[Daskill]

We have two computers here, a desktop and a laptop connected to a wireless network via a Netgear router which is connected to the internet. Most of the time, accessing the internet is easy enough, however sometimes, the internet will cut out for a few minutes on my laptop.

When this happens I've checked to see if the internet is accessible on the desktop and it is.

Other members of my family have complained about similar cut-outs while using the desktop computer.

Any ideas what the problem may be?

[JohnWill]

Well, since you have cutouts everywhere, are any of these computers wired? How many computers are connected to this network?

What's the exact make/model of the modem and the router you use?

[Daskill]

The two computers are connected to the network wirelessly. These are the only things on the network.

The router is a Netgear RangeMax DG834N.

[JohnWill]

You can use Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector to do a scan and see if some neighbor has a wireless network that is interfering with yours.



Some things you can try here, listed in the order you should try them.

1. For wireless connections, remove all the stored wireless profiles and search for networks. You'll have to enter the encryption key again, which is sometimes the issue for connection problems.
2. For wireless connections, change the channel on the router, I like channels 1, 6, and 11 in the US.
3. For wireless connections, try moving either the wireless router/AP or the wireless computer. Even a couple of feet will sometimes make a big difference.
4. Update the network drivers (wired and wireless) on your computer to the latest available.
5. Update the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site.
6. Reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure.

Many times these measures will resolve a lot of intermittent issues.

[Daskill]

I installed the Xirrus program, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for.

[TerryNet]

Other networks using the same or close channel.

[Daskill]

For our network it says it's using channel 6,2

There are two other networks nearby using channel 6.

[JohnWill]

Try moving your network to channel 1 or 11.

[Daskill]

How do I do that?

[JohnWill]

Take a look in the User's Manual, you can download it here: http://kb.netgear.com/app/

[Daskill]

I've changed it and now it says 1,5 under "channel". But now there's another network out there with 1,5 for "channel" also. Might that interfere with my network too?

[TerryNet]

Yes, it may. Depends a lot on its signal strength.

[Daskill]

So should I change my router to another channel? If so, which? Does it matter?

[JohnWill]

Try a few combinations and see which ones work best. Keep it as far away from other networks as possible, and if there are too many, pick the weakest one to step on.

[Daskill]

Haha, okay thanks!