wireless hell.

[BuzzKillington]

I've spent hours trying to figure out wtf is going on with my router. I can connect to the internet if I go directly to the modem or even if I branch off from the router but wireless refuses to work. I've connected wirelessly for a couple minutes but the signal was extremely weak when right next to the damn thing.

[nevermind1534]

try another wireless card or antenna?

[Bopher]

Change the channel on the router. Had this problem with a friends wireless. Seems some routers overpower others and if you change the channel lower then any surrounding routers then you should get a better connection.

[billygoat333]

they also (if its wireless g) can pick up interference from cordless phones, microwaves, etc. Runs on same 2.4ghz frequency. Definitely try changing the channels. :) also, some routers have signal boosting capabilities or range settings as well that you should check. My router has a range setting so you can limit how far it broadcasts... pretty good idea if you are living in an apartment building.

[nevermind1534]

they also (if its wireless g) can pick up interference from cordless phones, microwaves, etc.

I hate the microwave. Had to get a new phone, too. When I ran xp, I wouldn't be able to stay connected at all when the microwave was running.

[BuzzKillington]

It's not interferance I'm almost positive. It's actually not transmitting at all. I know the router works because I just had it connected to another modem at another house a couple days ago and also I used to have the router hooked up to this modem a while back. I have a feeling it's some random ass setting that defaulted to piss me off lol.

[nevermind1534]

You looked through the router's settings? Maybe no SSID broadcast.

[Luke122]

Why not restore the router to default settings, then start by enabling security on the wireless and changing the channel to 3 (or 8 ). The most common channel is 6 (the default), but most people go either to 1 or 11.. try to go more middle of the road. :)

You can also make sure that any speed boost settings (turbo G, etc) are disabled. If you only have a device that uses G, set the router to G only. If you only have B devices, set to B only, etc.

Once you have connected to the router successfully, disable the SSID broadcast and turn the power down to the minimum you can get away with for the range/stability you need.

You could also try removing/replacing the antenna(s) on the router. If it's a tri-mode router, make sure the antennas are not reversed (wrong positions).

[nevermind1534]

The most common channel is 6 (the default), but most people go either to 1 or 11.. try to go more middle of the road. :)

Pretty much all of the signals that I pick up are channel 11. I had to set it to that until the 2.8GHz phone was replaced, though, because of the interference.

[BuzzKillington]

I've tried all that actually. I've also tried different areas in the house just in case it was some noise messing with it. Buffalo techs were all stumped which doesn't say much but they're RMAing it.

[SXRguyinMA]

how do you go about changing the channel? and do you ahve to change it on your psi card as well? :think:

[nevermind1534]

No, you just change it in the router's wireless settings, then your wireless cards figure it out on their own.

[Luke122]

I've seen some routers that automatically detect an available channel (I think most Dlinks do that now, probably others too). That can be a problem if you reboot the router and it changes channels, since the PC will see the same SSID on a different channel, and may think it's a new AP. The fix is to delete the connection profile and recreate it, but if you reboot the router often, or it changes channel due to interference, you have to recreate it every time.

[BuzzKillington]

I deleted all of the saved profiles as well. Honestly after I reset the router back to factory settings and it still wouldn't broadcast I was pretty convinced that it was FUBARd.

I went to Walmart early this morning and bought a new wireless N router. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124277) I'm pretty annoyed by the bad reviews on this router because it was extremely easy to set up and it's extremely fast. I picked it up for 74.99 with a 5 dollar extended warranty plan so pretty sweet deal even compared to the egg! I'll do a follow up/review in a month or two.

[Datech]

If you are in a close neighborhood or an apartment building I'd almost bet on it being interference with other routers. I work in an office building with no regulation on wireless networks, and there are at least 6 broadcast and 4 un-broadcasted networks. If you happen to be on the same channel, good luck getting consistent connection.

Another thing related to channels that a Senior Engineer told me, but I have yet to confirm: Supposedly the channels reign over each other in certain cases. I.E. Channel 3 will overpower 1 and 2, 6 will overpower 4, 5, and 7, and 11 will overpower 8, 9, and 10. He used this as his basis for instructing me on what channels to put the wireless on. Since I work for a Tech company, I was able to convince the two law firms and one consulting firm on our floor to change their channels to 1, 2, and 8, and we set ours to automatic with defaults on 11 and we haven't had near as many problems since. All of that could probably be attributed to part speculation and part dumb luck though.

The other problem could be the firmware of the router as well. We got a business class Linksys g/n router to compliment our beefy DLink gaming router at work, and the brilliant Linksys tech finally said our only option was to install beta firmware to solve problems unrelated to the above. Keep in mind this router is a business class router serving upwards of 30 simultaneous connections, and beta firmware was our only option from Tech support.:rolleyes:

Good luck with the new one though, lol.

[nevermind1534]

Nice, make the other guys take the sh*tty channels lol