asking for help

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

i could use some help here.

i have a wireless connection for my isp.. have no choice in this
and it works decently for the most part..but i've noticed
that in the fall and winter it acts strangely.. the signal strenght
drops from the mid %70 to as low as mid %40.. and the speed
(Mbps) flutters from it's regular 54 to a low of 1.0.. and all
spots in between . it does this with no pattern, seemingly at random.

i thought maybe it had to do with the seasonal change in temp.
the air growthing denser..but today is in the upper 80's low 90's.

really becoming a major problem.. do Any have suggestions
that might help ?

[Salem]

First questions would be...

Brand of wireless adapter and router ? How far apart are the two devices when this problem occurs ? Is the network secure ? If so, what is the encryption strength ?

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

Netgear, about 20 feet..  secure and 128 bit.. encryption, Master

[Salem]

Something I can suggest to do if you have this problem for starters it to powercycle your modem and router. Unplug the power supply to both your modem and router, wait five seconds, plug your modem back in. Let it achieve block sync [it's fully online] and then plug your router back in. When your connection is back up, see if the problem is still persisting.

When the problem occurs as well, try to gauge the connection speed by doing ping tests.

Open a command prompt by clicking start, selecting run. Type in cmd, click ok. In the prompt type ping www.yahoo.com then hit enter. You'll want to look to see if you lose any packets, which is bad. Also, if you want to look at the average trip time of your packets, anywhere from 20-100 milliseconds is optimal.

If the problem still persists, it could be weather related, or isp related. Check with your provider for this and other basic troubleshooting steps. It may also be a hardware issue, but that is most likely doubtful from the sounds of things.

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

thank You.. as soon as he looks up the meaning of those
things...he will try..

thank You for Your help Master

[Arlon]

Locksync is when your modem has established its connection and is fully online (all lights are lit or at least blinking). For the ping test, you might also try this one : ping 67.222.32.165 (which is Webmaze's IP number). Using the IP number saves your computer the time to look it up in the DNS database which can be helpful if either your computer or your connection is really slow.
Additionally, if you do not feel comfortable with the start>run thing, the command prompt can be found under start>programs>acccessories as well. Just poke through until you see the command prompt icon in the Accessories menu, click it and it opens the command box you need. Then type in the command and hit ENTER. The ping test normally takes only a few seconds, and the results are diplayed at the end of the test. (For instance, when I did the ping test just now, Windows sent 4 packets, received all 4 back so zero loss; travel time was 82 minimum, 83 max, average 82ms. to Webmaze on an 8Mb cable connection).
I would also check to see if there might be an interference source between the transmitter and receiver -- microwave ovens are especially bad when operating, since they emit radio waves of exactly the same frequency as those used by all wireless networking protocols except Wireless-A, which is far too finicky to use for any home connection. Anything which generates a strong magnetic field can be an interference source, including another computer operating under load, or a radio transmitter such as a CB or Ham radio.
Lastly, if there are several other users on the network, increased network traffic will reduce the amount of bandwidth available to each user, though it should not affect the signal strength as far as I know.
Hopefully the info will be of use to you.

....Arlon

[sinnocent]

-just purrrrrs at all the Knowledgeable Masters- then scrams and thinks about pinging dakota... grins evilly

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

thank You Master

winks at sin

[Raziel]

That's probably alot for you to take in dakota.  If you are still confused, first do what Salem said and unplug to dump then power cycle back up.  Check your connection rate then.  If within the first 2 hours you experience drop under normal work load with an average number of resources being used, the next easiest thing for you to do is call the ISP and ask them to run a diagnostic and ping your modem.  That will take about 5 minutes, once you get them on the phone.  If all is well with them, then its your own connection and you will have to follow the rest of what Salem posted.

Raz

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

thank You Master

[Arlon]

*Nods* Trust Raz to boil it all down for Us. I do tend to be long-winded *w*

...Arlon

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

well i thried the ping thing.. and it seems to work
hard to rell at the box ZOOMED right thru..

funny thing is that the drop out have stoped
for the momment..

don't know how You did it (it's magic)

but thank You Masters

[Salem]

The great thing about being forced by your internet service provider to use a wireless connection is that they are practically responsible for maintaining your connection. They should be replacing your hardware when it stops working, and troubleshooting your connection issues such as this when they happen.

The advice we give will help in the short run, but overall, if the problems persist and you're sure it's nothing on your end, call them and have them send someone out to have a look.

[dilshad{property of Tira}]

problem is , is that i ma forced not by my isp but my labdlady
whi insistedd that wireless be put in  but now for gets the
reason...lol