Linksys equipment dropping connections (WRT54G and WMP54G)

I have a Linksys WRT54G router connected to my cable modem and a Linksys WMP54G PCI card in my desktop computer, which is situated about 15 feet away, and is not obstructed by any walls or anything. I have no problems connecting; I get a strong signal. However, the connection gets dropped at a random time several times throughout the day. The dropped connection only lasts for 30 seconds or so before it reconnects, but it happens frequently enough that it drives me nuts. I also have a Centrino laptop that I use to connect to the same network, and it never drops the connection, even when placed in the same area as the desktop PC or further away. This leads me to believe it is not a problem with the router, but with the PCI card. I have tried unplugging my cordless phone system in my house, moving my UPS away from my computer, and I even bought a long anntenna extension on eBay to try positioning the antenna in several different places, but nothing so far seems to help. It also doesn't help if I disable WPA or turn off ZoneAlarm Pro (my firewall on the desktop). I am running Windows XP SP2 and have all of the current security updates. Furthermore, I have the latest drivers from linksys for the PCI card and the latest firmware version for the router. Any further suggestions to keep my connection from being dropped?

A 15-foot ethernet cable? Wireless connections do drop, no way around that.

You could try the PCI card in another slot or maybe uninstall ZoneAlarm. (Uninstall and remove the ZA driver, not just disable)

as Nodsu mentioned above yes your wire should be the shortest,use the blue wire that came with the linksys,i think it is 6 feet,I have the same linksys as you but i run the main wire to power the unit with a short cable,and your phone cord should be very short,Shorter the better,Do not put any filters on the modem ,only other phones connected,all your ports going out to other pc's can be 75 feet if you like.this should fix your problem.

Possible Work Around

I had a similar problem and worked around it by disabling windows xp from configuring my card and using Linksys's management software instead of allowing XP to run the card. Its not ideal but it worked and its the exact opposite of what the Linksys people will try to get you to do.
:giddy:

im not sure but if my memory serves me rite isnt it something like for every 100ft or 100meters you need a repeater?

The maximum cable length for ethernet is 100 meters according to the standard.

dropping connection is the nature of wireless, as nodsu said, no way around that, but if you have any 2.4GHz devices like cordless phones nearby, this could cause dropping, looping or slow connection. You might also want to keep a check with Linksys, the latest driver for your adapter is from April '04, this was a few months prior to the official release of SP2.

I have seen several problems related to wireless and sp2, usually driver related and most manufacturers released updates to their drivers shortly after the launch of SP2. Also, I've spoken to Linksys support on a few of these occasions on behalf of clients and Linksys' "fix" for issues regarding their cards not working after SP2 is to remove sp2.

Actually there is a way around it. The dropping connections are mostly due to faulty generic wireless software on the Windows side, that is known to contian sloppy code and be crappy in general.
The solution is to change operating systems... so unless you wanna go Linux or buy a Mac, yeah. No way around it :angel: .

Cheerio,
SigmaX

--
Registered Linux freak # 366,862

Thats an incorrect assumption. Most of the time, dropping connections are due to interference and range, as well as other things that cause problems with radio signals. Wireless works on radio signals, therefore it is naturally prone to interference, just as all other radio devices are.
I've been working with wireless networks for quite some time now and notice the same problems with dropping signals, no matter what equipment is used(though some brands are more prone than others) and no matter if it is Win, *nix, or Mac.

Exuse me for being too blunt. The original poster was speaking of a computer 15 feet away with no obstruction, and in my experience there are little or no problems with most computers at 15 feet with no obstruction (Save maybe in areas near a 2.4GHz cordless phone ). In my experience *nix an Mac computers are generally without some of the worse, trickier, and 'mysterious' disconnections from wifi as the Windows systems I've worked on. Not to say that Mac and *nix are totally bug-free, they have their share of frustrations at times, but in this issue at least I've had much better luck with the *nix-ish comps.
Cheerio,
SigmaX

um, have you tried a different wireless channel? bc that channel could be cloked with other wireless networks or some 2.4 phone that a neighbor.

