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[Sehs]

I think this seems to be somewhat of a "popular" problem but I'm not sure if this is exactly it, and it doesn't seem that there are any clear solutions to it if it is.

Problem description: My problem is fairly straightforward. I can get a wireless connection to my router with no problems and I have access to the internet. However, I am unable to keep a constant connection for more than about 30-40 minutes, at which point my connection to the router will promptly fail, and then re-establish itself a few mere seconds later. I am using a DLink router (DIR-655, H/W vA4, F/W v1.21) with a Videotron cable modem.

Attempted fixes: I've called DLink tech support twice. The first time I was told to change my wireless channel from 6 to 11 and to change my WAN port speed from Auto 10/100/1000Mbps to just 100Mbps. This almost seemed to work since early on the connection was dropping every 5 minutes. However, after about 30 minutes the connection dropped again, and I tried again and it dropped after another 30 minutes or so. So I called tech support again and I was told to reset my router from the switch on the back and then I set up the connection again changing the channel from 6 to 11. The guy told me that changing the WAN port speed was useless. The connection only lasted around 15 minutes before it dropped again. I just switched from DSL to Cable yesterday so I'm not too familiar with any other procedures I should try and I don't quite know the settings of this router since I've only been using it since yesterday. The disconnects have however, become less frequent than yesterday, but it's still quite annoying

Recent changes: As mentioned above, the only change was the ISP change and everything that came with it (new router etc...) I would be quite surprised if the environment was a factor since I was previously using a not-so-special Siemens router with no problem.

--

Operating system: Windows XP Home 32-bit

System specs: I've a laptop that is a Toshiba A100-SK9

Thanks

[jason1722x]

A few things to check out.
1. Is your router password protected? Do you have encryption on your wireless? example:wpa
2. Check out the power saving feature on your laptop. Your network card my be timing out to save power.
3. You never mentioned what type of connection your laptop has, G or N? You could change your connection in the router to that type only. example: G only
4. You can use Network Filtering under the Advanced tab and register your MAC address. This way the router knows exactly what it's connecting to.
5. If you have DHCP enabled you can register your (computer,MAC,Lan IP)to the DHCP Reservations List.

The more info you can tell your router about your laptop the better the connection will be, security also.

[Sehs]

1. Yes it is, at first I was using Auto WPA/WPA2, then I tried only WPA-Personal and I also tried WEP.

2. I don't think it's a problem with my laptop as this problem never occured to me before yesterday, which is when the ISP/Router change happened. Moreover, I can get a wired connection through the router without any problems.

3. Currently I was using an BGN mix, I tried changing it to G only, as well as fiddling with some of the other filters etc, but it seems that my wireless has now completely died.

The changes I try to make do not get saved and I have the following on the status menu of the router:

Wireless LAN

Wireless Radio : Init failed

802.11 Mode : Mixed 802.11n, 802.11g and 802.11b

Channel Width : 

Channel : 

Secondary Channel : 

WISH : Active

Wi-Fi Protected Setup :

I am going to try resetting the router to see if that at least restores some wireless connectivity.

[Sehs]

Update: I think adding the computer to the DHCP Reservations List might have fixed the problem. I didn't add my other computer to the list and it suffered from the dropped connection whereas this one did not. So far it's been over 3 hours and I haven't dropped connection.

[jason1722x]

Update: I think adding the computer to the DHCP Reservations List might have fixed the problem. I didn't add my other computer to the list and it suffered from the dropped connection whereas this one did not. So far it's been over 3 hours and I haven't dropped connection.

Cool!

Like I said the more info you tell you router about your computer the better.

[Sehs]

Although the problem seems (seemed) largely solved since I didn't suffer any disconnects yesterday. I did just happen to disconnect now. I checked the logs and got the following:

[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 13:00:46 2009   Wireless link is down
[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 13:00:46 2009   Wireless restart
[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 13:00:46 2009   Disconnect all stations
[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 13:00:46 2009   All Wireless shut down
[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 13:00:44 2009   Wireless restart

These are "surrounded" by:

Blocked incoming TCP connection request ...
Blocked incoming TCP packet ...
Blocked incoming UDP packet ...

Note: I was at the time running multiple (4) active p2p connections. Also potentially related (although it would surprise me), I received a phone call at approximately that time. This could be relevant since I also have cable telephony via the same cable modem as my internet. I tried replicating the issue and it didn't work so I'm doubtful that that is the cause. Does this provide any more insight on what could be the problem?

[davevt31]

A wireless restart can be triggered by the router changing wireless channels due to interference with any neighboring wireless signals.   

[jason1722x]

A wireless restart can be triggered by the router changing wireless channels due to interference with any neighboring wireless signals.   

For the life of me I can't find that link or remember the name of that app that scans to find out what other neighboring wireless connections are using. Can you assist?

[jason1722x]

You can go into manual wireless and disable auto wireless scan and assign the channel you want that has the least amount of traffic.
Also I noticed you are running fw1.21, fw1.32 has many fixes.

[jason1722x]

A wireless restart can be triggered by the router changing wireless channels due to interference with any neighboring wireless signals.   

Also maybe the phone was wireless @ 2.4hrz?

[Sehs]

I removed the auto wireless scan and will see how it progresses. I am reluctant to return this router and get a new one because quite frankly I'm not under the impression anything else will fare any better since this router seems to have the best reviews and by far of routers like it within the same price range. Moreover, I'd rather at least understand why this problem is occurring as well so I can know it and avoid it.

Moreover, I do have a 2.4GHz phone. I suppose it is possible that it is the cause. I will try to observe and verify whether the disconnects now happen during phone calls or whatnot. In the beginning the disconnects happened very frequently but now they seem to be more of a rarity. I don't recall whether I was using the phone during those times or if anyone else was.

[davevt31]

For the life of me I can't find that link or remember the name of that app that scans to find out what other neighboring wireless connections are using. Can you assist?

inssider

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider

[Sehs]

My connection just went down except this time it didn't come back. I got:

[INFO]   Sun Aug 16 19:37:02 2009   Failed to restart wireless

After the messages from the previous time. There was no interference from a telephone or anything. Could this help indicating what the problem is? I'll have to reboot the router again now in hopes that it will work.

[Sehs]

I suckered up and also upgraded FW to 1.32NA. Hopefully this won't make things worse and hopefully it will fix the problem. Otherwise I'm probably looking to return this router since I can't seem to get it to work properly. Saddening since it's supposed to be a good router and my friend who lives near to me has the same setup and same laptop and he doesn't seem to encounter any problems.

[Sehs]

The problem hasn't stopped. I'd even go as far as to say that it's gotten a bit worse. Anyone with any suggestions?