Fri, 30 Dec 2005, by suse@koepsell.info:

On Friday 30 December 2005 07:41, Per Jessen wrote:

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bernd wrote:

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Is there such an animal as bombproof wireless pci cards for linux that

bombproof? - as in radiation-hardened, fully military spec? :-)

Sorry! Bombproof: US slang for something that works consistently, no problems.

The correct computer jargon is 'foolproof' Theo -- Theo v. Werkhoven Registered Linux user# 99872 http://counter.li.org ICBM 52 13 26N , 4 29 47E. + ICQ: 277217131 SUSE 9.2 + Jabber: muadib@jabber.xs4all.nl Kernel 2.6.8 + See headers for PGP/GPG info. Claimer: any email I receive will become my property. Disclaimers do not apply.

On Fri, 2005-12-30 at 17:12 -0800, Randall R Schulz wrote:

Hi,

On Friday 30 December 2005 17:05, Theo v. Werkhoven wrote:

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Fri, 30 Dec 2005, by suse@koepsell.info:

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On Friday 30 December 2005 07:41, Per Jessen wrote:

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bombproof? - as in radiation-hardened, fully military spec? :-)

Sorry! Bombproof: US slang for something that works consistently, no problems.

The correct computer jargon is 'foolproof'

From which we get the old saw, sometimes referred to as Naeser's Law:

"You can make it foolproof, but you can't make it damn foolproof."

Another term used is idiot proof, but that would fail the test with a lot of the computer users I have seen in my day. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998

Fri, 30 Dec 2005, by mwmcmlln@mnsi.net:

On Sat, 2005-12-31 at 02:05 +0100, Theo v. Werkhoven wrote:

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Fri, 30 Dec 2005, by suse@koepsell.info:

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On Friday 30 December 2005 07:41, Per Jessen wrote:

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bernd wrote:

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Is there such an animal as bombproof wireless pci cards for linux that

bombproof? - as in radiation-hardened, fully military spec? :-)

Sorry! Bombproof: US slang for something that works consistently, no problems.

The correct computer jargon is 'foolproof'

Is that an applicable term in computing though? Nothing I know of is safe from some folks and their innate genius.

It is somewhat optimistic, yes. I know people who are able to fsck the use of even an On/Off switch.. Theo -- Theo v. Werkhoven Registered Linux user# 99872 http://counter.li.org ICBM 52 13 26N , 4 29 47E. + ICQ: 277217131 SUSE 9.2 + Jabber: muadib@jabber.xs4all.nl Kernel 2.6.8 + See headers for PGP/GPG info. Claimer: any email I receive will become my property. Disclaimers do not apply.

On Sat, 2005-12-31 at 08:50 -0800, bernd wrote:

On Saturday 31 December 2005 04:24, Theo v. Werkhoven wrote:

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Fri, 30 Dec 2005, by mwmcmlln@mnsi.net:

It is somewhat optimistic, yes. I know people who are able to fsck the use of even an On/Off switch..

Okay guys, I get the hint!!! ;-) Just frustrated, that's all!

Basically, the problem is that my signal drops between my machines and the router (Linksys WRT54G v.3). Signal drops and then it picks it back up again after 5-90 seconds. After a series of these drops, the ap is lost altogether. After an active scan, I may or may not find the ap, and even if the ap is found and I connect "successfully", I'm not able to find the name servers again.

I've gone through most everything that I've found, using the how-to's, guides, and posts. I'm still testing a few things with the pci cards -and- the wireless router. Since my original post, all I've done since, I'm leaning toward router problems. I'll get back in a couple of days.

Thanks,

Bernd

Don't feel lonesome, my Linksys WRT54G also drops the signal for no apparent reason as well. I have to reboot the router to get the signal back. The cat5 connections keep on working without any loss of connection. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998

Simon Roberts wrote:

--- Ken Schneider wrote:

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Don't feel lonesome, my Linksys WRT54G also drops the signal for no apparent reason as well. I have to reboot the router to get the signal back. The cat5 connections keep on working without any loss of connection.

My router(s) are Belkin, I don't think I've ever had to reboot them for dropping anything.

I second that. My wireless Belkin router is now in operation for 8 months and has not had a hiccough once. Regards, -- Jos van Kan registered Linux user #152704

Bruce Marshall wrote:

Have you upgraded the firmware lately? There's a pretty significant upgrade out there in version 4.70.6 including QoS. I think that is a very good advice. I have a WRT54G running the latest firmware, 4.20.7 working quite well, but worked with my daughter yesterday with theirs (same model but with firmware 2.04.2 IIRC) and her's kept dropping the wireless connection periodically.

-- Joe Morris Registered Linux user 231871

--- bernd wrote:

Basically, the problem is that my signal drops between my machines and the router (Linksys WRT54G v.3). Signal drops and then it picks it back up again after 5-90 seconds. After a series of these drops, the

ap is lost altogether. After an active scan, I may or may not find the ap, and even if the ap is found and I connect "successfully", I'm not able to find the name servers again.

