Why Is WiFi Less Stable Year by Year?

[Jason Dunn]

I swear that WiFi overall as a technology is less and less stable every year. Back when it was only 802.11b, I don't remember having nearly as many problems as I have lately. I've owned D-Link, Belkin, Netgear and Linksys routers - all have been replaced in my hunt for a fast, stable router that works with all of my equipment. The past month or so has been particularly hair-pulling; I've been in wireless router hell.<br /><br />A couple of weeks ago my still-quite-new D-Link 802.11n router (a DIR-655) flaked out on me. I spent an hour thinking it was my cable modem, eventually narrowed it down to the router, then wasted an hour on the phone jumping through D-Link tech support hoops just so I could get an RMA and get the router exchanged. It took talking to three techs before they'd admit there was a hardware problem with the router. From the beginning the router had compatibility problems with my wife's iPAQ 1950, even with the latest firmware on both devices. It's embarrassing in a geeky way when my wife has to Exchange sync over WiFi at work because the home network is never functioning. I bought the iPAQ 1950 to replace the previous iPAQ that had trouble connecting over WiFi, hoping that the newer model would be more compatible with modern WiFi. It's not. I don't believe the compatibility problems are due to a hardware failure - I think the DIR-655 just has poor compatibility with WiFi devices, which is a common issue I've seen with routers over the past two years.<br /><div style="page-break-after: always;"><span style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span></div><br />I then switched to my backup router, also a D-Link (DI-624). It kept dropping my connections, both wired and wireless, so I swore I'd never buy another D-Link router. I went out and bought a Belkin 802.11n router, another brand I've had trouble with in the past and never wanted to buy again - but there are only so many choices on the market. The Belkin router worked perfectly when I swapped it into place, but now my Fujitsu P7020 laptop running Windows XP refuses to connect to it regardless of which mode I put it in (WPA, WEP, no security, 802.11n/g, or 802.11g). The HTC Touch won't connect to it either - it can't even see the network. The AT&amp;T Tilt locked up the Wireless Manager trying to connect to it, so I reset it. Trying to even remove the wireless network setting locks up the wireless manager on the Tilt. When I did manage to get it to connect to the Belkin router and prompt me for the WPA password, it would try to connect for a few seconds, then come back and show me a list of networks again. My Dell XPS M1330 can connect to the Belkin router if it's in 802.11g/n mode, but not if it's in 802.11g only mode. I'm in wireless hell.<br /><br />The ultimate frustration here is that whenever I can't get wireless working properly and I'm in desperate need of a connection, I always connect to a neighbour's unsecured network called &quot;default&quot; - and almost every device can connect to it (the Tilt can't however). I'm tempted to go knocking on some local doors to see who's router it is, and ask if I can buy it - because clearly whatever old, unsecured hardware they're using is superior to all the modern, expensive routers that I keep buying.<br /><br /><em>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. Why can't WiFi work better?</em>

[shawnw]

Jason, I don't know that I agree with you as far as wifi becoming less and less stable.

I've been using a GamerLounge D-Link since they came out and have had zero problems. I've had several friends in my house bring in wireless devices and connect to my network without fail. My Xbox 360 is on the other side of the house, connected to my network via a wifi adapter (the official one from Microsoft), and I can stream video from my PC to the 360 with no problems.

I also work for a large regional ISP in the midwest and we routinely deploy Linksys 802.11g wireless routers and I can count on both hands the number of units we've had legitimately fail.

One of my best friend's wives has the same problems you have, only with cell phones. It doesn't matter what brand she buys, whether it's new or used, expensive or cheap, it fails within weeks of purchase.

I hate to break this to you (and on Halloween, no less)... but you just might be cursed. :(

Shawn
zunenuze | http://zunenuze.net

[weirded]

THANK YOU!

Finally somebody is saying this. I've made the exact same experience. Basically, anything that has MIMO technology (pre-N or draft-N) just flat out doesn't work. I've more trips to Fry's than I'd like to admit in search for a router that works with my (very humble) set of Wifi clients (iPhone, Thinkpad T60p, some older g only laptop cards).

Time and time again, I get connection drops, routers to freeze entirely, etc. I've even tried running multiple routers to cover the different devices they work with -- useless.

There are two models I keep on falling back to as a safe choice: The Linksys WRT54G(L/S) works fine with both the stock firmware or the more powerful OpenWRT and DD-WRT firmwares.

The D-Link DWL7100 is a (now discontinued) access point that supports 5GHz 802.11a also. It was expensive at the time ($160), but has been super solid. Firmwares haven't been released in ages though, so it doesn't support the latest WPA2 standards, etc.

Overall, if you want stable, I think the WRT54G products are the best choice from my experience.

[besmith2]

I have had the same Buffalo WHR-54G router running DD-WRT for years with never an outage.

Some people should stick with a hard wired solution.

[Thracain]

Dlink's? Surely there are MUCH better alternatives. I have a Linksys WRT54GL running "tomato" firmware with hi-gain anntennas. I can connect to my home wireless from blocks away.

I stream hd content to my living room TV via WMC and a 360. Stock routers with stock antennas usually result in a less than satisfactory wifi experience:(.

I have nothing but good things to say about my wireless setup overall. I had to tweak here and there to get a completely solid connection, but I think it's worth it.

Have you tried a 3rd party firmware on a linksys router? You should give it a shot!;)

[iclark]

Can you run 3rd part firmware on your Linksys ?

Do you have a link.

Also interested in boosting my antenna to overcome range problems....Any recommendations.

Thanks

Ian

[enjoythemusic]

Can you run 3rd part firmware on your Linksys ?

YES :) Am sure someone else will have link.

Agree, get the Linksys WRT54G as mine has been running 24/7 for, well... forever. No problems.

DLINK??? Of course you are having problems.

[raulr]

I had a DLink DI-624 that kept having problems and eventually just died not broadcasting the network at all. I got a linksys WRTG and have had no problems since.

[pstrayhorn]

I have installed many different brands/models of retail WiFi products and the one that has the best life/reliability, in my opinion, is the Buffalo brand. I am replacing two Apple Airport Base Stations today at a client with these units, as a matter of fact. The radios are terrific and they last a long time. Only replaced one out of about 75 I've installed over the past 3-4 years.

One thing to note is that you probably want to set your wireless channel manually instead of letting the router set it automatically. It could jump channels on you causing your laptop to disconnect.

I also have tried out several 802.11n draft routers and surprisingly the $30 Airlink101 router I picked up at Fry's worked the best. Not sure what it's lenght of life will be though. The Buffalo had slow connection rates and both the Belkin and Linksys kept dropping my connection. So far, my airlink has been in service for about 3 months and it hasn't had a hiccup yet.

[rck]

I have a DLINK DIR-655. I needed a gigabit router, and it looked like good one to get. I have had not WiFi issues, but I only am using wireless G.

My only issue with the DIR-655 is that does MAC filtering on BOTH wired and wireless and only gives you 24 addresses to fliter!!!

[Mike Temporale]

I don't know that I would say WiFi is less stable. I would say that it's become more and more popular and the available spectrum is over crowded. Leaving little to no available space for your installation. Thus your network keeps bumping up against your neighbors. And in many cases causes them to knock each other out.