Wireless Network PROBLEM (HELP PLEASE!!)

[SunDeck]

After I had this problem for a while at my old house, I borrowed an external network adapter from a friend- it worked a lot better than the internal card my laptop came with. Then I moved and I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever, so my guess is that a combination of a cruddy Dell internal network card and lots of ductwork and other interference in my last house probably caused most of the problems.

Anyway, at this point I would recommend trying some different locations for the router to see if something isn't interfering with the signal.

I would also check to see if Belkin has released any new firmware for your router. I remember that Servpac2 introduced all sorts of security issues that were bumping computers off their networks, especially when the Windows networking software would do its thing and check for networks. That was a while back, but maybe there are new problems; it could be that by updating your firmware, you may resolve the issue. I think you can start from here.

[GAC]

Alright, I tried ALL the different channels on my router with the same problem. My network will pop-up intermittently and then disappear for hours at a time. What should I try next? A new router??

BTW: Thanks everyone for the help.

I'm assuming you have an internal network card in your computer? Make sure the driver is up to date (though I doubt this is the problem) and insure the card is not malfunctioning. I have a Realtek Fast Ethernet in mine and I called their tech support and they helped me to verify that the card was communicating to the internet and thus I could eliminate that as a problem.

If you know the IP address for that card you can open up "command prompt" and ping it to insure it is communicating.

Type "cmd" into the Run box and after command prompt opens up, type in "ipaddress/release". This may take a couple minutes for it to release the IP Address. Once that is accomplished, type in "ipaddress/renew" and it will then post your IP address IF the card is working properly.

Also - do you know if your Internet Provider uses a static or dynamic IP address?

Have you called Belkin and explained your problem to them? I have a Linksys, and they have Chat where I can go in and get tech support help.

[RBA]

Do you have phones that run on 2.4GHZ? They might be causing interference on your router? If the base or phone is sitting right next to your router that may very well be the problem.

[harangatang]

I just bought my first wireless router a few weeks ago. I did create a secure network with a username and password and change the channel on it (it took me awhile to understand all of this). Are there any other tips that could help me out in general?

[GAC]

I just bought my first wireless router a few weeks ago. I did create a secure network with a username and password and change the channel on it (it took me awhile to understand all of this). Are there any other tips that could help me out in general?

Is it a Linksys?

My son was having connect problems with his Xbox live getting on-line and I was told by Linksys to take it off the default channel 6 because for some reason channel 6 is one of the "busier" channels. Linksys usually uses channels 1, 6, or 11 by default. I put it on 11 and it works fine.

Go to the setup page occassionally and ensure you have the updated firmware.

[Unassisted]

I just bought my first wireless router a few weeks ago. I did create a secure network with a username and password and change the channel on it (it took me awhile to understand all of this). Are there any other tips that could help me out in general?

Use the strongest encryption that your router has available. WPA is currently the best, if I recall correctly. Strong encryption will require you to use a longer password for access, but it makes it less likely that your neighbors or driveby hackers will be able to eavesdrop on your traffic and collect your usernames/passwords/etc.