Member Avatar for actfray

For the past several weeks, my external Linksys adapter has been losing its connection to the router (which is upstairs) a few minutes after I get online. I am not losing my internet connection, just my connection to the router. I get a pop-up balloon that says "wireless connection unavailable". So I click on the little computer icon, open up the wireless options, and then click on the name of the network to re-establish the connection. This works, but a few minutes later, the connection is lost again. When I do re-establish the connection, I click on 'repair', and this also seems to fix the problem. But I don't think I should have to be going through all of these steps everytime I turn on my computer.

The router upstairs is working properly. I've got Spybot, Spyware Blaster, and McAfee's 2005 security program running as well as Norton Anti-virus 2005. I've had the wireless adapter for 6 months, and it has worked fine up until a few weeks ago. My operating system is Windows XP.

Thanks for any suggestions!


Craig

  • 7 Contributors
  • 7 Replies
  • 562 Views
  • 8 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by ulfp

Dani AI

Generated

Intermittent drops like those reported by are common with XP-era USB/PCMCIA wireless setups. Replies already show a few different directions: RF/channel issues noted by , an 802.1x/auth fix that helped and , chipset/firmware concerns flagged by , and placement/firmware changes tried by . The checklist below is ordered to find the root cause quickly and avoid repeating UI clicks that only mask the problem.

Checklist (run in order)

  1. Drivers and utility: uninstall the existing wireless driver and install the latest driver/utility from the adapter vendor. Test with either the vendor utility or Windows Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) enabled — not both.
  2. Power and USB: in Device Manager, disable any "allow the computer to turn off this device" option for the wireless NIC and for each USB Root Hub; disable NIC power-saving features in the adapter's advanced properties.
  3. RF survey and placement: do a quick site survey with a Wi‑Fi scanner to map nearby APs and noise; move the dongle away from metal, audio gear and USB2.0 controllers (a short USB extension cable helps).
  4. Security stack and DHCP clue: temporarily disable McAfee/Norton network inspection while testing. Because a manual "Repair" was restoring connectivity, check DHCP behavior as a possible trigger.
  5. Router and firmware: verify router firmware is current and test with factory defaults or an alternate AP to rule out router-side bugs.
  6. Isolation: test the adapter on another PC and test another adapter on this PC; boot a Linux live CD if available to separate Windows/software causes from hardware faults.

XP-specific checks: inspect the System log for WZC/DHCP errors, run ipconfig /all to note lease times, and try a temporary static IP if DHCP renewal looks suspect. The thread pattern suggests two main failure modes — an OS/auth mismatch that some fixed by changing auth settings, or a driver/firmware/hardware problem. Follow the ordered checklist to identify which is responsible before replacing equipment.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for bentkey

It may be that another wireless device has moved into the nearby neighborhood, or power conditions have changed that affect wireless reception. Try changing the channel that your wireless setup is using and see what happend. Don't just change it by one position, if it's now set at 6, try 11 or 1.

Member Avatar for Smaster

I had the same problem. All you have to do is unclick "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network". Mine worked perfectly from then on. You have to click on your network then click on authentication in the tabs and it will be there, just unclick it and presto!

Member Avatar for wwez2

Check out .

The bottom line: Linksys and Buffalo products using Broadcom's "Speedbooster" chipset have a problem which causes lost connections and slow speeds.

If your product uses this chpset, you may want to switch to a plain 54G wireless router or access point. Products from Buffalo claiming 108 Mbps and from Linksys having the "Speedbooster" designation use this defective chipset.

Exchanging my Linksys WRT54GS for a WRT54G solved my probelm after I'd wasted untold hours with Linksys, tried 2 of the same crappy (and more expensive) router, and even called my laptop mfr. No one knew, or said they know, about this problem. All blamed Windows and other things.

God bless Mac magazine for helping the Windows world as well!

Member Avatar for dune

I had the same problem. All you have to do is unclick "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network". Mine worked perfectly from then on. You have to click on your network then click on authentication in the tabs and it will be there, just unclick it and presto!

Hi

Thanks for the tip. I have a linksys54g wireless router and a laptop with a realtek 8180 wireless card. The laptop was dropping the connection to the router every 5 minutes. I gave your tip a whirl and its now been connected for 2 hours with no problems. Hopefully all will be well now
Thanks

Member Avatar for ulfp

I had the same problem. All you have to do is unclick "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network". Mine worked perfectly from then on. You have to click on your network then click on authentication in the tabs and it will be there, just unclick it and presto!

My problem is similar:

Configuration:
A) Have one XP Prof connected via cable to WRT54G (firmware v3.03.1).
B) Have one XP Home edition connected to WRT54G via wireless (WUSB54G).
Distance between Router and wireless computer is less than 5 meters (no walls, signal good)
C) WRT54G Configured with 64bit WEP, most other settings in "default mode"
D) Running Norton Internet Security in both computers (tried to switch it off, but same 'status').

Status:
Wireless connection dropped about every 5 minutes (always seems to fail when I try to copy some large AVI files).

Actions taken:
1) Tried to unclick "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network" in computer A). Still same problem!

Note: In computer B), no Authentication tab is available for the network settings, and I can thus not unclick "Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network".

What to try next ?

Member Avatar for ---virus---

I have LinkSys 54GS I don't have my "IEEE" checked but my wireless connection keeps disconnecting.

Member Avatar for ulfp

After some changes, my WRT54G is now working fine. What I did:

1) I changed the firmware to HyperWRT (now running Firmware Version: v3.03.6 - HyperWRT 2.1b1).

2) I moved my WRT54G about 1.5 meters in my room (actually further away from the other wireless computers). The earlier location was in a HiFi rack with metal legs. I now have the WRT54G on top of another PC and have no other cables or anything else metallic near the antennas.

Signal strength seems to be about the same, but it works fine now and I have not noticed any connection drop for a long time...

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.