# What's the trick to get laptop to connect at wireless N speed for a "N" rated router?



## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

I just got a new laptop that has wireless "N" capability. However, it will only connect at 54 mbps, which suggests it is connecting at "G". Any ideas on how to get it working at "N"? For background, my router is a Belkin F5D8231-4 (Spring 2006). On the top of it, it says N1 Wireless Router. I went into the administrative settings and it shows N as an being active (along with b and g). Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for all help.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

there is probably a setting called "mixed" that is turned on, see if you can find it and turn it off.


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## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

On the router!


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

If you've found and enabled N on the router and it's still not working, see page 42 (Wireless Mode) here:

http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/p75170-d_f5d8231-4_man.pdf

Also, you more than likely want the 20MHz mode ONLY set as well (page 44 above).

Make sure you've got the latest firmware from here:

http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5D8231-4&aid=5927&scid=854

and check the troubleshooting hints here:

http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5D8231-4&aid=14351&scid=854

Once you do that and if you're still having issues, it appears the many versions of this hardware mean that some of them may not be upgradeable to Draft 2 of the the spec. You need to make sure that all compenents are speaking the same version of the specification. You may be due for a new router. I see you're in the DFW area. These things are cheap at Fry's


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Thanks guys for the helpful suggestions. I tried updating the firmware and now have lower connection speeds that jump all over the place. Not sure what happened but updated firmware. Then laptop had problem identifying network so tried to reset network adapter on laptop. It found the network properly but now it connects at only very low speeds and jumps around. The highest I have seen is 36 mbps for a second or two, and then jumps down to 18, 6, 5, and mostly sits on 1 mbps. I'm not sure if this was caused by updating firmware (thus, router is causing erratic throughput rates) or if I messed something up when I tried to get the laptop to lock on the network after the firmware update. I can't figure out how to roll back to the original firmware to eliminate that as the cause. I'm very suspicious I messed something up with the laptop when poking around in the setting tried to get it reset the network adapter. Any ideas or suggestions? 

Did I kill my router? If I killed the router, any suggestions for a good wireless router? I have 1 laptop wireless (n band), 1 desktop hardwired to router, 1 print server hard wired to router, 3 DirecTV HR20s hardwired to router, 1 PS3 using wireless (presume it's g band), and 1 Wii wireless (presume it's g band also), and some miscellaneous things that pop on network rarely (iPhone, PSP, and guests with laptops). So, I have a mix of N and G bands for wireless, and bunch of hardwired stuff too. Suggestions on a new wireless router if I end up needing one? 

Thanks


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Thanks guys for the helpful suggestions. I tried updating the firmware and now have lower connection speeds that jump all over the place. Not sure what happened but updated firmware. Then laptop had problem identifying network so tried to reset network adapter on laptop. It found the network properly but now it connects at only very low speeds and jumps around. The highest I have seen is 36 mbps for a second or two, and then jumps down to 18, 6, 5, and mostly sits on 1 mbps. I'm not sure if this was caused by updating firmware (thus, router is causing erratic throughput rates) or if I messed something up when I tried to get the laptop to lock on the network after the firmware update. I can't figure out how to roll back to the original firmware to eliminate that as the cause. I'm very suspicious I messed something up with the laptop when poking around in the setting tried to get it reset the network adapter. Any ideas or suggestions?
> 
> Did I kill my router? If I killed the router, any suggestions for a good wireless router? I have 1 laptop wireless (n band), 1 desktop hardwired to router, 1 print server hard wired to router, 3 DirecTV HR20s hardwired to router, 1 PS3 using wireless (presume it's g band), and 1 Wii wireless (presume it's g band also), and some miscellaneous things that pop on network rarely (iPhone, PSP, and guests with laptops). So, I have a mix of N and G bands for wireless, and bunch of hardwired stuff too. Suggestions on a new wireless router if I end up needing one?
> 
> Thanks


Sounds like interference could be hte culprit if the connection is varying wildly. Also, don't confuse the connection speed with the throughput other than that is the theoretical maximum. Did you check the settings I noted? Especially the channel width of 20 MHz? What kind of security do you have set up? What channel are you using? Have you tried changing? Try 1, 6, or 11. Is the PS3 connecting?

