Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with WiFi

Wonky windows 7 wifi

signal — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 16:26:56 -0800

Suddenly started getting "limited connection" using windows 7. Recently, my Dell XPS M1530 started having serious issues while connecting to wifi networks: it shows me as connected, but with no network or internet access, and no assigned IP number. Then, between 5 to 15 minutes later, the connection's fine.
This started simultaneously both at home and at my office, so I don't think it's a problem with either network's configuration or hardware. Nobody else at either location reports a similar issue.
I doubt it's a hardware issue either as I don't have the same problem when booting the same laptop into Ubuntu (which I'm using to type this).
I don't have any restore points (thought I did). I downloaded the latest wifi driver for my computer from Dell and no cigar. I let windows update update the driver and zilch.
Running the windows troubleshooting wizard didn't have any discernible effect.
I get the same problem whether booting into w7 or returning from the sleeping state, or just switching my wifi off an on.

Public Wifi Paranoia

amyms — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:20:39 -0800

I need a list of things that are safe/not safe to do online in a public wifi environment. I've recently found myself in a situation where I have a few hours to kill, several times weekly, in a town away from home. So far I've spent most of my free time hanging out in a coffee shop. They offer public wifi and I've been debating about bringing in my laptop, but I've never accessed public wifi before and I'm feeling a little paranoid.

So, talk to me like I'm a kindergartener. What kind of online things are safe (logging into Metafilter, email, etc.)? And what kinds of things are complete no-nos (shopping, checking bank balance, etc.) in this environment?

Are Cell Towers/Wifi Harmless?

carterk — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:49:35 -0800

So cell towers are being installed next to a school that's near mine. Parents there are concerned about this, and also about the presence of wifi networks in schools. They cite research promulgated by a Magda Havas. I know hers is a minority viewpoint- but is it fairly described as 'crackpot'? Do parents have legitimate concerns over these issues?

Help me bring back my wifi!

COBRA! — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:15:02 -0800

I'm having wifi troubles with my MacBook, and the lack of connectivity for the weekend gave me the shakes. Help me before the withdrawal gets worse! The gist: WPA2 Personal network, running on a Netgear router. Been up for a while, played nice with my MacBook (running Snow Leopard) and my wife's XP laptop. Over the weekend, the router rebooted during the setup of a new Roku, and my MacBook abruptly dropped the network; since then, I haven't been able to reconnect, just getting the standard "There was an error trying to join the network [SSID]. Please try again later."

My wife's XP machine still connects with no trouble.

As nearly as I can tell, it seems like my laptop sees the network, but can't recognize it as WPA2 Personal; when I try to connect, the SSID shows up in my saved networks as WPA2 Enterprise. Editing one of the Enterprise instances to Personal with the correct login information doesn't help, nor does manually adding a new Personal instance.

Other things I have tried:

- rebooting the router (multiple times)
- deleting the keychain storing network passwords
- deleting the plist storing network prefs
- deleting and re-adding the entire Airport connection in my network prefs
- reinstalling and updating Snow Leopard (update done with the MacBook connected by ethernet)

Any thoughts/suggestions/ideas?

What is the absolute simplest, least expensive way to fix my sister-in-law's home network?

ook — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:57:17 -0800

What is the absolute simplest, least expensive way to fix my sister-in-law's home network? Here's what we have so far:

* a technophobic relative who lives hours away from me, for whom I would like to do a minimum of telephonic tech support
* a cable internet box, which has exactly one ethernet jack
* an iMac with one ethernet jack and no ability to connect to a WiFi network[1]
* a mac laptop for which they would like wireless access
* an Airport Express, which I suggested they buy before I discovered that the iMac cannot connect to WiFi.

[1] I spent a good chunk of my Thanksgiving weekend trying unsuccessfully to get WiFi to work on that iMac; the laptop connects fine, but I finally concluded that either there's something wrong with the iMac's airport card or that an assistive-learning device she has installed for her son is interfering with the machine's ability to connect to a normal WiFi network or there's some other software issue which I'm just too dumb to figure out; in any case let's just assume that this machine will need to have a wired connection.

Obviously I could suggest they buy an Airport Extreme instead, and then they could use the Express to extend the network range or as a, I dunno, doorstop. But that's kind of pricey, and I already feel a bit sheepish for suggesting they buy the Express in the first place.

