Wireless Woes

[Littleshmee]

I figured someone around here must know about these things...

My housemate just got a new computer, so we had to get a router. As it turned out, the cheapest was a wireless D-Link DI-514, and the Wireless PCI adapter DWL-510 was cheaper than the 50 ft. ethernet cable. And I won't trip over it in the middle of the night...

Anyway, we've got the network set up MOSTLY alright. I'm wired in to the router, which is in my room, and the router is as close to the far wall as possible. The living room is in between our rooms, but it's still only 20 feet away or so.

Here's the dilemma. It says "Signal strength very good" and "Speed: 11 Mbps" most of the time, but the internet runs VERY VERY slowly. With WEP enabled, it takes forever... like 10-15 minutes to load google. Without WEP, it's semi-bearable... think 28k dialup. What could be causing this? Why is it so slow on the internet? How can I fix it?

Oh, and file sharing between the two computers works just fine - she can play songs off my computer no problem. And my computer (the wired one) is just as lickety-split on the internet as ever.

If you've gotten through this post, any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[Suhit Gupta]

So 11Mbps is typically a lot slower than 100Mbps, like noticeably so, but 10-15 mins is ridiculous. Several things to check -

1) Connect her computer directly to your connection rather than through wireless. That will tell you whether it is the wireless connection/WEP or the computer. If her computer starts behaving normally then you know that it is the wireless or the DLink. If it is still slow then you will know that it is something incorrectly set in the computer.

2) Check to see if there is a firmware upgrade for the device.

3) Hard reset the device, that might get rid of any residual settings and restore factory defaults (just in case this is a refurbished device).

4) Try returning the router for a new one?!

Suhit

[KidKomputer]

Also, you might be getting interference on the wi-fi channel you are using.

[backpackerx]

Yeah, try the channel first. I *think* the channels that are the farthest away from overlapping are either 1 or 11.

I have that router too and had many problems until I upgraded to firmware 1.02 from the website. There is 1.03 and might even be 1.04 now, but 1.02 worked far better with almost zero problems as compared to the original firmware or ver. 1.03.

You might already have 1.02 or 1.03 if that's what shipped, I got mine about 8 months ago so it had the original.

Also check the router antenae strength and the card's broadcast strength setting.

[Littleshmee]

Hmm, I've just got it on the default channel (6), so maybe I"ll try that. The internet seems to be running OK fast now, when it's connected (without WEP enabled), but it seems to disconnect itself fairly often (both wired and wireless). Plus, when I ping the router, I usually only get 1 or maybe 2 out of 4 replies. Thanks guys, I'll keep on trying... my friend said that it's just because D-Link sucks, is that a possibility?

[backpackerx]

D-link does kinda suck on the low end but I'd seriously check the firmware. Enter the web based config utility 192.168.0.1 and go to tools tab and then firmware. If it's not at least 1.02 or 1.03 it needs updating. This may make it much more compatible with your wireless card, it did mine.

[Littleshmee]

Yep, I'm running firmware 1.03

It seems to have stablized for now, more or less, thanks for all the help. I'm gonna give it a bit more time before returning it. One more question... is there any need for WEP other than fear of other people within range of your network?

[backpackerx]

For home users, not as much as for corporations. Others can use your signal but if you don't care or if the bandwidth drain isn't slowing things down, it's not too much of a problem.

As far as security, if you have a home network set up with file sharing and stuff then there is a little bit of a risk. Mostly, it takes someone with some savy to hack your network and do damage so it''s up to you whether you want to run it or not. I use WEP but would be comfortable not using it because I'm pretty sure my neighbors have neither the skill or inclination to get into my files. Overall though, it's probably a good idea, just not what I'd consider essential at this point. I'm sure others will disagree.

[rafaels]

Hi there, backpackerx;

I recently upgraded my di-514's firmware to the 103 and it turns out that you were absolutely right about 1.02 working a lot better, but the surprise is thatI can't revert to it, since Dlink's website doesn't provide it any longer... would you have this firmware there by any chance?!? I'd really appreciate if you could e-mail it to me... Please let me know.

Thanks again!

Rafael

[backpackerx]

Sorry, I no longer have it. You can try a google search to see if another site other than d-link has it.

[rafaels]

I finally found it tucked in Dlink's Australian FTP support site... man!!! it was a bit of a nightmare!!! :D:D:D I'll keep it for a while just to make sure nobody will ever need it! :)

Cheers

Rafael