Sounds like a physical environment problem more than anything to do with software. Bring the machines close together for a while and see if that makes it work more reliably. Generally, wireless doesn't go through concrete, or metal reinforced, walls all that well, it's pretty much line of sight and a deliberately fairly weak--read short-range unless you tamper with it or the antennae--signal. It won't like a lot of wood/plasterboard walls either. iwconfig will tell you something about Link Quality, that is, the signal to noise ratio, which will give you an idea if the system is working with strong or weak signals. The same command appears to offer some chance to alter the transmit power of the card, (but not of your router/ap, unless that too is a Linux system). That might help some. I was hoping the thread would return to its original meaning as I'm looking for a "card that works well with Linux, is robust and reliable in installation, and for which the drivers are particularly well tested" (read "bombproof" too ;) In a recent thread, someone suggested the DLink DWL-650+ if memory serves, but that was only a single recommendation. Did you check the hardware compatibility lists for other ideas? Good luck, Cheers, Simon "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." — Naguib Mahfouz __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com

On Saturday 31 December 2005 12:09 pm, Simon Roberts wrote:

Sounds like a physical environment problem more than anything to do with software. Bring the machines close together for a while and see if that makes it work more reliably.

Generally, wireless doesn't go through concrete, or metal reinforced, walls all that well, it's pretty much line of sight and a deliberately fairly weak--read short-range unless you tamper with it or the antennae--signal. It won't like a lot of wood/plasterboard walls either.

Also check for interference from other wireless access points. Linksys defaults to channel 6 and is a very popular brand. If a neighbor has a default Linksys setup it will be interfering with yours. Change to another channel at the access point. Recommended channel gaps are 5, ie if the default is 6 try 1 or 11. Channels 5 or 7 won't be as effective as channels 3 or 9, etc. Also the radio frequency range of WiFi is shared with microwave ovens, baby monitors, 2.4GHz handheld phones, etc. You may have environmental issues that are messing with your WiFi. Don't forget to check firmware versions of the access point and the card. Make sure you have them at the most current levels unless you find some information online that says an older version is better at the moment.

I was hoping the thread would return to its original meaning as I'm looking for a "card that works well with Linux, is robust and reliable in installation, and for which the drivers are particularly well tested" (read "bombproof" too ;) In a recent thread, someone suggested the DLink DWL-650+ if memory serves, but that was only a single recommendation.

The better chipsets have been listed recently here, I believe in this thread. Best way to purchase a wireless card for Linux these days: know your chipset!

Simon

Stan

On Sunday 01 January 2006 1:38 pm, Paul Cartwright wrote:

On Sun January 1 2006 2:17 pm, Stan Glasoe wrote:

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Also the radio frequency range of WiFi is shared with microwave ovens, baby monitors, 2.4GHz handheld phones, etc. You may have environmental issues that are messing with your WiFi.

I've got 2.4Ghz wireless phones all over the house!!! the base station is less than 10 feet from my router.

As an experiment, turn off the 2.4Ghz phones (baby monitors, microwaves, etc) and see if WiFi works. If it does start working reliably then consider: 1) changing the channel WiFi uses. That should solve the phone issue if there is one 2) moving the WiFi access point and phone base station further away from each other 3) 5.8Ghz phones?... they probably won't interfere with anything for a few months!

-- Paul Cartwright

Stan

On Monday 02 January 2006 09:51, Paul Cartwright wrote:

On Mon January 2 2006 12:32 pm, Stan Glasoe wrote:

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I've got 2.4Ghz wireless phones all over the house!!! the base station is less than 10 feet from my router.

As an experiment, turn off the 2.4Ghz phones (baby monitors, microwaves, etc) and see if WiFi works. If it does start working reliably then consider:

right now, of course the laptop is sitting 4 feet from the router, everything is working and I have a 94% connection. IF I move it to the living room, or outside on the porch, and I run into problems, I'll either move the base station or change the channel, or BOTH.

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1) changing the channel WiFi uses. That should solve the phone issue if there is one 2) moving the WiFi access point and phone base station further away from each other 3) 5.8Ghz phones?... they probably won't interfere with anything for a few months!

I'm not replacing these phones any time soon, unless they break :)

-- Paul Cartwright Registered Linux user # 367800

Although my phones are 5.8Ghz, and our son is 16, so no baby monitors, this hint may have given me the answer to my problem. My ISP is wireless, and I have a wireless antenna for them on the back of the house. I've been running my network on the same channel as they are, as well as a couple of neighbours that pop up in the scan from time to time. This may be the cause of interference that leads to signal drops. In my previous contacts with Linksys, they had had me decrease my beacon interval, and rts and fragmentation threshholds. This did help reduce the drop rate, but not eliminate it. Testing the new channel to see if that's it for me. On my scans, no one else is using it in the area. Thanks for the hint. Bernd

On Sat, 2005-12-31 at 11:40 +0200, Hans du Plooy wrote:

On Sat, 2005-12-31 at 02:05 +0100, Theo v. Werkhoven wrote:

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The correct computer jargon is 'foolproof'

But.... fools are clever....

So are little kids. Mother called the "child proof" bottles nurse proof. Because a cleaver child can always find away around adult devices. there is even an old newspaper cartoon on this topic, whose author called his series moon Mullins. An elderly woman gave the medicine bottle to a child to open for her due to arthritis. -- ___ _ _ _ ____ _ _ _ | | | | [__ | | | |___ |_|_| ___] | \/