Odd networking problem

Willeth

I recently moved into a new house, owned by my cousin, and she has broadband and wireless all set up already - it was ntl broadband and is now provided by Virgin Media, and comes through a cable modem instead of the set-top box. It then goes into a Linksys wireless router, set up with a WEP. Standard procedure.

Right now, I'm using her laptop, which connects absolutely fine with no problems at all. So does my Xbox 360, no need to change the MTU settings or NAT or anything. My PSP can browse the web with little to no problem. But I'm getting some very weird results when I try to connect from my box upstairs. I'm using XP Pro SP2, trying to connect through a Belkin USB dongle, mostly using the Belkin wireless utility but I've tried using the native Windows support as well, with little to no joy.

Over the last few days I've had varying success - sometimes I can connect to the AP perfectly well and browse the net, other times it connects to the AP and then can't connect to a webpage, sometimes it can connect to some sits and not to others (yesterday, for example, Gmail only loaded the second time I tried, PA loaded the main page but not the comic page, majornelson.com wouldn't load at all, but Urban Dead worked fine with lightning fast loading), and other times it can find the router in a search and then just won't connect to it at all. The only this that remains consistent in the whole thing is that when I try to repair the connection when it's semi-working, it fails to clear NetBT. When I have tried to ping with a conenction that only loadfs some sites and not others, it comes back without a hitch. I've tried both FF and IE.

One thing that might be screwing with it is something that I only noticed on the 360 - when I was setting up the connection, it told me that there were two APs with the same SSID, which is entirely possible as it is still set to the default for the router ('linksys'). I can't imagine how that would interfere to this degree, but I thought I'd throw it in there.

I can't currently access the router settings as I need to wait until my cousin gets back from town, as I don't have the passwords, but as soon as I can I can grab any relevant info. I'll also update the post shortly with serial numbers etc. One thing that I haven't yet tried is browsing the Internet using the Wii's browser, and I'll try that now - when I set it up, though, it connected with no problem.

Possible reasons I've found are: out-of-date drivers, unlikely as it was working on my last connection, an ntl STB connection, on Thursday, and an MTU setting that's way too high. Your thoughts, H/A, would be appreciated.

EDIT: Wii browsing also isn't working. Is it possible there's some MAC filtering operating behind the scenes?



tl;dr - can't connect to network with my PC, fails NetBT - other various devices work no problem.

Sarcastro

You mentioned you're upstairs - wireless almost always has issues going up through a floor. Especially small blue-bin usb wireless cards.

You could experiment and bring the router upstairs or closer somehow to see if it's a signal problem. You could also find a way to cable it directly (cold air returns usually work well for this) or buy one of those full on powerplug antenna models that allows you to set your antenna wherever in the room.

You may also want to play with firewall settings. If you're going through a router, you usualy don't need one - lots of people overkill with three or more, having the Windows one, the AV one, a thrid party one (Zone Alarm etc) and of course the one in the router. Trim it back to just one (two if you're anal, but only one active one on the PC, the other in the router).

When your cousin gets back, make sure the network name is unique, and that the network is locked down. Change the channel off of default (6) to something rarer (I like 9, widely unused) to cut down cross traffic. Most routers also have a power bump setting, generally set at 75%, which you can max out (once you've secured the network). Placement of both the router and the antenna can make a big difference. Ideally, you just want flooring and insulation, so draw a line with your mind from the router to your antenna, and see if it might be going through a fridge, flourecent lighting, steel i-beam, etc. Placing the router almost directly under your upstairs antenna is probably the way to go for max signal clarity.

Give those a try, and if nothing helps, let us know.

Willeth

Thanks - it is already almost directly over the router antenna, and there's nothing in the way except some wooden floorboards - fairly thick, but not enough to stop a decent signal - as mentioned, my 360 is also upstairs and has no problems connecting, wirelessly. I get the same result with a firewall as I do without, and a wired connection isn't an option.

I plan on digging into the router tonight, and I'll let you know what's what. In the meantime, I'll take this laptop upstairs and see if it has problems connecting.

EDIT: Well, shit. It completely conked out once I was upstairs; looks like it is a signal issue. I'll play with the power settings of the router and if that doesn't help I'll just get a USB extension cable and dangle it over the banister. Thanks again.

bombardier

Just an aside, if you care about security at a level higher than "I don't want Joe College to swipe my internets" you should use WPA or WPA2 if your devices support it.

Willeth

Yes, I'm aware of that. But there are numourous other routers around, several of which are unsecured, so I'm sure WEP will be fine. Plus, anything more secure won't work with my DS.

Any road up, it appears to be working now. It must be a signal thing, but it's very touchy about where the dongle is - it's now barely half a metre away from where it was, and it's working without a hitch now. Touch wood.

I'm going to keep this open, because in the back of my mind there's a niggling feeling that there's a deeper problem here, but maybe just fiddling with the aerials on the router fixed it. Ta muchly.

bombardier

As far as I know, if you imagined balancing a CD on the tip of the antenna, that would be the direction in which it best receives/broadcasts, so having one horizontal would probably be best in your case.

You could also rig together one of those aluminum foil parabolic reflector things to point upwards on one of the antenna as well.