[jallan]

Randomly a few weeks ago my laptop started dropping off of our apartment wireless connection. We've been running an 8011b router for a year or so, with open network authentication and WEP encryption. My roommate, also connecting wirelessly, has never had a problem connecting. My work laptop has no problem. My home laptop would start dropping off. I've noticed typically that when I am dropped off, if I look at the properties for the particular connection, the box for "the key is provided for me automatically" has become checked, and the WEP key I previously entered wiped out. Once I uncheck the box and re-enter the key, I'm able to reconnect.

As a side issue, sometimes the wireless icon in the system tray will have an x across it, indicating no connection, but I'll have no problem connecting to various websites. Likewise, I'll view the wireless networks, and it'll say that I'm disconnected, but the language for the particular network will be read as though I'm connected, and the button at the bottom will let me disconnect, not connect.

I have already tried reinstalling the drivers for my wireless card. Oh, and we've tried two different routers, both of which worked fine with my roommate's computer (a Linksys, and currently running a D-Link WBR-2310).

Any idea what's going on?

Thanks.

And the stats are:
Located in West Hollywood, CA, USA
connecting with TW roadrunner cable
router: D-Link WBR-2310
Wireless, WEP encryption
computer: Compaq Presario V6000 laptop running XP Pro SP2
Browser: typically Firefox, although since I'm dropping the connection it doesn't really matter what I run.
No error messages. Connecting directly to the wireless router with a cable works fine.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\jallan>ping 216.109.112.135

Pinging 216.109.112.135 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=245ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=252ms TTL=48
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=278ms TTL=49
Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=239ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 216.109.112.135:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 239ms, Maximum = 278ms, Average = 253ms

C:\Documents and Settings\jallan>ping yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [66.94.234.13] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=118ms TTL=52
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=144ms TTL=52
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=126ms TTL=52
Reply from 66.94.234.13: bytes=32 time=129ms TTL=52

Ping statistics for 66.94.234.13:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 118ms, Maximum = 144ms, Average = 129ms

C:\Documents and Settings\jallan>NBTSTAT -n

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.115] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
TFS <00> UNIQUE Registered
TFS <20> UNIQUE Registered
WORKGROUP <00> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <1E> GROUP Registered
WORKGROUP <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

Local Area Connection 2:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Documents and Settings\jallan>IPCONFIG /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : tfs
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : socal.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : socal.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Networ
k Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1B-77-CE-5C-DE
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.115
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, May 21, 2008 10:30:05 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, May 22, 2008 1:30:05 AM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1B-24-94-87-1C

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth LAN Access Server Driver
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-6B-EE-AF-00

[Squashman]

Have you tried just using Intel's Wireless config utility instead of WZC.
http://support.intel.com/support/wir...an/pro3945abg/
I have always had better luck with the Intel Pro Set software.

You could give Wizmo a try with the wanlock command to see if that helps.
http://www.grc.com/wizmo/wizmo.htm

[virox]

Just out of interest, have you tried using WPA? It's a lot more secure, if anything else. It would take me about 2 minutes to bypass your WEP encryption, it's been written off as a standard wireless security protocol these days.

[jallan]

Yeah, I tried setting it up as WPA for a couple of weeks, but continued to have the problem. My roommate thought it might have something to do with the interaction of the cable modem, initialized off of his computer, so maybe he should set up the router off of his computer as well. When he reset up the network he used WEP instead of WPA. I didn't think it would matter whose computer was used to set up the network.

[virox]

The problem to me doesn't appear to be a network issue, the symtoms seem to point towards a local problem. What sort of utilities do you use to clean your computer with (if any; e.g. CCleaner; Adaware; Spybot S&D etc)?

It's possible that you run these utilities and it clears the registry where the WEP key is saved. If you don't use any of the 3 utilities above, it might be worth downloading and installing them, then doing a full scan through with each one and cleaning your computer anyway, just to check for any problems which could be affecting your system. They're all free and decent products. Windows Live OneCare is also useful (90 day trial - but you can't have OneCare and Adaware installed at the same time). Also use the Windows utility Disk Clean Up - you can access this by going to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools.