From what you've told us you will require mixed mode G/N. Make sure that is what is selected. Also, go into the room with the router and make your connection. Sometimes it's a good idea to do a reset on your router and reconfigure it after a firmware upgrade too. Can't help much more without more details on how everything is configured.

Let us know.


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## dave1234 (Oct 9, 2005)

FWIW the "N" version is not yet a standard, but very close. Any manufacturer claiming N compliance is not being truthfull as there is only a draft standard as mentioned in a previous post. The safest route would be to obtain H/W and S/W from the same manufacturer for both ends of the connection(assuming one exsists).

The history of this standard can be found here:
http://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/tgn_update.htm


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

rakstr said:


> Sounds like interference could be hte culprit if the connection is varying wildly. Also, don't confuse the connection speed with the throughput other than that is the theoretical maximum. Did you check the settings I noted? Especially the channel width of 20 MHz? What kind of security do you have set up? What channel are you using? Have you tried changing? Try 1, 6, or 11. Is the PS3 connecting?
> 
> From what you've told us you will require mixed mode G/N. Make sure that is what is selected. Also, go into the room with the router and make your connection. Sometimes it's a good idea to do a reset on your router and reconfigure it after a firmware upgrade too. Can't help much more without more details on how everything is configured.
> 
> Let us know.


Thanks Rakstr. There should not be any interference. The laptop was sitting in the same place after the firmware update as before the update. PS3 was off at the time. I checked the router setting you suggested (helpful links - thanks again) and all seemed in order. I tried changing them to see if any impact or improvement. None. I'll try different channels and see what happens. I'll also reset the router and set up everything again from a fresh start and do the same with the laptop connection - delete that connection and set it up again after the router has been setup again. I may also pull out my old laptop that hasn't been used in a week or two and see what speeds it will connecting at to help isolate the issue to the router or new laptop. Thanks again.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

An update to my experience in case someone else has the same issues. Came back home and checked laptop again after it sat on all day. The problem was gone. Either fixed itself or there was indeed some untimely interference. Odd. Double checked security setting and noticed that it was set to WPA-PSK so changed it to WPA2-PSK as that was the only WPA2 option. Noticed that some other options were also limited. Probably due to age of router. In any event, got the laptop to operate at 65mbps. A small improvement but not at N speed. Probably a fair compromise given it's a mixed network. May have to consider a dual band router. 

Now, need to figure out why XP laptop with G wireless connection will not acquire an IP address after these changes. Changed the network settings on XP machine so they match new WPA2 settings but no joy. Maybe I need to update the drivers for the Intel 2200 b/g built in wireless. Ideas?


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> An update to my experience in case someone else has the same issues. Came back home and checked laptop again after it sat on all day. The problem was gone. Either fixed itself or there was indeed some untimely interference. Odd. Double checked security setting and noticed that it was set to WPA-PSK so changed it to WPA2-PSK as that was the only WPA2 option. Noticed that some other options were also limited. Probably due to age of router. In any event, got the laptop to operate at 65mbps. A small improvement but not at N speed. Probably a fair compromise given it's a mixed network. May have to consider a dual band router.
> 
> Now, need to figure out why XP laptop with G wireless connection will not acquire an IP address after these changes. Changed the network settings on XP machine so they match new WPA2 settings but no joy. Maybe I need to update the drivers for the Intel 2200 b/g built in wireless. Ideas?


Mixed mode does reduce your max speeds but not down to 65M but what are you trying to do that 65M is insufficient. Remember also, you'll get less throughput than that.

