laptop network issue

July 6, 2005 4:12 PM

I have a linksys wireless router (WRT54GS) and broadband. I never have any connectivity issues with my desktop that is connected with cat-5. I never used to have issues with my laptop with a wireless card, but recently....

the laptop has taken to switching from a DHCP generated ip like 192.168.1.100 to something completely weird (say 169.54.23.89). And my remote desktop to my desktop then dies. I have tried setting the IP to a reasonable range staticly instead of using DHCP, but now it stops communicating but the ip stays the same. I have to do a release/renew to get connectivity again. Also, when this happens, the laptop (DELL PC) can not communicate to the Internet at all. I have changed nothing aside from pouring some beer into the laptop and sending it away to have the keyboard repaired. Otherwise the machine works fine. Any leads as to how I can detect the problem and remedy it? THanks.

posted by pissfactory to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Possibly your laptop is still configured to get the IP of the gateway through DHCP, can you still ping the router?
posted by atrazine at 4:41 PM on July 6, 2005

when the disconnect happens? i'll try that. though I thought setting TCP/IP to use a static address would stop this. The thing is it works for a bit then sort of decides to grab a new IP address from somewhere. Could this be possible network interference? There are two other (unsecured, mine isn't) networks that I can see from my flat (I say flat even though I am in the U.S. because it sounded cool at the time).
posted by pissfactory at 5:19 PM on July 6, 2005

There may be a few factors at play here.

First thing -- change the default DHCP range, because of the possibility that someone else near you may have the same brand router as you do. Interference could cause your good network signal to be interpreted as unusable, causing the laptop to switch to another network. I would suggest 10.10.10.0, which is also a "private" address (there's another "private" range but I can't remember what it is just now).

Something else you should do is make sure that your network is explicitly specified as the "preferred wireless network" in Windows's wireless settings. Otherwise all available wireless networks are "equally preferred", and that *might* be why your setup stops working after some time.
posted by clevershark at 5:33 PM on July 6, 2005

Sounds like there's something wrong with your router and not your laptop. If you have recently purchased a 2.4gh phone, this could be the problem (or a neighbour).

I have a Linksys WRT54GS and although I don't use the stock firmware, I do know that it has an option to change the wireless channel (default is 6, try 11).

In addition to cleversharks' recommendation about manually configuring your preferred wireless connection you should also set a pre-shared key and/or force encryption (WPA-PSK). This not only adds a degree of security to your wireless network, but it might ensure that you are connecting to the proper router.

If all else fails, check with the Linksys download section for your router and try updating to the latest firmware. If you are flashing to the latest firmware, I would also recommend that you use the reset button on the back to the router to force it to factory settings prior to updating.

Good luck.
posted by purephase at 5:58 PM on July 6, 2005

If your ip address starts with 169.54, it probably means your computer is having problems connecting to the dhcp server and thus the router, so it's no surprise that even a static ip doesn't work. Maybe there's a problem with the card or router...try finding a newer driver for the card and/or firmware for the router. Even if there isn't a newer one, reinstalling the driver may help.
posted by edjusted at 1:01 AM on July 7, 2005

Beat me to it: What edjusted said.
Can't be definate without actually sitting in front of the kit to have a look but there's probably nothing wrong with configuration of TCP/IP settings on the laptop or router as such, more likely that it is either a driver/hardware/firmware fault that a driver reinstall would hopefully fix.
posted by qwerty155 at 1:54 AM on July 7, 2005

there's another "private" range but I can't remember what it is just now

192.168.*
posted by yerfatma at 5:12 AM on July 8, 2005