After using a Linksys BEFSR41 and WAP11 for several years, I became a loyal Linksys customer from its good reliability. I recently (Aug 2006) decided to replace the older equipment with newer "G" models because the newer were faster and were supposed to offer better wireless distance and speed. I purchased a WRT54G. It is ver6. I am very sorry I did. It drops connections many times throughout the day, and not only on the wireless devices. The hardwired PCs are losing their LAN connection too! And this WRT54G is MUCH SLOWER THAN THE BEFSR41 for LAN file transfers--it is as if it's running at 10mbps rather than 100mbps. Nothing changed in my setup except I swapped out the older Linksys equipment for the newer. Same computers. Same wiring. Same configuration. Two Mac iBooks are successfully connected wirelessly in Infrastructure mode with WEP key security; two PCs running XP Pro are successfully connected via ethernet cable; but there is a Win98PC with a WUSB11 card which is unable to see the access point when in Infrastructure mode (can see it in Ad Hoc only) and an HP PSC 2510 wireless-capable printer which also cannot see the access point when in Infrastructure mode (it too can see it when in Ad Hoc mode only). Dropped connections never happened with the Linksys BEFSR41 on the wired devices and it happened on the wireless devices only when someone used the telephone. The router is protected by an expensive high-end battery backup with surge protection and there is an expensive line conditioner as well. This particular Linksys WRT54G is a P.O.S. Has Linksys quality gone downhill?????

I have a Lyksys BEFW11S4 and WUSB11. If I get dropped I check my cable modem. I may be connected to the router but no internet connections. Resetting moden seems to fix this (happens every three or four weeks). If I have trouble connecting to network it is almost always another network interfering. I live in a large apartment complex and if I look in list of available networks, there is usually on with a strong signal. Changing channels as dust4sound mentioned has helped with my situation.

The problem is that the HARD-WIRED pcs were losing their connections, not merely the wireless pcs. There's no way that other wireless networks should interfere with the 100mbps switch for local LAN connections by wire, and problems on the WAN (Internet) should not cause the LAN connections to crap out. My machines were losing the ability to ping the Linksys router.

I took the machine back to the store and bought a Belkin wireless G and everything so far is running smoothly. Belkin tech support is also superior to Linksys. Linksys got so successful that in order to keep pace with their sales volume they had to hire inexperienced people for tech support. Your chances of getting an inexperienced person when calling Linksys is very high. They read from a script. You could say "My Linksys router has flames coming out the top!" and they would respond, "Who is your internet provider?"

I say this as someone who used Linksys happily for several years and it was very solid (except for the problem with the phones interfering with the WAP11).

I must say finding feedback from others on this topic is challenging. I have a WRT54G v5 and a Win98SE desktop with a Belkin USB Wireless G adapter. I don't actually have a laptop but do have a second computer far away from my primary computer and WRT54G. I have been really struggling to get my Win98 box and Belkin USB adapter to work consistently. My symptoms included sometimes booting up and getting the correct DHCP and Gateway, sometimes my router would dish out an IP but I could not communicate beyond the router to the Internet, I would connect to the Internet successfully but the network would drop and I would loose it. GRRRRHHH...

Today I have done more research including reading these threads. I have actually moved my win98 computer in the same room as my linksys wireless router and sure enough I could recreate the problem.

Here's what I have done on my WRT54G and it is working so far:

Changed my Wireless channel
Changed my speed back to Auto from 54mgs
Changed Beacon interval from 100 to 50
Applied latest patch from Linksys for the WRT54G

So far so good....

Have you tried manually configuring the TCP/IP values in the problem PC? Set them to match the router so the pc has no option to 'search' for a connection but has to connect to the settings you specified. Basically, you are setting up a static ip as compared to a dynamic ip. I've used this method to solve a different problem I had when setting up a server and it worked perfectly. Apart from this, I would suggest trying different channels until you found one that was stable. Unless your phone service is through your cable company, I don't think there would be any interferrance from any telephone devices you have as the router runs on a different frequency than the phones do. (Like the tv remote wont work on the dvd for example)