Try changing the channels as I suggested earlier, you may have some interference. There are only 3 non-overlapping channels, 1,6,11. For your laptop, make sure you've got it set to WPA2-PSK and make sure it's up to date (see page 47 of the manual i linked for you earlier). Lastly, make sure you've got the encryption set up the same all around. I prefer AES. See page 48.

I forget if you said the N laptop was new. If it is, this is probably irrelevent. Check to make sure you don't have MAC filtering enabled on the router. I assume you're seeing the laptop associate with the access point but not get an IP address. Look in the logfile on the router, it should give you a clue.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Thanks. It seems the wireless router may have gone belly up this am. At first it was back down to 5.5 mbps and then it went to local only, no internet. Hardwired desktop could still access internet. Tried resetting router by unplugging it. Did not improve things and then desktop could no longer get to internet. It was also local only. Plus, I could no longer access the router's settings via it's web address/IP. Tried to do a hard reset via paper clip on back reset button. No better. I think it might be dead. 

Any suggestions for a new wireless router for a mixed network? I should probably start a new thread for that. 

Thanks


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Thanks. It seems the wireless router may have gone belly up this am. At first it was back down to 5.5 mbps and then it went to local only, no internet. Hardwired desktop could still access internet. Tried resetting router by unplugging it. Did not improve things and then desktop could no longer get to internet. It was also local only. Plus, I could no longer access the router's settings via it's web address/IP. Tried to do a hard reset via paper clip on back reset button. No better. I think it might be dead.
> 
> Any suggestions for a new wireless router for a mixed network? I should probably start a new thread for that.
> 
> Thanks


Before you buy new, are you sure you got the right firmware when you updated. I noticed a lot of hardware revs on the website. Seems strange it would just go belly up. If all you want is a decent generic white box wireless AP and switch, the airlink stuff at Fry's is adequate and cheap. I wouldn't worry about the dual band at this time (IMHO).


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## mobandit (Sep 4, 2007)

If you don't mind some features not working (Storage Link USB drive capability) the dual band WRT-series routers from Linksys work fairly well. I have the 5 GHz band set to N only, and get great connections (270 MBPS). The 2.4 GHz band is set to mixed and I still get 130 MBPS connections with my laptop.

I use the 5 GHz for media streaming between DirecTV boxes and a Media Center PC as well as for gaming on an XBOX 360. The 2.4 GHz band is for my two laptops.

However, the Storage Link function is essentially a joke. Difficult to configure and nearly impossible to maintain a connection to the attached drive. Very slow throughput to the attached drive when it does work.

I use the WRT600N router. The 610N has similar issues. Earlier models (350N) are similar, except more people report success with the Storage Link.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I'm with rakstr on this one. Make sure you have the correct firmware for your model. You didn't mention your ISP, but being in the DFW area, I assume it's either Time Warner Cable or Verizon DSL. Also, I'd urge you to start off simple -- if you were previously running wireless G with WEP encryption, start there. Then increase speed and encryption independently. You should also check the driver level of your internal wireless adapter. Yet another suggestion: how does the new laptop behave if you are hardwired to the router? If your desktop is performing well hardwired, the laptop should perform similarly. Based on the number of devices you have hardwired, I assume there's also a switch in the mix. 
I'm inclined to believe you have a driver problem insofar as your wireless access is concerned.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Got home tonight and started from scratch in terms of setting up existing router. Got it running again and hard wired desktop works good. But still can't get fully funtioning wireless. Both laptops say they are connected locally on wireless but cannot get to the internet. Both my XP and Vista laptop have same wireless issue. Looks like an issue with the router but can't figure out what it is. I diabled all security to eliminate that as the source. I'm going to try rolling the firmware back to see if that helps. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas. Really do not want to have to spend money on a new router.


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Got home tonight and started from scratch in terms of setting up existing router. Got it running again and hard wired desktop works good. But still can't get fully funtioning wireless. Both laptops say they are connected locally on wireless but cannot get to the internet. Both my XP and Vista laptop have same wireless issue. Looks like an issue with the router but can't figure out what it is. I diabled all security to eliminate that as the source. I'm going to try rolling the firmware back to see if that helps. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas. Really do not want to have to spend money on a new router.


