why won't my network card maintain its speed,goes from 54,48,36,24,then back up,card name is pro bg2200bg?

Answer 1

Your wireless card's broadcast rate will be heavily dependent on two things, signal strength and interference.

Your proximity to the wireless access point is the main variable. Basically, the closer you are to the router, the better your reception and the faster your transmission rate. Conversely, the further you are away, the weaker your signal, and the slower your data rate.

The other variable that may explain your intel wireless card's performance is interference. When there is intermittent interference, you may notice your signal fluctuate even while you are within close proximity to the access point or when you have been staying still. Unfortunately, if you have a lot of neighbors on the same frequency, there is little you can do besides change the frequency of your router via its settings and change your laptop to the appropriate frequency as well, though i believe your intel wireless card will compensate for this automatically. Additionally, since you are on a wireless G network, you will also get more intense interference from 2.4 GHz wireless home phones, cellular phones, and microwave ovens. If the problem worsens you may want to consider swapping your wireless home phone (assuming you have one) to either the 900 MHz or 5.8 GHz range.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and happy wirelessing.