Wireless connection "times out" after a period of time

[maxwolfie]

I've always had Low (2/3 bars, maximum) reception. There was an option in DD-WRT to boost the signal, which seemed to rectify the issue. After swapping to Gargoyle, it's gone back to it's old ways, i.e. connecting at 1mbp/s, dropping out (just my computer from the WLAN) etc.

Is there a way of fixing this or will I have to put DD-WRT on? The QoS functionality behind Garg is great, but I'm afraid I'll have to change back if I can't get my connection stable on my desktop.

The other users with laptops have no issues, which confirms that it's just a reception issue.

[Eric]

Which version of Gargoyle are you running, and what model of router are you running it on?

[maxwolfie]

v1.0 Final (Is this the latest version? I was a bit confused about the 1.0.4, 1.0.5 versions etc, but I think these are betas, and therefore prior to the Final version?)

I'm not sure what "bleeding edge" is either, what it does or where I can get it.

WRT54GL



EDIT: Yeah, it's dropping out (it doesn't disconnect, but just goes "dead") at least every few hours, and definately overnight while I'm sleeping. If I "Repair" the connection, it fixes itself (temporarily)

[DoesItMatter]

If the other users have had no problems, have you tried
replacing the wireless adapter on your computer?

Is your computer a notebook with internal wireless adapter?

You should try another PCMCIA wireless adapter, or even
one of the USB Wireless-G adapters.

I have a cheapo Airlink 101 USB XR Wireless adapter that
got MUCH better signal than a standard PCI adapter card
with an external antenna.

No idea why, but it just worked MUCH better and had great
signal/reception, so have been using that for testing.

Wireless adapters and routers can wear out, yours may be
dying and struggling - look into a different adapter if possible.

[maxwolfie]

If the other users have had no problems, have you tried
replacing the wireless adapter on your computer?

Is your computer a notebook with internal wireless adapter?

You should try another PCMCIA wireless adapter, or even
one of the USB Wireless-G adapters.

I have a cheapo Airlink 101 USB XR Wireless adapter that
got MUCH better signal than a standard PCI adapter card
with an external antenna.

No idea why, but it just worked MUCH better and had great
signal/reception, so have been using that for testing.

Wireless adapters and routers can wear out, yours may be
dying and struggling - look into a different adapter if possible.

Thanks Eric, but I really think it's the software, not hte hardware, as it was working fine with DD-WRT after the signal strength bump. I might have to drop back to DD-WRT

[maxwolfie]

Update: I've changed the SSID from 4 to 13, perhaps it might make a difference. There weren't any other WLANs on 4 , so I don't see why it WOULD make a difference.. but I'll persist

Nope - It dropped out 4 mins later, and then once again. Considering this is based on OpenWrt, is there any way of boosting the signal? (like DD-WRT)

I can't physically move the router, and I've fiddled endlessly with the antennas.

[Eric]

Huh... that's really strange. I've heard of problems with atheros wireless cards, but this is the first I've heard of problems with the broadcom client mode.

The signal is already boosted to maximum (though there is a place on the connection/basic page where you can select a txpower lower than this if you want). I don't think this is the problem.

I'm not sure what to suggest... the broadcom configuration files are OpenWrt default -- I haven't modified them at all. The driver itself is proprietary (the reason brcm has to have a 2.4 kernel) so I couldn't modify this if I wanted to, but I think DD-WRT uses the same binary. So.. all I can say is that this is really weird. I'll see if I can replicate your problem sometime in the next week.

[maxwolfie]

No worries Eric - I'll go and buy a wireless USB key to see if I get better results

[maxwolfie]

Ok - I've just bought a Netgear USB RangeMax and now I'm getting 2/3 bars. Definately working better already, I will let you know if it drops out again

[DoesItMatter]

Yea, if the USB works much better, the built in wireless might be
dying on your laptop computer.

Sometimes un-installing and re-installing the latest driver can
fix some issues, but that's not always the case.

Also, its recommended to replace antennas with a new one that
has a higher dBi rating, instead of increasing the power.

Increasing the power has a risk of increasing the 'noise' on the
wireless signal, which could allow a much better looking signal,
as far as # of bars, but a side-effect would be much more noise
and much more errors in packets transmitted, which means
you have more wasted bandwidth as data keeps having to be
re-sent back and forth between router and network card.