Did you reset to factory defaults as outlined on page 13 here:
http://cache-www.belkin.com/support/dl/p75170-d_f5d8231-4_man.pdf

Do that, make sure you get the right firmware from here. Be certain to note the hardware rev and get the right released firmware, not any of the BETA's listed. There are 5 versions of the hardware so make sure. The instructions to determine the hardware revision are at the top of the page.
http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5D8231-4&aid=5927&scid=854

After you update, do another factory reset and then set up the router. Make sure all your equipment is up to date (XP/SP3, ...). Look at the setup for all your wireless interfaces and see if they all support WPA2-PSK and AES. If not you'll need to select TKIP. Allow the client devices to auto select the channel. On the router, set the channel to either 1, 6, or 11. Get all the devices connected. If there are some low connection speeds thne change the channel on the router, restart (NOT reset), and see if your clients reconnect.

Be patient and methodical and this will all work out. Try one client at a time.

One other thing just occurred to me..... Are your laptops connected to power while you're doing this? Make sure they are until you get it all straitened out and then go look through your power management options to see how much the computer may be reducing the power levels of the wireless card for battery management.

Report back the Hardware revision of your router and the firmware you downloaded. If you still have problems, post a screen shot similar to that on page 42 of the manual. If you need a screen capture, download MWSnap from here
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mwsnap.html

Example screenshot:


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Rastr - thanks again. Okay, so taking a step back to see if I can get this solved as I'm still getting low connection speeds (signal strength says excellent but connection speeds are slow and erratic) on this new laptop. I think this could be a story of I should have left "working, well-enough" alone. Here's a summary of what has happened:

1. Got new Sony laptop, has the Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN network connection (802.11a/b/g/n) built-in to it. Runs Vista 64 bit. Had not had much chance to play around with it in the house to see how it connects and didn't really take notice of connectin speeds. The other day I put it at my desk where we usually use the laptop and thought, I should try to get this to connect at N speeds since it has N capability and I have a N router (albeit an older one). Before making any changes, I'm pretty sure it was at 54 mbps but didn't observe it long enough to see if it flutuated at this particular location. I recognize that it would better to have a better understanding of what this new one did with connection rates but don't have that history unfortunately. There are two walls (plaster with wood framing) between router and desk - total of maybe 10 to 12 feet between router and laptop.

2. I have a Belkin F5D8231-4 N wireless router (manufactured in Spring 2006 and it is hardware Verison 1). The firmware on it was the original firmware - never upgraded firmware until this week.

3. To get to N speeds, I thought I needed to upgrade the firmware and did that. It seems like that's when the problems occured. There are two firmware's listed for hardware version 1. Tried both. By using the beta version, I got more problems with connecting to internet and when rolled back to 2007 firmware version, that connectivty problem went away but connection speeds stayed low. *I'm suspicious that the newer firmware may have reduced the wireless signal level output from what it was under the original firmware version.*

4. I have tried all different permutations of security and even ran without any security to see if that had any effect. None. Still low connection speeds. Tried resetting to factory defaults and starting over. No improvement.

5. Tried using different channels and no effect. I will admit that making changes to the wireless settings on the Vista laptop are bit confusing. You have drill down to the advanced properties for the Intel 5100AGN and then the options don't make a lot of sense but I think I was doing it right.

6. Picked up a new Belkin wireless router (F5D8235-4 - got great deal at Fry's $89) to use as a test to make sure it's not my older router. It worked a little better but still very poor connection rates for the Sony laptop. When only Sony was connected to network did get connection rates in mid 100's once but it quickly degraded to something like 18 and then 5 mbps. Can't keep it steady.

