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torin3
06-01-07, 11:55 AM
I've got an HP laptop that had a Broadcom internal card. I couldn't get it to have a stable connection to the wirless on my Westel DSL Modem. It would say that it was connected when it wasn't, and that it wasn't connected when it was. Sometimes it would accurately report its state, but it would never stay connected for longer than about 15-20 minutes.

So I turned it off and plugged in my Netgear USB 802.11g adapter and installed the software/drivers for it. It worked great and stayed connected and never had any problems. Well except for the fact that it stuck out and could easily bump into thing when the laptop was being moved. And it didn't have good range (I couldn't get a signal in the garage).

So I get an Intel draft N express mini card and swap out the Broadcom G card. Then I find out I had to edit my BIOS to get it whitelisted (that was an adventure :bang head ). Well, it has the same problems that the Broadcom card had. Misreporting its connection status and frequently disconnecting.

Thanks to my crappy Westell modem, I only have 3 ways to connect to the card, no authentication, open authentication with WEP, and shared authentication with WEP. When I try shared, when it drops the connection, it drops the keys as well, and I have to reenter them manually. When it is Open authentication, it still drops the connection, but it doesn't lose the keys, so that is what I'm doing now, as I don't want an entirely open wiress connection available.

Are there any suggestions on how I can fix this? The laptop is a HP dv6113us, the card is the Intel draft N pci-express mini (I think they only have 1 model right now, and I don't remember its number here at work).

I don't think it is the DSL modem, but if it is, I was planning on getting a Draft N wireless router/gigabit switch in the near future anyway. I also wanted to switch to WPA instead of WEP.

Any other information needed I'll gladly try and supply.

Thanks.

torin3
06-02-07, 05:26 PM
Bump

Any suggestions of what to search for or where to look?

I'm really at a loss here... :shrug:

torin3
06-04-07, 05:14 AM
Monday morning bump...

Would screen shots help?

IAmMoen
06-06-07, 12:45 PM
so are you using a draft N adapter with a 802.11 G network?

torin3
06-06-07, 02:56 PM
so are you using a draft N adapter with a 802.11 G network?

Yes. In mixed mode.

IAmMoen
06-06-07, 08:20 PM
I am wondering if you got a draft N router whether or not you would have better luck, and I would be money that you would.

torin3
06-07-07, 05:17 AM
I am wondering if you got a draft N router whether or not you would have better luck, and I would be money that you would.

Yeah, I've been considering it, but I'm not sure it will fix it, given that I've had this identical problem with the 802.11g card that came with the laptop. However, given that I've had the same cruddy Westel wireless router/DSL modem for both as well, makes me wonder.

So here is what I've had:
Broadcom g + Westel = dropped connections
Netgear g USB + Westel = never dropped connections
Intel draft n + Westel = dropped connections

torin3
06-07-07, 12:20 PM
Well, I pulled the trigger on a D-Link DIR-655. Seems to be a well respected model.

I'll report back if this fixes my problem.

torin3
06-08-07, 04:19 PM
It fixed it. It has been running 3 times as long as it would normally stay connected without a glitch.

Looks like it was the Westell 327W that was causing the problems.