kc8oye Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 i'm getting really tired of these wireless problems with mom's laptop. It's a Dell Inspiron 1521 with an AMD Turion64, but it came with Windows Vista (32-bit) with her old linksys router, and security set for WPA-2 every few minutes the computer would stop, drop the wireless connection, and re-negotiate it.. which meant every 3 or 4 minutes you had to stop and wait another minute for it to figure out what was going on. someone else i know had similar problems with their linksys router, they replaced it with a belkin router and the problems went away.. so I did the same for mom.. it went from bad to worse, the computer wouldn't go past 'connected, limited access' (no internet) on WPA2 i fiddled around with the router adn laptop settings via Cat-5 connection and got things running smoothly with the older "WPA-1" settings... any ideas? I went to dell.com and downlaoded the updated drivers for it, but that hasn't seemed to help any either. everything works just fine on un-encrypted (public hot spots) networks. but I really dont' want to leave mom's router open to the public... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Are you letting Windows manage the wireless or the Dell utility? I have had better luck letting windows manage then the Dell utility. We have changed all our Dells's at work to use Windows to manage it... Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I was not suggesting going unsecured, just to let Windows control the wireless adapter instead of the Dell utility. What kind of adapter is it, Intel or Broadcom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 my network doesn't have any security and computer runs good fine. at school they have a security network and the wireless is so slow when a lot of students get on. but it does not drop the signal when everyone is logged on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I wasn't saying you were Ian, he said the only times it works is without the security. Oops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Orange Flame 72 Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Have you taken the time to actually "setup" the wireless network SSID and it's security settings, especially after switching routers? Create a new SSID and WEP key, then delete any old SSIDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 orange flame.. it never worked right with the 1st router. now that I'm using the older WPA1 it's working pretty well. it won't connect beyond 'limited access' with WPA2 I'm using the Windows Vista utility I believe. I double click on the two monitors icon in the system tray and hit 'network sharing center' so I'm pretty sure it's windows. this is what it says about the wireless adapter Quote: Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Hmm I don't have my Vista laptop at home so I can't tell you exactly what to look for.. But my wife's is here, and it is a Dell to, so the next time I fire it up I'll look at it. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 thanks ian. just a side note.. the laptop has norton internet security on it too.. i've been trying to convnice mom to let me get rid of it.. she bought it and had me install it the same day she bought the laptop.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Orange Flame 72 Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Norton does suck, but it shouldn't keep you from having a wireless connection. There is a "default gateway" for the router. Mine, for example is 192.168.1.254 - it brings me to the setup for the router itself. To find your default gateway, right click on the 2 monitors by the clock (lower right of desktop), click "status", then click the "support" tab to see the default gateway. Enter this number string into the web address area and then properly setup the router itself, then setup the laptop for wireless use using the Windows Wireless Network Setup. The laptop network cable should be plugged in initially to setup the router, unless there is another desktop PC that will always be hooked to the router...if so, use that PC to setup the router, then setup the wireless network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 I'm a former computer nerd I did all that good stuff.. but my expierence with computers ends right about where windows XP starts.. so I've been out of the loop for a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capri's 71 SS Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 I really have no idea what you all were saying...BUT...I have a linksys router & for the most part it works just fine (secured) but occassionally it gives me issues where I cannot connect or get limited connectivity on the laptop (IMB Thinkpad30 - Windows XP & norton) and I keep trying & trying ...I finally realized that when this happens, I need to do a complete shut down on my desktop - reboot & then the laptop connects just fine. I guess it just gets stuck or something. This post was probably of no useful help but I thought I would share my experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 The wireless linksys we have works great for our DELL laptop, we even print from the lap top to the printer hooked up to the main PC (as long as the main PC is on) The only problem we have is after a power failure, even short blinks, I have to power down the router, wait 10 seconds, power it up again and it works. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 27, 2008 Author Share Posted November 27, 2008 well, i can sit there and watch the laptop with Vista's built in diagnostics.. at random intervals it will show "disconnected" then "connected" then "connected - limited access" then after another 45 seconds, it will say "connected" and everything will work for about 3-5 more minutes, then it starts it all over again. which is really nice if you are trying to do anything online at all. I got so fed up with it, I just switched the wireless card off, and plugged into the router with a cable, and everything worked just flawlessly. (the dell also has a 10/100 ethernet adapter in it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Orange Flame 72 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 I still don't think the wireless portion of the router is setup. Have you created a brand new SSID? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 27, 2008 Author Share Posted November 27, 2008 The wireless portion was setup.. I even used the setup program that came on CD ROM with it. I did the pass-phrase setup and all that good stuff. like I Said, using the WAP-1 i don't have any issues.. if I try to use WAP-2 it doesn't work at all with the new router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Orange Flame 72 Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Tell me how not setting up a SSID will allow you to connect and then randomly drop you? Barking up the wrong tree here. I meant setting up the Laptop to connect to the proper SSID. Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't sound like he's ever had an actual connection if it only has "limited access" and drops the connection "every few minutes" depending on the encription.....But, it sounds like you're the expert. I'm just the owner of a Computer Repair Business and fix problems like this on a regular basis. Just trying to offer suggestions. BTW - is it working correctly yet? Have you taken Allan's advice and....oh, there was no real advice. My bad Have you tried updating or reinstalling the driver for your Dell's wireless card? Just a thought. 2 routers, similar problems. Common device = the wireless card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 27, 2008 Author Share Posted November 27, 2008 yeah i updated the drivers. i haven't tried to go back to WAP2 since then... it works fine on WAP1 so why mess with what works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 Thank you allan ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Here is a new wrinkle I thought I'd share. I brought the linksys router home, and set it up on my network.. pretty much identical to moms with the exception that I have cable.. she has DSL :> I have a slightly different Dell laptop from her.. Dell Studio 15.. I can't remember off hand which wireless card.. anyway it was doign the same thing.. every couple of minutes, the wireless connection would drop, and come back (a lot faster then hers tho) I connected to Yahoo Launch cast.. and listened to it for four hours last night.. the wireless never dropped the connection once.. it's almost like the router or the computer is forcing a re-connect if the connection sits idle for too long.. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 9, 2008 Author Share Posted December 9, 2008 I'm about 99% certain it's in the router allan. . IWas over my friends house tonight.. I used her wireless off and on for a couple of hours with no problems running WPA-2. she has a D-link router.. so it's gottabe somthing specific to my linksys router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 unplug your router, wait a few minutes and plug it back in, when mine gets goofy, this seems to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.