6. Observations:

a. I put my old Dell laptop (uses Intel 2200 b/g card and runs XP) on the desk right next to new Sony laptop and noticed that Dell laptop with XP maintained 54 mbps for the most part. Very little movement of connection speed. Dropped to 48 once and then later dropped to 24 (could be because I did not realize that laptop was not plugged in and batter was getting low). I do expect some movement given various factors can affect the signal. At same time, the new laptop connection speed was jumping around and mostly around 5 or 9 mbps area.

b. If I take the new Sony laptop with Vista to the room where the wireless router is located, the connection speed gradually increases quite a bit if I let it sit next to it. If I take it out of there to a different room totally, the connection speed drops down again to that horrible 5 or so mbps. This makes me think either the new firmware or new router (both Belkin) have lower tranmitting power or there is something interferring with the signal or something is odd with the Sony laptop (given the Dell works). I still need to try to take laptop away from room but still within line of sight (no walls in between) to see what happens to signal.

7. Couple thoughts:

a. Maybe Sony laptop and Belkin do not mix well. Should I try a different brand...maybe Linksys - something like the WRT160N?

b. The fact that the Dell has a good connection speed right next to the Sony makes me think it's something with the Sony's ability to receive signals. Could I have unwittenly messed up some setting on the Sony laptop's wireless card that keeps being carried over to when I set up a new network and is causing the low connection rate? Should I try to do a system restore to a point before this all started....assuming that even stores and would roll back changes to a wirelesss card/network setting.

Again, as said earlier, I should have been happy with 54 mbps and left it all alone but now need to find a solution to this.

Thanks


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Rastr - thanks again. Okay, so taking a step back to see if I can get this solved as I'm still getting low connection speeds (signal strength says excellent but connection speeds are slow and erratic) on this new laptop. I think this could be a story of I should have left "working, well-enough" alone. Here's a summary of what has happened:


OK, let's stop on this one first. Signal strength excellent to me says you've got the router communication path AOK but there may be a problem on your laptop. Are you completely up to date on Vista patches and have you gone to the Sony site to see if there are new drivers? If not, do both and retest. Do NOT use the drivers direct from the Intel site. Although they may work, these are reference drivers and the OEMs many times "tweak" them. Also, stay with the NEWEST NON ALPHA/BETA firmware on your router. eeeks, i'm not a fan of Vista and even less of a fan of Vista 64. I've got a Vista 64 in my demo kit and have had numerous networking "jollies" with it.

So step one is to execute on the above 



Hansen said:


> Tried using different channels and no effect. I will admit that making changes to the wireless settings on the Vista laptop are bit confusing. You have drill down to the advanced properties for the Intel 5100AGN and then the options don't make a lot of sense but I think I was doing it right.


Changing channels should not be done on your laptop. That is only on the router. Do not assign a channel on the laptop. It will look for the router and automtically assign the channel.
I don't know much about Sony laptops. Does Sony give you an interface to control the wireless connections our do you use the standard windows interface?

I'm guessing from the rest of your post (other laptop with G works fine) that you've got a configuration problem (most likely) with your Sony and/or a bad card (doubtful)


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

rakstr said:


> OK, let's stop on this one first. Signal strength excellent to me says you've got the router communication path AOK but there may be a problem on your laptop. Are you completely up to date on Vista patches and have you gone to the Sony site to see if there are new drivers? If not, do both and retest. Do NOT use the drivers direct from the Intel site. Although they may work, these are reference drivers and the OEMs many times "tweak" them. Also, stay with the NEWEST NON ALPHA/BETA firmware on your router. eeeks, i'm not a fan of Vista and even less of a fan of Vista 64. I've got a Vista 64 in my demo kit and have had numerous networking "jollies" with it.
> 
> So step one is to execute on the above


Thanks. I agree with you. All Vista patches are up to date. Checked the Sony site and no new drivers for the wireless. The only driver listed says it's the original one.



rakstr said:


> Changing channels should not be done on your laptop. That is only on the router. Do not assign a channel on the laptop. It will look for the router and automtically assign the channel.
> I don't know much about Sony laptops. Does Sony give you an interface to control the wireless connections our do you use the standard windows interface?
> 
> I'm guessing from the rest of your post (other laptop with G works fine) that you've got a configuration problem (most likely) with your Sony and/or a bad card (doubtful)


Got it on the channels for laptop. Laptop had, I think, number "11" assigned originally. Sony does have some type of wireless interface. I have been using the standard Windows interface. Maybe I should try the Sony one?

