INCREDIBLE annoying - linksys WRT54G difficult to access after WPA : linksys WPA connection lost

May 17, 2008 07:23am pdt

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04.19.2008 at 08:28AM PDT, ID: 23336652

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7.4

INCREDIBLE annoying - linksys WRT54G difficult to access after WPA

Zones: Network Routers, Wireless Networking, Wireless Local Area Network

Tags: linksys WPA connection lost

Hi all

Please tell me this is a nobrainer FAQ.

I have a wireless router and a Wireless-G PCI card in my PC
recently I got fed up with the neighbours using my network so I added WPA security
Since then my main PC often drops the connection and then I cannot find my router anymore until I pull the plug on the router and wait a few minutes.
My laptop and telephone have no problem (laptop next to my main PC so not an issue with distance.) When the pc is connected it is connected with very good to excellent level

this is ONLY on my main PC (xp sp2) and not my laptop (xp sp2) nor on my phone N80

Please help. this is the reason I did not have security in the first place

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Question Stats

Zone: Computer Hardware

Question Asked By: mplungjan

Solution Provided By: giltjr

Participating Experts: 2

Solution Grade: B

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04.19.2008 at 08:39AM PDT, ID: 21392893

paulop1975:

Does the Wireless-G PCI card on your PC have any power saving setting?

04.19.2008 at 09:10AM PDT, ID: 21392997

mplungjan:

I have NO idea.
How would I found out?

Normally with the open network, I would not see if i lost connection (I still might have and then gotten it back)

04.19.2008 at 09:27AM PDT, ID: 21393056

paulop1975:

What is your wireless-pci card brand and model?
I could investigate possible aspects of that card, for you.

04.19.2008 at 10:04AM PDT, ID: 21393184

mplungjan:

linksys wireless-g pci

thanks

04.20.2008 at 12:17AM PDT, ID: 21395253

mplungjan:

So the issues are when trying to aquire network address. It just hangs there.
To get connected again, I can disable the adapter and connect again or pull the plug on the router

Here is the card in the PC

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1150490054358&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

04.26.2008 at 06:38PM PDT, ID: 21447552

Rank: Guru

giltjr:

Do you have the lastest firmware and drivers? What OS are you running? I have a WRT54GS and the same PCI Wireless card and have been running WPA since day one. I had similar problems under Windows 98, but since replacing the computer and going to Vista I have not had any problems. I assumed it was a driver issue.

04.27.2008 at 07:25AM PDT, ID: 21449204

mplungjan:

I am running XPsp2

I am sure I do not have the latest firmwere- I am VERY worried touching any firmware - last time I looked at the linksys site, it was almost impossible to see what firmware went with what router. do you mean firmware on the router only or also on the PCI card?

I would need to be VERY sure of the firmware I installed - I do not want to be without internet access...

I have a labtop right next to the main PC and it has no problems at all.
My phone sometimes has problems getting authorised on the router, but if it is authorised it has access.

The PC cannot even find the router when the problem occurs.

I have to mention I am sitting between about 5 other routers with more than 50% strength (my neighbours) but as I said, my laptop has 0 problems

04.27.2008 at 07:54AM PDT, ID: 21449278

Rank: Guru

giltjr:

I mean the firmware on the router. It should be fairly easy to see which firmware. On the bottom of your router it should tell you the hardware version. You go to the support page for the WRT54G, select downloads, and then select your hardware version.

It could be that your router and one of the other 5 are using the same channel and their's is causing enough interference to cause your computer to have problems.

Since your laptop is right next to the WRT, it may not have as many problems as the interference would be less.

As to preventing your neighbors from using your WRT, have you disabled broadcasting your SSID? Have you setup mac filtering so that only specific MAC addresses can connect to your WRT using wireless?

Have you tried changing your channel?

You may want to install something like kismet (http://www.kismetwireless.net/) and see if it can see your WRT. If you are not broadcasting your SSID, you may not be able to tell that it is your WRT by anything other than your signal strength. This does assume that your signal strength is stronger than your neighbors to the computer that is having the problems.

Accepted Solution

04.27.2008 at 08:22AM PDT, ID: 21449351

mplungjan:

no, the laptop is right next to the pc tgat has the issues!!!

I am broadcasting ssid but I am often not visible when I have the issues...
So when I have the issues and I do a view all wireless networks it is not there until I have disabled the interface and try to connect again

I will try the firmware update as the Last resort since the laptop never has issues

04.27.2008 at 08:58AM PDT, ID: 21449474

Rank: Guru

giltjr:

Agree about doing the firmware as a last resort. If everything is working fine with the laptop, then it should not be a router issue. I mentioned upgrading the router firmware because in the original post you stated that you had to recycle the router to get connectivity back. So I made the leap that something could be up with the WRT.

O.K., so the laptop and computer are next to each other, sorry about that I missed that fact from the original post.

I would still install Kismet. I have had better luck with it finding wireless devices than the normal software that comes with most wireless adapters and with Windows.

It almost sounds as if something is turning off the radio on your wireless NIC. In fact this sounds like the same exact problem I had with my PCI adapter before I moved it into a new PC running Vista.

I would double check the driver for the PCI adapter. In fact you may want to try and go back one level if the current level is really new.

04.27.2008 at 11:58AM PDT, ID: 21450009

mplungjan:

How does one change the channel?

I will look into that and also into the firmware (original) on the PCI card. I was not aware that there would be one (too simple a card)

Thanks.

04.28.2008 at 04:37AM PDT, ID: 21453010

Rank: Guru

giltjr:

I can't get to my WRT54GS right now, but when you go into the admin page on the router, there should be a option box to change the channel on the wireless setup page. IIRC it should be on the same page where you set the WPA key.

With the problem I was having on my older computer there were a couple of time where I actually had to physically remove the wireless NIC and re-install it to get it working again. I did not need to start the computer up between removing and re-installing. All I had to do was remove the card, wait a few seconds and re-install the card. But again, that was under Windows 98 with a real old driver.

05.04.2008 at 12:48AM PDT, ID: 21494875

mplungjan:

I tried to change the channel. Dangerous!
I changed the channel from my laptop and subsequently the router was no longer visible from the laptop; Luckily (and strangely enough) it WAS visible from the pc
So it sounds like a good idea, just I need to know why it was not visible from the laptop. restrictions in the laptop's radio receiver???

Thanks

05.04.2008 at 04:22AM PDT, ID: 21495369

Rank: Guru

giltjr:

You would have to check what channels your WRT54G has and which channels your laptop have. Here in the US for 802.11g we have 11 standard channels.

05.04.2008 at 05:18AM PDT, ID: 21495483

mplungjan:

Ah, The wrt has 13

05.17.2008 at 12:32AM PDT, ID: 21588286

mplungjan:

I gave up.

Running unsecured until I have transferred all files

20080236-EE-VQP-29 / EE_QW_EXPERT_20070906