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Wifi help required, Laptop dropping reception
Mark G - 6/9/09 at 10:19 AM

Hi all.

I've got an Acer Travelmate 2420 laptop and I'm having problems with the wifi reception. My router is an Orange Livebox, This seems to be ok as swmbo's laptop is fine and so is the wii.

My laptop drops signal about every 5-10 mins and then won't reconnect untill I go into wireless networks connections and connect. Sometime I even have to put the WEP key back in to the settings.

I've read that the wifi card power save settings can have this effect so I've switched off the power save mode but it made no difference.

Whilst I think about it, even when connected to the net the wireless icons in the system tray both say disconnected.

Any help would be appreciated as its doing my head in...

Many thanks
Mark.


mangogrooveworkshop - 6/9/09 at 10:25 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable



Mark G - 6/9/09 at 10:48 AM

Ok, I get the hint but I have a wired pc upstairs and wanted the laptop on wifi so I don't have to use the spare room everytime I go online.


Blackcab - 6/9/09 at 10:50 AM

I had a similar problem with my Acer - I bought Belkin wireless dongle for about £20 and use that instead of the built in wireless card - works fine now and signal stength is better - plug and play as well which is always a bonus!


RichardK - 6/9/09 at 11:24 AM

When you are connected is the signal strength "Good" or "Excellent"? Anything get a usb wifi stick and use that that it maybe better, we've got a couple of the Acer 2400 series at work and the wifi isn't the most powerful I've seen.

Cheers

Rich


turbodisplay - 6/9/09 at 11:38 AM

I use something called homeplug.
It sends data via the mains, faster than wifi i believe.
As i at least always have the laptop pluged in, it is no hardship.
Darren


mangogrooveworkshop - 6/9/09 at 12:51 PM

quote:
Originally posted by turbodisplay
I use something called homeplug.
It sends data via the mains, faster than wifi i believe.
As i at least always have the laptop pluged in, it is no hardship.
Darren


http://www.more-shop.co.uk/200-mbs-rj45-homeplug-starter-kit-p-270.html





As the laptops always plugged in to the mains these are a good way to get round the house.
Oh yes you still need some cats to connect it to the world wide wait.

The cheaper ones are first gen so watch for bargains they are slower 50 quid and up should see you in the fast lane

The 200mbps homeplugs co-exists with existing 14Mbps HomePlug 1.0 and 85Mbps Turbo HomePlug 1.0 but they will not talk to each other.



[Edited on 6-9-09 by mangogrooveworkshop]


britishtrident - 6/9/09 at 01:23 PM

If you want to stay wireless get a cheap USB WIFI dongle from Ebuyer and use it with a short USB extension cable so you can position it for the best signal.

On most laptops the built in WIFI dongle doesn't work well becuse it is buried in the laptop case which badly masks the signal.

Also
If your router has an aerial which unscrews you can also get and external hi-gain aerial that attaches by cable -- but it requires the aerial on the router to have a standard screw on fitting.



[Edited on 6/9/09 by britishtrident]


maxey74 - 6/9/09 at 02:39 PM

If you have some third party wireless connection manager installed I'd disable it and/or configure so that Windows controls the connection. You will then need to connect to the network using 'network connections' or similar in control panel. Most of the time this will work far more reliably than letting some flaky app do it (even if it came pre-installed with your laptop).

If this is your setup already then I'd have to agree with the other guys and say get a cheapo dongle or pc card type adapter.


Mark G - 6/9/09 at 03:42 PM

Should have said, the reception is full bars. I think the problem is software. I`m using the windows network connections program, I`m wondering if there may be something I could download to fix the problem.


britishtrident - 6/9/09 at 04:04 PM

No forget 3rd party software the built in way Windows handles WiFi networking is much better than any of the 3rd party stuff.


Ninehigh - 6/9/09 at 07:55 PM

I can't believe no-one's suggested looking for a more up to date driver


Mark G - 6/9/09 at 10:10 PM

thought of this, how do I get an up to date driver?

My network adaptor is the built in Atheros AR5005G.


Ninehigh - 7/9/09 at 06:15 PM

I think it might be this linky