It does seem like a configuration problem with the Sony laptop. It acts like it has a weak antenna or something in the configuration that makes it act that way.


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Got it on the channels for laptop. Laptop had, I think, number "11" assigned originally. Sony does have some type of wireless interface. I have been using the standard Windows interface. Maybe I should try the Sony one?
> 
> It does seem like a configuration problem with the Sony laptop. It acts like it has a weak antenna or something in the configuration that makes it act that way.


So try using the Sony provided wireless setup/config tool or at least make sure it's not running in parallel. I'd try the tool. Look and see if there's and update to that as well. They often are separate. What model Sony?


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

rakstr said:


> So try using the Sony provided wireless setup/config tool or at least make sure it's not running in parallel. I'd try the tool. Look and see if there's and update to that as well. They often are separate. What model Sony?


Thanks. Will try that. Sony Vaio VGN-FW270J/W


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Thanks. Will try that. Sony Vaio VGN-FW270J/W


So what's the latest news on this?


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Well, it's better but sometimes erratic. I did the following additional steps to narrow it down. 

Picked up another router but different manufacturer. No effect. 

Checked for a new Sony wireless driver. None available. 

Downloaded and installed latest wireless driver from Intel. A little effect but not a lot. 

Tried some tweaking of power settings and wireless settings. No effect. 

Did a system restore to about 1 week ago. No effect. 

Did a complete system recovery to put laptop back to minute 1. No effect. 

So, now I'm down to interference between router and wireless N adapter or defective wireless card in computer. The time to return the laptop was going to run out this weekend so I decided to exchange it for new one, same model. This seems to have helped a lot. Not near as erratic and more throughput. There does seem to be still some interference as it does jump around once in a while and does not seem to extend as far in distance from router as XP laptop with G card in it but still a big improvement. Still do not see anything greater then 72mbps unless on local only - not internet. Then I see 144 mbps. Thus, interference seems logical but not sure what or where from. I can't really relocate router easily to see if that helps. Not sure if this will work, but I'm thinking I might try a 2nd wireless router set as access point only and located in different part of house to act as a booster for the signal throughout the house. Think that will work?


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## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

Hansen said:


> Well, it's better but sometimes erratic. I did the following additional steps to narrow it down.
> 
> Picked up another router but different manufacturer. No effect.
> 
> ...


Interference can come from many places, 2.4 GHz wireles phones, microwaves, ... Personally, I'd take MS up on their offer that most every OEM is supporting and switch to XP (most all vendors are participating in the offer to allow any Vista license to be replaced with an XP license. Google it and you'll get many hits).

Unless you really need 64 bit, I'd also switch to XP PRO 32 bit. It's more stable IMHO. If you don't have an application requirement for 64 bit, the biggest thing you lose is the max 3Gb or so memory space.


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## Hansen (Jan 1, 2006)

Since I was most suspicious of some type of interference associated with the particular Intel wireless card (5100 agn, which I have read is a finicky card at times), I decided to try a simultaneous dual band router such as the Linksys 610N to see if that helped. It's still too early to be 100% sure but so far, using the 5 ghz channel, I'm getting 135 mbps constant throughput at a very good or excellent signal strength. This is at my desk but have not yet wandered around to see how good it works as I get 40 to 60 feet away and more objects/walls in between and then load both wireless bands with active devices. I'm not going to hold my breath but so far things look better.


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