by mc455 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