Thanks for the replies, and the suggestions, Keith, Peter, and Ben... All of your replies are included below.....
Peter, the house was built in 1979, std. 2x6 with sheetrock walls. There are a couple of fluorescent lights in the basement but they're not ususlly on since my office is on the main floor and thats where I use the laptop also. Interesting possibilities though. That's what makes solving problems over the internet and phone so hard, you really never know just EXACTLY what your dealing with. Thanks again! Keith, I experimented a little with moving the router around and did see the signal vary a bit, but didn't seem to help the error too much. I'll keep playing with it though. I haven't changed the channel yet but will try that also. The interference thing is probably a valid possibility. My daughter is on a wireless net at college and it only works about half the time. I've had 2 different PC's over there and its the same thing. She will get loads of signal but can't get to a web page. I try the PC's here at home and they work fine and we try them at the ISP's store and they work fine...take them to the dorms and it won't work. Oh, maybe it will kick in for a couple days, and then she looses it again. They haven't been able to come up with a solution. I suspect interference in the building but thats another story. Thanks again for the tips! Ben, I checked the router firmware, it's the latest version. I also got to wondering if it wasn't hitting the "time out". Its strange, the first time she turns on the PC and goes to log onto Hotmail.com, it will set there and work like its trying to connect, then it gives the error message, like it did time out. If you hit refresh, it might only take it 2 sec. to time out again and give the error message. She might repeat this 4 or 5 times and then it will finally try for about 10 sec again and then connect. The first time is the worst... after that, it seems to get better but we still get the error message more than I think we should, like about every other web page you try to get to. Although, then, it MIGHT only take 1 additional refresh to get the page. I'm not sure how to get the IP address for hotmail.com. Any ideas? Actually, that's what is set for her home page so as soon as she opens IE, its trying to go there. For the DNS servers, her machine has Win2000 pro, and the tcp/ip setting is automatic. The 2 hardwired PCs have Win98 and are set to Disabled. The other choice is Enabled and then you have to specify an address which I don't have. The IP addresses are set to automatic since every thing is on DHCP. I looked around in the router settings and there is WAY more stuff in there that I have no idea what it does. I just leave it alone. I'm just a novice computer person that can get most basic computer problems figured out but virtually no experience in networking. I took 1 semester of CISCO at the college a couple yrs ago, but we didn't get into router configuration. ( that was the 2nd semester which I missed) so I know some basics but that's about it. I guess I figured DHCP would handle it for me. I'll probably have to just hard wire her PC if it gets to be too much of a headache for me. I'll boot it up and try the cnn.com address you gave me and see what happens with that. I appreciate your suggestions, Ben ! IP for hotmail ??? Thanks again for your replies and suggestions, guys. I appreciate it ! Roger C. ========================================================= Do you have any older fluorescent lights anywhere in your building? How old is the house? I have seen one home which was built before 1900 and with compact fluorescent lights plus old tubes in the basement and attic that the wireless network just couldn't live with. Incandescent bulbs remedied some but there was questions about materials in the construction of the home too. They went back to hard wired, unless they move in the future :( Peter Kaulback ============================================================ First, I would make sure that the router firmware is current. Since you are having problems with the pc in the same room, it must be something else other than signal strength. It almost sounds like you are having dns problems, the connection times out before you get a response from the server. One way to test it, is to find the actual ip address of a web site and then when you have the problem, instead of trying to access a link like cnn.com, type the actual ip address into the browser and see if it makes a difference. Cnn.com is 64.236.16.116 by the way. Do you have dns servers specified in tcp/ip properties or have you set it to automatic? Is the configuration in tcp/ip properties the same for your hardwired PCs? Ben Moore ======================================================== I found that by experimenting with the location and the orientation of the antenna, you can get a better lasting connection. It seems that many outside interferences will cause a momentary interuption and thus the error message. I raised mine to about 4 ft off the floor, hanging on the wall and improved the lasting connections. There are times of the day when it seems to occur more than others so I suspect that either an interferance on the power lines (sometimes I can hear these on the AM radio) or a cordless phone is causing the interuption. Also, look at the location of the wall outlets with respect to the location of the router and the laptop. Its aways possible of RF interference coming in through the house wiring as well. I think that the usb connections have been shown by some to be a little less reliable than the PCMCIA card for the laptops. You might also try a different channel to improve the connections (just like a wireless phone has multiple channels to get around interferences). Keith Thompson ============================================================ Roger Carnell wrote: >Hello, > >I recently put together a wireless network in my home using a Netgear router >#MR814v2. (wireless B). This router allows for up to 4 wired connections and >also numerous wireless connections. My internet connection is a 128K cable >hookup. I actually have 2 PCs that are wired with CAT 5E and 2 that are >wireless. One of the wireless is a laptop and the other a desktop. The >problem I'm having is with the wireless PCs that I have attached. Alot of >the time when trying to access a web page I get the message "This page >cannot be displayed". If I hit refresh, it might go to the page then or I >might have to hit refresh 5 or 6 times. Sometimes I even just close the >window completely and start over. With the wired PCs, every once in a while >but not very often do I get that error message. My wife uses the wireless >desktop to log onto her email at Hotmail.com and has the problem EVERY time >(she says). Her Desktop has a wireless USB adapter made by Netgear, #MA101. >The router and her PC are in the same room and the signal strength is at >100%. I'm tempted to just buy a longer CAT 5 cable and make hers a wired PC >also. The laptop I use all over the house. It has a Linksys card which has >trouble linking up to the router but once I get it connected, it stays and >has good signal strength but I get the stupid error message more than I >think I should, at least more than the wired PCs. Is there any settings that >you know of that I can change in the router that might help this issue? Or >do you have any suggestions that I might try? One person told me to put the >router down lower in the room (it's on top of my desk, approx. 4 1/2 ft >high) I moved it to the desktop (2 1/2 ft. high) but didn't seem to help. > >Thanks alot, > >Roger C. ============= PCWorks Mailing List ================= Don't see your post? Check our posting guidelines & make sure you've followed proper posting procedures, http://pcworkers.com/rules.htm Contact list owner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribing and other changes: http://pcworkers.com =====================================================
