Wireless Connection Problem

[walkitiki]

Hey everyone,

I have a problem with my wireless connection on my laptop and I can't seem to figure anything out. I just got a Hewlitt-Packard zv5000 notebook computer for Christmas and it has an internal 802.11g wireless adapter built-in. I got it to have a connection to my home wireless network, but after awhile it will just say that it has been disconnected and I lose all internet. Also, it never says that the network is connected, the little tray icon says that there is no network connection however I do have access to the internet. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem or what could be causing it?

I have tried messing around with some of the card settings and nothing seems to work.

[Como]

its windows XP. welcome to my nightmare, i think you're gonna like it.

I formatted my laptop the day i got it, and it has windows 2000. My wireless connection hasnt been interupted in over a week, accept the time i nabbed this thing, threw it in the car, and sped down to my girlfriends house. And then it was on her network, working fine, before i opened it back up.

My server, however, sitting not 2 feet from me right now, (im getting a 95% signal) has XP, and i turn it on, and guess what? no connection available.

Try disable/enable the card, that usually gets mine goin on my server. Stupid xp.

[walkitiki]

Aw man. So I guess I'll just have to suffer. Thanks for the reply, hope Microsoft knows that their product still has issues.

[Como]

does it work? disable/enable?

Ive only been dealing with it for a day...theres NO way i plan on doing this long term on my server that wont have a monitor, keybaord or mouse. i WILL find a fix....or ill move to linux...or 2000...

[Slackfumasta]

I've got a wireless network at home with 2 laptops running Windows XP Home. One is my Dell in my sig, runs perfectly. The other is my roommate's Toshiba that is a couple of years old, running a Linksys 802.11b wireless adapter and he doesn't have this problem either.

We were running off a Linksys BEFW11S4, and are now running off a WRT54G.

I know this isn't much help, but I'm pretty sure it's not an XP problem. We have a dozen Dell and IBM laptops here at work that are running on wireless without this problem, all of them running XP Pro.

I would update your drivers and also make sure the firmware on your router is up to date. Keep in mind that things can interfere with wireless like 2.4 GHz cordless phones (if you are on 802.11b/g), some cell phones (had a nextel that would make my wireless all screwy when somebody DC'd me), cosmic rays, fat people. . .

[walkitiki]

Yeah, this seems to only be a problem with my laptop. My desktop rig doesn't have this problem at all. I'm gonna grab a linksys wireless adapter and see if the problem is with the integrated network adapter. Again, now it will just loose the connection what seems like every five minutes.

[Labotomy Jack]

I've read a lot of threads with people having problems in XP with wireless due to the Windows Wireless Zero Config tool. I believe the gist is that you need the service when you boot up to connect to a network but once connected the service will frequently cause you to lose the connection. So the fix in this case would be to disable the service after you've established a connection ot your network.

Did a quick search and found this thread (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=345795&highlight=config) with more info. There are probably other threads on the same topic here too.


EDIT: there was also a front page article on the topic... (http://www.overclockers.com/tips1164/)

[walkitiki]

Thanks for the information. I a bit ashamed that I didn't find this information with the search tool :rolleyes: . The trick with the shortcuts hasn't worked so far, but that front page has a ton of ideas so I'll keep digging and trying new stuff. Thanks again Jack.

[RP Racing]

I turned teh Windows Wireless Zero Config off and just used Dlinks software. Never had problems with being disconnected.

[walkitiki]

I think I have overlooked something, the operating system on this laptop is XP Home, where as all the other computers on the network have been upgraded to XP Professional, so another thing I can try is to put this one on XP Pro and see what happens.

[RP Racing]

Pro or home shouldnt matter.

[walkitiki]

In a lot of the situations described in the article, the signal would come and go. In my situation the connection will just be lost and won't come back again, does this mean that WCZ definitely is (or maybe isn't?) affecting me?

[daniel_dynasty]

hmm do you have sp2 installed on ur xp home? if so i wud uninstlal it and see what happens if its the same then reinstall it if you wud like. but i kno there are many many compatability issues with SP2..

[walkitiki]

Well, I put in a D-Link Wireless Card and everything worked fine, nice and solid. It didn't have any drops which sometimes happen on other computers, but it still connects right back, but this didn't even happen on mine. I guess I'l have to look into buying my own wireless card. It's disappointing that the integrated card didn't work, I think I might send an email to HP asking to see if its a driver issue that could be resolved..oh well..

[walkitiki]

Interesting enough, when I headed over to my girlfriend's house and hooked onto her network, I haven't had any problems with the connection, its been solid for awhile. So perhaps when I go home I will update the firmware on the router and then see if that fixes the problem. They have a linksys setup just like mine, so I don't know what else could be causing the problem other than that. We'll see....

[walkitiki]

I'm at home again, the problem seems to have dissipated with a firmware update, everything seems as though it'll hold up. Thanks for all the help guys! Another wireless network mishap solved.