I would check if the network card has a setting for turning off power to it when it isn't required, and disable it. Sometimes this setting will cause the network card to shut down, but to get it back requires a restart.
Main Topics
Browse All Topics
Loading Advertisement...
Question
wireless network connection dropping
My wireless network connection seems to drop at random. Sometimes it runs connected for 12 hours straight. Other times runs 5 minutes and drops me. When it fails my laptop network card hangs and I have to reboot to re-establish connection. Why? The router is a 2wire model 3800 hgv-b gateway (at&t provided) with current software 5.29.105.76. My laptop network card is an intel pro/wireless model 3945abg with driver version 11.1.1.11 from April 2007. Thanks!
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get
Instant Access to this Solution
- Plus...
- 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
- Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
- Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
- Never be left without tech help again
Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.
- "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
- "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
- "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.
See what Experts Exchange can do for you.
Got a question?
We've got the answer.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
Need individual assistance?
Our experts are ready to help.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Want to learn from the best?
Read articles from industry experts.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Working on a long term project?
Store your work and research.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Trusted by the world's most respected brands.
Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Free Tech Articles
-
WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
-
SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
-
Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
-
Create a Win7 Gadget
This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
-
Outlook continually prompting for username and password
There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
-
Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...
Cloud Class Webinars
- Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
- Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
- IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
- Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
- How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...
Join the Community
Give a Little. Get a Lot.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Answers
I actually disabled the power saving feature right before I submitted this question. Not really convinced that is the issue though since it seemed so random and it didn't happen when I was using my older netgear b router. Also, not sure how to switch the card out of standby or suspend mode without reboot. Better just to have it disabled I guess. Why would it go into standby mode when I'm right in the middle of actively using it? Also, I'll try switching to g only (instead of b/g) this evening if I can figure out how to do that. Thanks for your replies and suggestions. I'll get back to you with the results of changes.
Some Suggestions
-Running Win XP service pack 2? if not update.
-Do you have web or wpa or any other encrpytion enable? if so disable it to test if it dissconnects when encryption is turned off.
-Do Other Computers Have this Problem? Do you have any other devices to test the router with?
-Check the Power Management of the Wireless Card in the device manager and see whether it is set to "on-highest (not AUTO)"
On a side note:
I just had simalr issue, my router kept dropping connections. It ended up in being an issue with the card. The card is fine, and the network is fine. I had to change wep, from web 128 to 64 and it happens only happens once in a blue moon now.
i would call up u-verse tech support and have them remotely boost the signal and check if the router is having any issues. i do believe by default the wireless is set to power setting of 4 and ch 1 or 6. also since it is u-verse there are probably about 10 people on your block with wireless on the same channel so i would defiantly give them a call up. they can also change the network name and wireless encryption and change it to wireless G only for you.
When trouble shooting anything, before going off the deep end, ask yourself simple questions.
Has this always been an issue since installation? If not, when did the issue start happening?
You may want to start by completely removing your Intel Wireless NIC and reinstalling an updated driver from Intel.
Do you have any other wireless devices, and are they dropping signal as well?
I look forward to hearing a response from you, we can go from there...
Lots of excellent questions and suggestions! Let's see: yes, win xp with sp2; yes, encryption enabled; yes, a 2nd computer in the home with a wireless connection occasionaly drops; I disabled power management on the wireless card (didn't see "on-highest" option ... but wasn't looking for it when I did it a couple days ago).
Ran without issue last night for a couple hours. Have done that before though so I don't know if it's actually fixed.
Good suggestion to contact u-verse tech support :-). It's on my to-do list. Had just been trying to fix it without them ... so I could learn something but if it keeps up I'll probably cave :-).
well usually the IP address to access the router is either 192.168.1.254
or try http://gateway.2wire.net
in there you can change the wireless information disable the encryption for testing ... change the network name(also known as SSID) for testing ... and boost wireless and power--- (do not use ch 1 or 11 they are limited in strength by the FCC so it only goes to a power level of 4 and not 10 like the other ch's )
Thanks crashelite. I know how to login to the router. Didn't know I could boost wireless and power there. Not sure I need to since my signal reception continues to show strong even when I'm disconnected :-). I did go ahead and upgrade the wireless driver on my laptop yesterday and I set my the wireless setting on the laptop to G only. Am actually using the wireless connection this morning and haven't had any dropped connection. I've logged all the changes I've made and will keep my fingers crossed now. If the problem pops up again I'll try disabling encryption temporarily as a test and boost power. If all else fails I'll go to AT&T tech support. Thanks to all who provided suggestions on this issue and I'll be very pleased to hear any other thoughts on the matter. Meanwhile I'll go ahead and award the points. Seems like the only fair thing to do is to distribute the points evenly. I really appreciate your help!
3 Ways to Join
Business Accounts
- Perfect for organizations
- Multiple users
- Save over 36%
- Create a Business Account
Answer for Membership
- Earn free access
- Showcase your knowledge
- No credit card required
- Sign Up to Answer
Loading Advertisement...
by: tryokanePosted on 2007-12-03 at 17:19:18ID: 20400272
wireless is very bound to have interference. So drop in signals is not something rare. You can try checking and editing the settings like the channel it is using. The power of wireless radio it is transmiting at. Some people told me that setting the wireless to solely g channel will give you a better and faster connection than setting it at b & g. You may be also able to check out the settings of the wireless radio you are receiving with.
Well u can try use power over lan if you're using computer in a similar location or you can try adding boosters to boost the signals. Good luck.