WLAN issues

[NeoLogic]

Is it normal to have to be 5 feet from an access point in order for my Axim with a Linksys WCF11 card to connect?

Then once it's connected, and I walk away from the access point, actually it's a Linksys Router, it still shows good signal strength, and quality (66% or more), I loose connectivity.

So, even though i have good signal strength and quality, I can not connect to the internet, or sync, or stream media, nothing. But if i hold my axim right next to the antenna of the router, it works okay, not great, but okay.

I bought the CF card used, is it hosed, or are my settings messed up? I have never used the router wirelessly until now.

[lurch]

Well first off, that is NOT normal! :)

Whether or not your wireless card is hosed or not, I couldn't tell you. Can you try using a different card with the router to at least narrow it down to either router or card?

This probably isn't the case, but sometimes if you plug the wrong power transformer plug thingy into the router it can have serious effects (if it doesn't fry it). Believe me, because I've done both - we had a hub (okay it was a hub, not a router) and we could NOT figure out why our network was moving so stinkin' slow and choppy after we moved labs, until we figured out (because we're geniuses) that we plugged a speaker plug into the hub! :oops: Once we put the right one in things worked fine. And also at home, I plugged the wrong thing into my D-Link wireless router when we moved into our house, and after no lights turned on, and a funny smell began to emanate from it, I figured out that I'm pretty dumb.
Fortunately for me D-Link has excellent customer service! (if your warranty is still valid) :)

Anyway, all that to say, try using either a different router or a different card to narrow the field down a little bit, and make sure everything's got the right plugs.

[Brad Adrian]

It's also possible that there is something causing interference with your card when you're close to the access point (AP). Check to see if there are other electronic devices nearby and see if you can move the AP a bit farther away from the PC it's connected to.

[NeoLogic]

I wouldn't think that there is anything interfering with my AP since it is in a room with no other electrical devices. I have moved it around a bit to see if that helped, and I also changed the channels around.

The strangest part of this whole thing is, once I am connected, I can move around the entire house, and even go outside, but my Linksys config utility shows I have great Link Quality, and great Signal Strength, BUT, data will not xfer unless I'm within 5 feet of router.

Another thing, and i mentioned this before, but I want to stress this, because I think it's the key to this problem. Let's say I turn my Axim on upstairs. It then goes into a state of Scanning. It scans and scans and scans, never finding anything. So I walk down to the router, hold the axim up to it (6 inches) and then it connects. Once it has a connection, I can go back upstairs, the link shows fine, BUT I can not transfer data, or anything. I go back down, hold the Axim up to the router, and wala, I can xfer data now.

So then I install PocketWinC. More times than not, it lockes up my system. I think this application is stable, but maybe my card is giving the application some confilicts that it can not deal with.

What i plan to do since i have no other hardware to troubleshoot this, I'll go to CompUSA and purchase a new Linksys card, and see if that resolves any of these issues.

Let me know what you think

[rhmorrison]

I don't know if I'd buy the same card or one from some other manufactuer.

Even better would be to borrow one from a friend or have the friend come over with his PPC and see how it works for him. If OK then try out his WLAN card with your PPC. If that works then (and ONLY THEN) buy a new WLAN card.

And you could also have your friend try out your WLAN card in his PPC. This of course ASS U ME s that you have a friend that has a PPC (usually a safe bet but not always).

[Sven Johannsen]

Remember, it doesn't need to be a friend with a PPC, just one with a wireless anything (802.11 of course). Laptop, tablet PC, even some other PDA with WiFi.

Are the antennas on tight?

[NeoLogic]

okay guys update:
I went and purchased another card identical to the one in question from CompUSA. I plugged it in, and it works like a champ. So it is a defective card. I talked to the guy i bought it from through ebay, and he is willing to work with me on this. So that's the good news. The bad news:

Now since I'm new to this I really have no idea how to configure the settings on this network. I had it working once with my old card (defective one) but I can't get the PDA to transfer any data now. Infact, even when it's in the cradle, I can't access the internet, file shares, or stuff like that.

I checked my router DHCP client table, and it showed that my PDA had an IP address, but not a hostname. I gave my PPC a hostname, but it's not showing up.

I have in my connections: work, work, work
I even tried work, work, internet

is there something that I'm missing here?