I recently set up an 802.11g router with the matching PCMCIA card, but am disappointed that the connection very frequently drops, even only one room away. And if the phone rings, forget it! It always disconnects. … Should I return the equipment and try for another vendor? How can I tell whether the new vendor’s equipment will have the same problem?
Q: I recently set up an 802.11g router with the matching PCMCIA card, but am disappointed that the connection very frequently drops, even only one room away. And if the phone rings, forget it! It always disconnects. Tech support said the controller had some compatibility issues with their card (a Texas Instruments PCI-4510 Cardbus controller), and that updated drivers should fix the problem. It didn’t. Should I return the equipment and try for another vendor? How can I tell whether the new vendor’s equipment will have the same problem? – Chris, Phoenix.
Keerti Melkote, Aruba Networks:
Yes, it might be time to upgrade your PCMCIA card. Make sure you buy gear that is advertised to work with your specific PC. The router might be fine. As far as the phone problem, you probably have one that operates in the 2.4 GHz band. I would recommend upgrading the wireless network to the 5 GHz band and use 802.11a if this is a problem that you experience often enough.
Israel Drori, Legra Systems:
The phone that’s causing the problem is probably a 2.4 GHz phone, and is interfering with your WLAN. Shop for a new phone that supports frequency hopping that will hop around your WLAN network.
Dan Simone, Trapeze Networks:
There are several factors you can check to see whether they improve the reliability of the link from your 802.11g router to your client. First, check the power setting on your router. It may be too low, limiting the range of its transmissions.
Second, try setting your router and NIC to a different channel. Try the settings at the two ends of the 2.4 GHz spectrum, channels 1 and 11, to see whether either one improves the connectivity.
Third, your 2.4 GHz phone will continue to be an issue for your home wireless network. It operates in the same frequency as your network and will continue to create interference problems. You could try using a 900 MHz wireless phone instead.
Wireless LANs that operate in the 5 GHz band running 802.11a are not subject to interference problems from wireless phones or from microwaves, but typically the 802.11a products are a bit more expensive, so enterprise businesses tend to use 802.11a more than home users.
Finally, talk to the manufacturer of your laptop to see if they have a list of recommended wireless cards that are known to work. From your discussion, it sounds like there’s a known issue between the NIC and other parts of your laptop, so the laptop maker may have tested several wireless cards to see which ones work best with the laptop you have.