Let me know the results of what you find.

[TerryNet]

I would not run a registry "cleaner" (e.g., CCleaner) until I had exhausted all other possibilities and was desperate enough that I did not care if it introduced additional problems.

Suggest that you take Squashman's advice, make sure you don't have multiple wireless utilities running, and then dig into all virox's suggestions except for CCleaner.

[virox]

CCleaner has seperate options to clean registry or just do an advanced clean of the system similar to the Windows Disk Cleanup. I agree not to use the registry cleaner side of CCleaner at the moment, but it is definitely worth doing an advanced clean of temp files and so forth.

I should have been more clear, my apologies.

[jallan]

Ok, downloaded the updated drivers from the Intel website (thanks for the link squashman!), rebooted. I've adaware and running that. Still getting the problem where it says that I'm disconnected, but able to surf the web, at least for a while, before I get totally booted.

I normally run Norton 360. Except of course when that has an error and I have to run its support to re-enable the auto protect. This, however, has been going on for much longer than the wireless problems. And based on the AdAware scan results, this isn't doing much to protect my computer from spyware. So much for trusting Symantec... Interestingly, although I have no problems surfing the web via Firfox, when I try to run an update for it AdAware says that there is no connection to the download server, and to check my internet connection.

Oh, and just for the heck of it, I also tried using MS's TCP/IP release/reload tool. Doesn't seem to have changed anything.

[JohnWill]

I'd totally uninstall Norton, it's one of the most troublesome applications I've ever encountered!

[TerryNet]

The driver for the Intel adapter should be the latest one from your laptop manufacturer's web site. That's what Intel meant with their opening paragraph at that link: "Intel is a supplier of laptop components and does not manufacture or sell complete laptop systems. The information provided here is for generic versions of the products. Each laptop computer original equipment manufacturer (OEM) may have altered the features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes. Please refer to your manufacturer for information specific to your laptop computer."

I'm sorry I didn't point this out before; I was going by "tried just using Intel's Wireless config utility" and didn't think it through--that you might grab a driver there also.

[Squashman]

Originally Posted by TerryNet

I'm sorry I didn't point this out before; I was going by "tried just using Intel's Wireless config utility" and didn't think it through--that you might grab a driver there also.

That is all I was referring to. WZC in windows can be as bad as trying to setup ICS. I would suggest disabling WZC and just using Intels Wireless Utility or the one supplied by your computer manufacturer. I don't believe either of us said anything about a driver update.

[jallan]

I don't normally have a problem configing WZC to connect to various wireless networks. Interestingly my computer didn't come with a mfg installed wireless network config utility, at least as far as I can tell. The HP wireless assistant only seems capable of helping you set up a network - it'll config the router - not helping you connect to another's network. And besides, none of this explains why I started having problems out of the blue after over a year of problem free operation.

I recently got a Blackberry, and I use the bluetooth functionality with among other things my car. I thought maybe this could be interfearing (according to the Intel link provided by Squashman), so I disabled the bluetooth on my laptop. Run for a while, shut down for a while, problem still not fixed.

I haven't tried the Wizmo wanlock program (thanks again Squashman), but I already tried manually disabling WZC through the services window. I still got dropped off when it lost the access key for the wireless (same problem I've been having), and then I had to re-enable WZC so that it could see the network again one I reentered the key.

I'm going to try Intel's wireless utility. If that doesn't work, I'll trash norton 360 and go from there. I may also try reinstalling SP2, as someone has suggested that might solve it.

[TerryNet]

I may also try reinstalling SP2

Or just go straight to SP3; it is supposed to include all SP2.

[jallan]

Originally Posted by TerryNet

Or just go straight to SP3; it is supposed to include all SP2.

I'll give that a try. I do note that so far, with about 4 hours of testing, using Intel's wireless controller seems to be working without the problems I was experiencing with the native Windows software.

[jallan]

Thanks to everyone who gave some help on this issue. Still don't know what the actual problem is, but at least I now have my wireless working again, and that's something!

Thank you.