Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

ChadStrunk — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:06:02 GMT

My hunch would be interference from another device. You already mentioned the microwave, but there's also cordless phones and - of course - other wireless devices.

Most consumer-grade wireless devices default to either channel 1 or 6. Along with changing the SSID, you can also change it to another channel. If memory serves, the EU has a few more channels than the US.

Of course, the better option would be a site survey. Depending upon his computer, the wireless drivers might have the ability to scan the airwaves for other wireless networks and this may be enough. Another option is to download Netstumbler. If he has a compatible card, then he should be able to find the channels of other WLANs. Obviously, his WLAN should be on a different channel.

As for which channel...well, although most people in the US believe that you can only use channels 1, 6, and 11 in reality you can choose any channel. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the just ones that don't overlap each other, but a WLAN on a channel other than those three will work even if there is another WLAN close by with a channel that overlaps.

For instance, at home I'm surrounded by WLANs on the regular 3 US channels. Adding another to the mix is not an option, so I set my WLAN to channel 9 and I've never had a better signal.

--
Chad

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

Keith Combs — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 21:36:53 GMT

Yea, thanks for that and I agree. Hugh and I will be trying a few things tomorrow.

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

Keith Combs — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:12:16 GMT

Hugh and I messed around a bit more this morning. He doesn't have a wireless phone and there are no microwave oven's nearby. The D-Link WAP works but during the course of a 40 minute session this morning, the wireless connection got dropped and restarted about four times.

We reviewed the Intel 2200bg card properties and he is set in the same manner as I am. All of his settings are the default for power management, trasmission strength, etc. They are using channel 11.

He's headed off on some travels next week so we'll see how the tablet performs at the conferences and coffee houses he uses. If he comes back and says he had no issues, then the evil red axe may fall on the poor little D-Link bridge. We'll have to film that. :)

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

John Ball — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:25:27 GMT

I am interested in that wireless security story! :->

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

ChadStrunk — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:46:35 GMT

Interesting...I have a D-Link DWL-2100AP and it works like a champ. I even used it as a wireless client for a while before I broke down and pulled some CAT5 - just to make sure I wasn't dying so much because of a network delay. (Conclusing: nope, I just suck that much, but I am getting better at sticking 'nades.)

One thing you haven't mentioned - or at least I haven't understood it correctly if you have - is the A/P dropping the connection or perhaps rebooting. It could be that he has a defective A/P. Is he able to physically see the A/P during one of these drops?

--
Chad

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

Keith Combs — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:09:20 GMT

Yes, the access point is in the same room so Hugh can see it. We he gets back in town, we'll see what "corrective" action needs to take place next.

I'd love to chop that sucker in half with an axe.

I am planning the same demise to a laptop hard drive I have. I plan to do a Windows Vista backup and recovery screencast soon. Part of the demo will be destroying the original hard drive. Any destruction ideas?

I was thinking of burning rubber on it with my Harley or taking a hammer to it. Of course, I could also drown it in my pool. We'll definitely have some fun with it. Channel9 quality stuff for sure. :)

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

ChadStrunk — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:38:03 GMT

One wonders what the LEDs are doing during the outages. Obviously, if they all go out...

As for the hard drive, 16p (or larger) nail would do it. Too bad you couldn't do something a little more Halo-esque.

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

Keith Combs — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:56:30 GMT

Said by Chad, "Too bad you couldn't do something a little more Halo-esque."

Uh, my plasma rifles and energy sword are completey charged. :)

LED checks are a good idea. Hopefully this turns out to be a bad wireless bridge since they are pretty cheap and easily replaced.

The saga continues...

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

ChadStrunk — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:52:32 GMT

I'll take the things that go BOOM!

(Oh, this could easily turn into a very long Halo thread.)

--
Chad

re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

rob — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 03:24:33 GMT

For another data point.. I have a DLink DI-514 and it goes away about every hour or so. Just for about 5 or 6 seconds but it's enough to really annoy me. That'll be the last time I pay $20 for a wireless router... :-)
I see this on all my pcs with 2 different USB wireless adaptors (1 DLink USB and 3 Dell 1390s) so I'm pretty sure it's the router that's doing the lan-nap.

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re: Wireless Network ID's and the Joys of Cartoons

Keith Combs — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 23:39:01 GMT

UPDATE: I checked with Hugh on his travels in Europe this week. Before he left for that trip, I asked him to keep an eye out and see if he had any flaky connections at the various locations. He reports back that the tablet has performed very solidly so it's looking like the bridge device at his house may be the culprit after all. I recommended a replacement product from the a company I like.