Member Avatar for Leo G

I have been trying to set up a laptop wireless router system in my home and have been having trouble with the connecting process. I have COX cable (cox.net) for my Internet provider and have a 700Kbs connection. I am using a Netopia (3387WG) router. My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 9400 running a 1390 WLAN mini-card, a Broadcom 440x 10/100 integrated controller and a 1394 net adapter. All are internal.

When I try to connect my laptop will search for the connection for up to an hour before it connects and obtains a Gateway IP address. This is with me sitting within a few feet of the router, and I can be father away but I still get the long wait. Sometimes it connects and shows the client IP and the Gateway IP but won't let me connect to the Internet, like it hasn't established a connection even though it says it has. The Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility that I use to control the software has a signal and a noise meter in it so you can establish the quality and strength of the signal. Here is a shot of it while it is searching for the connection:
[img]http://fototime.com/5E1289C9C8104F0/orig.jpg[/img]

And here is a shot of the signal after it has connected:

[img]http://fototime.com/2714F228412F6CC/orig.jpg[/img]

Once I am connected it seems to work fine. The connection seems stable and fast enough and it doesn't drop out. The problem is establishing the connection. I am using encrypted router protocol and if I use it as open I still have the same issues. Anybody got any suggestions for me? Thanks.

Leo

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Member Avatar for Leo G

Well I did a hard reset on the router and after that it connected very fast - every time. The hard reset I'm talking about is the small indented button on the back of the router. But now I have no SSID name, just the generic one from the machine default. I also lost my encryption, now I was running unsecured. I called my administrator and he reinstated my SSID name and my security protocols (TKIP - WPA Personal PSK). Now I am having connection problems again. It seems to have a hard time accepting the encryption code, but when it does (seconds to an hour) it operates normally with no drop outs. Does this help out with diagnosing my problems? Is there anything I can do to make the encryption easier to accept (lower level of protection?) Thank you.

Leo

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OK I got it. I had to lower my encryption level from TKIP down to WEP. Now it hooks up lickity split.

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