Frequent Connection loss

Hello,
I'm actually not positive this is a windows problem exclusively as this
is a new(to me, but used) wireless router I'm using.
So basically, over the summer my laptop started acting up. By this I
mean that I would try to connect to a wireless network(not my current
network), and sometimes it would go through, while most of the time is
would hang at acquiring network address. I figured this was just a
problem with that networks DHCP server.
Then I moved to a new place and installed my own wireless network. At
first I had everything connect with an Ethernet cable, just to get it
all set up, and even with that I would get the "acquiring network
address" problem. So I did some searching and found some services that
needed to be turned on, and the problem went away for a bit.
I set-up the wireless network (details below) and everything worked
fine for a bit. At this point I was not broadcasting the SSID. After an
hour or so of use, I lost my connect. I'm literally 5 feet from the
wireless router at the time, so I know signal strength isn't the
problem. I went back to a Ethernet connection and took a look at all
the settings. With my laptop, I could no longer see my network as
available in the windows wireless configuration thing. So I thought
maybe its the lack of SSID broadcasting.
So I turned it on. Everything worked for a while.
Then I lost a connection again.
This has been the pattern for the past couple of weeks. I'll get a
connection, lose the connection, try a new setting(automatic ip
address, user set ip address, permit only certain mac-address, clear
arp cache, enable UPnP, disable it, etc...) and every time the
connection will last for a little bit, and without any noticeable
cause, lose connection.
Some information about my set-up.
I'm running P Pro sp2 with all the latest updates
The router is a WRT54gx v.2 with latest firmware
The connection encryption is using WPA-PSK TKIP.

At this point I'm just looking for someone to help me with ideas. Even
if you think I've tried it, I'll try it again, because I'm at a lose
here.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. And if any additional
information is needed, just let me know.
Thank you in advance.
-Casey

clang1234@gmail.com

> I set-up the wireless network (details below) and everything worked
> fine for a bit. At this point I was not broadcasting the SSID. After an
> hour or so of use, I lost my connect. I'm literally 5 feet from the
> wireless router at the time, so I know signal strength isn't the
> problem. I went back to a Ethernet connection and took a look at all
> the settings. With my laptop, I could no longer see my network as
> available in the windows wireless configuration thing. So I thought
> maybe its the lack of SSID broadcasting.
> So I turned it on. Everything worked for a while.
> Then I lost a connection again.
> This has been the pattern for the past couple of weeks. ...
> Some information about my set-up.
> I'm running P Pro sp2 with all the latest updates
> The router is a WRT54gx v.2 with latest firmware
> The connection encryption is using WPA-PSK TKIP.

I have a similar problem with the WRT54G. I contacted Linksys and they
suggested Answer ID 154 from their Knowledge Base (www.linksys.com/kb).

I tried it and (good news) it worked.

But (bad news) it involved turning off encryption.

I contacted Linksys again about getting encryption to work. I had been
using WPA and they suggested trying WEP. I'm trying that now, and so far so
good.

I realize WEP is weaker than WPA, so I'm not as happy as I might be, but at
least we're on-line. MAC address filtering is enabled for a bit more
security.

Currently contemplating next step.

MyVeryOwnSelf

On 27-Aug-2006, wrote:

> At this point I'm just looking for someone to help me with ideas. Even
> if you think I've tried it, I'll try it again, because I'm at a lose
> here.
> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. And if any additional
> information is needed, just let me know.
> Thank you in advance.

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
Then ipconfig /all > C:\ipconfig.txt
This, when you hit Return, should put a file ipconfig.txt in C:\
Open with a text editor (double click should be enough) or
use Notepad.
Do this when it works, and again when it doesn't, compare results.
I suspect DHCP to lease network addresses is a one shot, if
it fails, or times out, you are dead in the water, it waits and waits.
If so try static addressing by entering the values you got from
ipconfig when it works.
Easy to do.
Just untick the box let Windows manage this connection, then
it will let you enter the figures you obtained when it works.
If you don't succeed then it's no problem to retick the box.

ato_zee@hotmail.com

wrote:
> On 27-Aug-2006, wrote:
>
> > At this point I'm just looking for someone to help me with ideas. Even
> > if you think I've tried it, I'll try it again, because I'm at a lose
> > here.
> > Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. And if any additional
> > information is needed, just let me know.
> > Thank you in advance.
>
> Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
> Then ipconfig /all > C:\ipconfig.txt
> This, when you hit Return, should put a file ipconfig.txt in C:\
> Open with a text editor (double click should be enough) or
> use Notepad.
> Do this when it works, and again when it doesn't, compare results.
> I suspect DHCP to lease network addresses is a one shot, if
> it fails, or times out, you are dead in the water, it waits and waits.
> If so try static addressing by entering the values you got from
> ipconfig when it works.
> Easy to do.
> Just untick the box let Windows manage this connection, then
> it will let you enter the figures you obtained when it works.
> If you don't succeed then it's no problem to retick the box.

Thank you for the suggestion. I've actually done this, and it did work
for a while. But I am on multiple networks (school, home) and I can not
assign my ip address at school myself. I tried to set up the home
network using xp's "alternate configuration" tab, but it would either
a)not notice the setting and assign me an address using dhcp or
sometimes b)find the setting, use it, then fail. Any suggestion to get
around this? Maybe a third party program (free if available).

To the other suggestion, I'm in a very crowded apartment complex, right
by a college who's students are mostly studying computer science. Kids
here just like to screw peoples things up. So while I would like to try
WEP, its just not an option. Thank you though for the suggestion.

clang1234@gmail.com