I have a Netgear 802.11b wireless router connected to a cable modem. Two desktop computers with wireless Netgear USB network adapters and my work laptop with wireless adapter have worked well for over a year. A third desktop machine with a new Linksys WUSB11 v2.8 adapter is having problems.
The problem machine will connect to a web site, then stops communicating. As viewed from Windows Task Mgr, Networking tab, there is a small spike in communication, then a long period of no communication. I know the computer makes contact with the site because the IE page download timer bar shows up. Sometimes, if I wait long enough, more communication spikes happen, and the page will finish downloading. Other times, the page times out. One work around is that if it does not immediately start a complete download, I hit IE 'Stop' and the 'Refresh' buttons, and do it each time the download is 'hung'.
The download speed does not seem to be slow. Once it gets 'going', frames, GIFs, JPEGs, and text seem to download as fast as any of the other PCs on this system.
The computer has a relatively new XP install, with all patches not including SP2. The other two desktops have older XP installs, but are patched the same. Windows Wireless Networking controls all three desktops wireless configurations, and I very carefully ensured all three have identicall Windows settings. In the router, I assigned dedicated IP addresses. I have WEP enabled with a 128bit key, and access permission is not an issue. The router provides a '192.168.0.x' format network for the PCs, and receives an IP address from the cable system.
It even has the same behavior when connecting to the router's admin 'web page', (html scripts used for admin.) This tells me it is not a cable problem. PING is good to the router (DHCP server) and other PCs on the network. I tried to install the Dr. TCP 'TCP Tweek' program, but I could not download the Java VM needed to run Tweek. VM install froze mid-stream (download stopped).
I know the problem does not go past the router, but I can't automatically blame the Linksys adapter. Linksys tech support, of course, is no help. At best they offered to RMA the adapter, as they had nothing else to offer. If I RMA, I am completely without LAN connection for weeks, and maybe no solution. Linksys insists the adapter is compatible with 'standard' 11b systems. I have not tried swapping Netgear adapters from a working PC because I have to reconfigure the router to switch NICs between machine names/IDs.
One curious issue that Linksys refuses to answer is why the bundled driver/utility will not install. The CD is labled 'for Win2000 and XP'. Tech spt says the adapter is automatically recognised by XP, and the drivers are not necessary. I want the utilities, hoping that Linksys has a set of tools like Netgear does for their adapters. I downloaded the most recent set of drivers/tools from Linksys, and the install screen flashes for a moment, then disapears just like the CD version.
Any ideas on system configuration, or is it the adapter, and why?
The problem machine will connect to a web site, then stops communicating. As viewed from Windows Task Mgr, Networking tab, there is a small spike in communication, then a long period of no communication. I know the computer makes contact with the site because the IE page download timer bar shows up. Sometimes, if I wait long enough, more communication spikes happen, and the page will finish downloading. Other times, the page times out. One work around is that if it does not immediately start a complete download, I hit IE 'Stop' and the 'Refresh' buttons, and do it each time the download is 'hung'.
The download speed does not seem to be slow. Once it gets 'going', frames, GIFs, JPEGs, and text seem to download as fast as any of the other PCs on this system.
The computer has a relatively new XP install, with all patches not including SP2. The other two desktops have older XP installs, but are patched the same. Windows Wireless Networking controls all three desktops wireless configurations, and I very carefully ensured all three have identicall Windows settings. In the router, I assigned dedicated IP addresses. I have WEP enabled with a 128bit key, and access permission is not an issue. The router provides a '192.168.0.x' format network for the PCs, and receives an IP address from the cable system.
It even has the same behavior when connecting to the router's admin 'web page', (html scripts used for admin.) This tells me it is not a cable problem. PING is good to the router (DHCP server) and other PCs on the network. I tried to install the Dr. TCP 'TCP Tweek' program, but I could not download the Java VM needed to run Tweek. VM install froze mid-stream (download stopped).
I know the problem does not go past the router, but I can't automatically blame the Linksys adapter. Linksys tech support, of course, is no help. At best they offered to RMA the adapter, as they had nothing else to offer. If I RMA, I am completely without LAN connection for weeks, and maybe no solution. Linksys insists the adapter is compatible with 'standard' 11b systems. I have not tried swapping Netgear adapters from a working PC because I have to reconfigure the router to switch NICs between machine names/IDs.
One curious issue that Linksys refuses to answer is why the bundled driver/utility will not install. The CD is labled 'for Win2000 and XP'. Tech spt says the adapter is automatically recognised by XP, and the drivers are not necessary. I want the utilities, hoping that Linksys has a set of tools like Netgear does for their adapters. I downloaded the most recent set of drivers/tools from Linksys, and the install screen flashes for a moment, then disapears just like the CD version.
Any ideas on system configuration, or is it the adapter, and why?