Wireless connection continual connect then drop

Thanks for the comments.

As you'll see from my original question, I've got another pc and a laptop with connect wirelessly to the same router with no problems, and the pc has the same USB adaptor. I've also tried both adaptors on both pc's and they work fine on the other pc but neither work on this one.

They are all located in the same room with the 2 pc's about 6' apart, so I can't see how it would be an interference problem.

Both Windows (Wireless network and also Network connections) and the software that came with the adaptors is showing the connection but then dropping, reconnecting, dropping, reconnecting.  The security being used is WPA.

There's no other wireless networks being picked up, but I'll try another channel. When changing the channel do I just do that on the router?

Hi,

>> As you'll see from my original question, I've got another pc and a laptop with connect wirelessly to the same router with no problems,

yes, sorry about that - I don't know how I missed that! ;-)

>> There's no other wireless networks being picked up

That doesn't yet rule out intereference - other transmission devices can cause interference as well, such as wireless keyboard/mouse, cordless telephones, home automation (e.g. garage door openers) video/multimedia 'extenders' and so on.  Even bluetooth devices can cause intereference if the proximity to WiFi devices is close enough.

>> When changing the channel do I just do that on the router?

yes.  the client devices will automatically find the AP on the new channel.

Cheers.

An interesting thing to note is that if you plug in two devices of the same model, Windows will usually recognize them as the same device.  It will also use the same drivers.  You may want to try and "upgrade" the drivers to reinstall the driver for your device on the computer that's not working.

Also, since Windows likely recognizes these as the same device, it won't setup separate credentials for the wireless network.  You'll still want to make sure that these are configured correctly on the computer where neither of the adapters are working.  Even if the WPA key is wrong, the software will likely show that it is associated, since that is in fact happening, it's just that after the association, the client is unable to authenticate.

When using Windows XP, I generally avoid using the software that came with the wireless device.  I don't even install it, I'll just let Windows pick up the driver.  Then I'll use Wireless Zero Config.  The only exception is when I'm using a network configured for LEAP, which Windows doesn't support natively.  With WPA-PSK or WPA-PEAP I tend to use Wireless Zero Config.  There is also a problem sometimes with Wireless Zero Config and networks that don't broadcast the SSID.  This can be tested by temporarily allowing the SSID to be broadcast.  It actually isn't much of a security measure to disable the SSID.  The only benefit is that it doesn't show up in Wireless Zero Config.  All 3rd party utilities that are designed to search for networks will be able to see the SSID even if it's not broadcast.

Just for info, it turns out my ISP had supplied the router with settings that are known to be temperamental, but with no note of that in the userguide!!

Changed the settings and it's working fine now.