Geek alert! Need home wireless networking advice

[Dirty Hippie]

Around Thanksgiving I bought a Dlink wireless router and a network card for my son's computer. I've probably called the manufacturer at least half a dozen times with various problems.

Currently, he cannot download a file of any size. The download begins fast enough but quickly slows and then virtually stops. If he closes the window and waits, his Internet connection seems to come back.

I am so frustrated with this product. My question: Should I chunk this junk and go with a different brand or forget about wireless altogether? Is this problem inherent to home wireless systems?

BTW: The router is upstairs and the network card is installed in a computer downstairs no more than 25 ft away. Standard wood construction home.

Thanks in advance for any help. I've searched Google and Google Groups and have not found my answer.


On Edit: The broadband connection is Comcast cable and It works flawlessly.

[DS1]

1. I'd try a different PC before going further

Could be your operating system or low memory

[Dirty Hippie]

2. The computer is rather old

running win 98 SE. It it suppose to be compatable but maybe it is a stretch.

[DS1]

4. download something big from microsoft

find a service pack or something, you don't even have to need it. perhaps the place where your son downloads stuff from just sucks, M$ has more connectivity than plenty of states, give them a shot and see if you still have problems .

[kcwayne]

3. Wireless can be affected by power lines and ducting

in your walls. Isolate whether the problem with transmission is location specific by moving the computer to a different location in the house and see if the problem persists.

The fact that the file transmission starts off ok and then gets bad suggests that there may be an issue other than transmission quality between the router and the wireless card. Usually manufacturers have some sort of diagnostic display that shows link quality that you should monitor while the transmission is occurring to see if it is changing. Check the drive where the file transfer is placing data and be sure that there is adequate space. Also check the drive to see if it is heavily fragmented and defragment it if so.

I bought a Netgear wireless router, and it is useless as well because the room where the cable modem is located is in a location that has too much shielding (appliances and high levels of electical wiring) between the room and other areas of the house where I wanted connectivity. I ended up converting phone wiring to network wiring, and used wireless phones which operate in a frequency range that is more impervious to household interference.

[Kellanved]

5. Have you installed the newest Firmware?

Especially for D-Link it can be worthwhile to check the Taiwanese page for updates:
http://tsd.dlink.com.tw/info.nsf/download%2Fbroadband?OpenView&Start=1&Count=30&Collapse=8#8

[Dirty Hippie]

6. Yes, I've installed the latest driver.

.