Am I just expecting too much from my WiFi link?

[RBob]

I have an R51 (1836-h7u) with Intel 2200BG running WinXP.

I have a 1.5Mb DSL link via an Actiontec GT701 router from Qwest, my phone co. and DSL provider.

From nearby systems, I normally see 150KBps transfers, but from time to
time, I'll see my transfers slow WAY down, to about 60-80KBps. If I run
Ethereal (a Windows packet trace utility) when this is happening, it will
show lots of "segment lost", "packet out of order", "retransmit request"
and "duplicate ACK" errors. At the same time, my hard-wired desktop
machine will see full-speed transfers and no errors, so I can only conclude
that the errors are between my laptop and my router.

While beating on this problem I happened to flip the antenna on the router
to a horizontal orientation. Then, my throughput dropped to a solid
800Kbps, but all the errors went away! Raising the antenna to vertical
restored the original flakey performance. As this was happening, my
laptop was all of 6 feet from the router, in direct line of sight.

If this small change can have this sort of affect on performance, should I
just learn to live with flakey WiFi performance and stop tearing my hair
out? Could environmental interference from microwaves, cordless phones,
TV and other nearby electronic equipment be screwing it up, even with a
"very strong" WiFi signal?

[DavidNZ]

i've read that the orientation of the antenna plays a big role, as you've found out. Have also heard that cordless phones (especially the 2.4Ghz) interfere, which is why we bought a 900Mhz cordless. Could also be the firmware of your router? There may be updates that solve this, but from what I've read with some firmware updates, they fix some problems but cause others.

Totally off-topic: there's a story on the radio here of a family pig that went haywire and started to headbutt the family car (with the family inside). Then it started to chew on the tyres. *sigh*

[JHEM]

Totally off-topic: there's a story on the radio here of a family pig that went haywire and started to headbutt the family car (with the family inside). Then it started to chew on the tyres. *sigh*

I heard that story! Turns out it was a teenage pig chuffed at the fact that although it was his turn to drive the family car, Dad wouldn't let him.

Regards,

James

[DavidNZ]

This and Shrek the sheep that was stuck in the hills for years is the kind of NZ news that makes it to the States? That's sensational!

[SoftwareJock]

On a T42p with Windows XP Pro SP2, I observed interference on the integrated Intel PRO 802.11b/g wireless connector from a Panasonic 2.4 GHz cordless phone (model KX-TG2570).

Specifically, I started a ping loop on the T42p & then placed a call to the cordless phone. The pings immediately started timing out.

That T42p also had an IBM 11a/b/g Wireless CardBus Adapter. I disabled the integrated Intel PRO wireless connector & enabled the CardBus Adapter. The 2.4 GHz phone did not interfere with the CardBus Adapter.

So, if you're experiencing wireless interference or connectivity problems & your computer has both a Wireless CardBus Adapter & an integrated Intel wireless connector, you may have better reception using the CardBus Adapter.