Problem Regarding Wireless Connection

[FearoftheNight]

My wireless connection has been acting up lately and I was wondering if any of you guys could shed some light on the matter. I'm using a linksys wireless g router and a macbook pro. Lately I've been dropping from online games and the connection has been hiccupping a lot. The signal indicator in osx is always at full but when I reboot into bootcamp with windows xp the signal is always low with 2 bars. This is just something that has happened recently and I can't figure out what is causing it. I tried changing the signal freq in the router config with no avail.

Can anyone give me a hand with this problem?

 

[robisbell]

are you using the latest drivers for the hardware? it may be just that the system is not 100% compatible with XP.

 

[FearoftheNight]

it is a macbook pro. and i have been using the wireless on it for months without any issue until recently. so i'm uncertain as to whether or not this issue is caused by the laptop itself?

 

[HdwGuy]

Have you added any wireless phones to your home? 2.4Ghz wireless devices compete with the same bandwith of the 802.11G spectrum. Change the channel your router channel and see if that helps.

 

[Pulsar]

In addition, realize that if the antennae on the wireless router is pointing right at you, you are in a dead zone. Was the antenna possibly turned / moved? It makes a big difference since the field is shaped like a donut with the hole on the antenna tip. If you're in line with where the antenna points your signal will be low.

 

[FearoftheNight]

i've tried 4 different channels on the router and it seems that the problem is still sporadic at best. i am two floors above the router so i'm not sure if the antennae orientation is relevant in my case. thanks guy, any other possible causes though?

 

[robisbell]

2 floors??

1. what happens when you're 1 floor above?
2. what happens when you're on the same floor as it?
3. what happens when you're in the same room?

 

[wanderer27]

Yeah, two floors above can be iffy.

Can you do a Channel Survey with your Mac?

Since you're higher up, you may well be picking up neighboring Wi-Fi's, and if they happen to be on the same Channel you are I can pretty much guarantee you're going to have issues.

I know you said you've changed channels, but being high up if you're in a densely populated area you may have a real challenge finding a vacant Channel. Even in my neighbor the Wi-Fi band has been getting pretty congested of late.

 

[robisbell]

redacted

 

[FearoftheNight]

well it is 2 floors but it has been working until recently...i think i may have found the answer possibly...it seems that this started happening when i use the macbook pro when it is closed....if i game with the laptop open it seems to revert to the way it was before. weird...

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Is the router hot? Sometimes an overheating router can cause problems.

 

[FearoftheNight]

well apparently i just have to keep the macbook open while using it..thanks guys!