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Author Topic: Router Issues - Mayfly
Marlozhan
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I can't figure out why my wireless router keeps dropping signals. I use my laptop 5 feet away from my router, direct line of sight, and at least once a week (give or take several days), my signal either becomes so slow it is almost nonexistant, or constantly drops completely. It will do this for hours, or an entire day.

But this confuses me, because the signal strength on my laptop shows it at full bars. I have a program to analyze local wi-fi, and I set my router to be on a channel that nobody else in the neighborhood is on, so channel interference shouldn't be a problem. Also, nobody else is using my internet when this happens.

Plus, when I have this problem, I plug my router directly into my laptop through ethernet, and then my internet speeds are very fast, around 24mbps. So, the internet connection itself is just fine. Something is happening with the wireless.

When the signal has issues, I try it on another laptop, and it has the same problem connecting, so this is not a problem with the laptop.

My router is a Netgear N300 WNR2000v2 and my laptop has an Acer Nplify 802.11a/b/g/n card.

When this happens, I will sit and keep resetting my cable modem and my router, and maybe after doing this like 5 times, it might finally get better, but sometimes it doesn't.

One other weird thing since the day I bought my router: if I turn it off, the only way to turn it back on so it actually powers on properly, is to quickly switch it off and on again. If I turn it off, wait more than .5 seconds, then turn it back on, it will just freeze.

Basically, I think my router might just be crap, but has anyone heard of a wireless router that has periodic crap-out periods (regardless of signal strength, channel, ISP connectivity), and then seems to work fine a day later?

As I am writing this, I have to use the wired connection to even load hatrack. Speedtest shows my internet at 24mbps right now with the ethernet, and as soon as I unplug it, my wireless starts to load speedtest, but so slowly that it times out. Again, I am 5 feet away from my router. WTF?

Firmware is updated on the router.
Wireless mode on router is set to speeds up to 300mbps.

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xtownaga
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So it's clearly either a problem with the router, or something is causing interference on the chunk of the spectrum you're using (it sounds like all you checked for was another WiFi network running on the same channel, but tons of things use the same band. It also seems possible that the software you used may have only looked for networks broadcasting their SSID, which can be disabled). The fact that you see full signal strength consistently through these periods makes this seem unlikely, but there are circumstances in which it's plausible.

When there is a problem, have you tried using another router on the same channel (or, since it sounds like you have multiple laptops available, trying to have them connect directly to each other in ad-hoc mode (or set one to a base station mode, if the option is available))?

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Aros
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Try going into the router settings and changing the band / frequency. If it doesn't get any better, my money is on a bad router. Sometimes they get "ghost" packets banging around inside them taking up bandwidth.

Before you throw it out, however, you might want to try flashing it with DD-WRT.

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El JT de Spang
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FWIW, I had this exact same problem with my wireless router for months, before I actually was able to talk to a competent tech support person at AT&T. She advised me, and was SHOCKED that no one before her had told me this, that for the router not to experience intermittent connectivity issues, it had to be set up with the modem configured as a bridge.

I also reconfigured my parents' setup this way a few weeks ago, which fixed a similar problem they were having.

Who is your ISP? And what brand/model modem are you using?

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Marlozhan
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Comcast is my ISP and the modem is model #U10C018. I have never been told anything about setting the modem up as a bridge. I will look up how to do that, or contact Comcast to see if this should be done.

Also, I don't have any other routers to test. I am not familiar with what ad-hoc mode is.

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xtownaga
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An ad-hoc wifi network would allow you to directly connect the two laptops, without the use of a router. It's not terribly useful, but it's included in the 802.11 spec, and therefore usually buried somewhere in the options for most computers capable of using wifi (in my entirely anecdotal experience anyway). The general idea was to set up any other wifi network on the same channel that your router is having issues with, and see if it works (you could probably enable file sharing and drag a large file over the network or something to test if you had a reasonable connection speed).

It seems somewhat unlikely, incidentally, that it's a modem configuration issue, as the wired connection apparently works at full speed regardless. I mean it's not impossible, but I can't think of a way for the wireless to have connection issues wile the wired doesn't as a result of an outgoing link that both share that doesn't involve some pretty spectacular incompetence somewhere in your router's design team.

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El JT de Spang
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quote:
Originally posted by Marlozhan:
Comcast is my ISP and the modem is model #U10C018. I have never been told anything about setting the modem up as a bridge. I will look up how to do that, or contact Comcast to see if this should be done.

Also, I don't have any other routers to test. I am not familiar with what ad-hoc mode is.

Without the brand name of the modem, the model number isn't terribly useful, unfortunately. You might, if you're at all computer savvy, google comcast and your modem brand/model and bridging and see if you see anyone talking about doing what I'm suggesting. Or call comcast. Or both.
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Blayne Bradley
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How much did you spend on the router.
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