Will one of those cheapo $10 ethernet hubs be sufficient? (Cable box to hub, from there wired connections to the iMac and to the airport express, which the laptop can connect to). Or do I need a switch, or a router, or -- basically I know enough about networking to know that there is a difference between these devices, but not enough to know what it is or why you would need one instead of another in a given situation. And I don't really care, I'd just like to put this behind me with a minimum of fuss. And I would especially like to avoid buying anything that will need my sister-in-law to do any software configuration, because I'll end up trying to do it over the phone, which... yeah. Let's not.

So: suggestions?

Can I use a Smartphone Without a Data Plan on Verizon?

Cheesoning — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:56:17 -0800

Anyone successfully using a smartphone on Verizon Wireless without a data plan? Similar questions have been asked here in the past, but I couldn't find information on how to keep a smartphone from switching to the VzW network if wifi connectivity is lost or whether you can change your plan once you sign up and buy a smartphone.

VzW told me in person and over the phone that the Droid required a data plan. However, if I check options for upgrading my current phone on their site, it shows that the Droid is compatible with my current plan. I'd like to keep my current voice plan and use the Droid for surfing on my wifi network only. Can it be done?

What's the best wireless audio bridge / networked digital audio receiver that works on the Mac?

nitsuj — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:27:10 -0800

What's the best wireless audio bridge / networked digital audio receiver that works on the Mac? I'm looking for a simple hardware solution that will allow me to bridge my Macbook Pro's audio-out source to my home theater amplifier. Many products like the WMB54G and Sirocco either have no Mac support at all, or have very poor reviews and cost way too much.

The Airport Express seems decent if I only wanted to stream iTunes, but I'd also like to stream from other sources, like Spotify, which it won't support.

Is there a simple, under-$100 (or close to it) solution out there?

Help me with a bit of passive home defence

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:26:38 -0800

Looking for a GSM alarm system for my house. I don't live in the States, so the answer should ideally be non-US specific. I was wondering about the Panasonic BL-C131A, but that needs presumably a decent amount of light and a working internet connection to alert me of break-ins. And without push email, fifteen minutes could pass before I get the alert. It's not really ideal, I don't think... A GSM alarm seems like a better idea, but they all seem so expensive and if not expensive then Chinese. Does anyone have a recommendation for a basic all-in-one system with GSM alert for under $200? I only need one PIR, with bonus points for expandability. I noticed Ontech GSM Mini 9009 (+ Ontech GSM Relay 9010) but they are fairly expensive considering the actual alarm isn't included here. Any thoughts? Surely in this digital age the home security market has moved on from closed solutions like a monitoring centre?

Wireless internet and wireless printing on two separate networks

game warden to the events rhino — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:54:36 -0800

I borrow my neighbor's wireless internet, with their permission. Can I set up a separate network for wireless printing in my apartment, and use it simultaneously? I have a Macbook Pro and a (currently unused) Apple Airport Express, and plan to buy a laser printer. I'd like to keep my current internet arrangement, because it saves me money! I have two questions:

1. Am I going to have any problem running a wireless network for printing that doesn't have any connection to the internet at all?
2. Is there any way I could set this system up to avoid having to switch manually between networks every time I wanted to print, or am I completely misunderstanding the nature of wifi in even asking this? Could I be connected to both networks at once?

Thanks in advance.

I have one of those laptops with a stupid wifi switch on it

defmute — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:40:33 -0800

I have the internet switch turned on on my laptop but windows says my internet switch is off. How do i turn my internet switch on? I own a Toughbook CF-52 running SP2 and it comes with a stupid manual internet switch on it.

one day, my wifi refuses to work and i get messages like these from my wifi connector wizard thing and my wifi switch software version thing. neither application allows me to turn the wifi on even though they're both telling me the wifi is off. i've checked my wificard in the device manager and it's enabled and everything. what do i do?

Late-night wifi in the Twin Cities

beautifulstuff — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:13:41 -0800

Where can I find late-night wifi in the Twin Cities? I love bringing my laptop to coffee shops and working while I sip a nice latte, but my problem is that I prefer to work late, and no coffee shop with which I'm familiar is open past 8pm.

What other locations would you recommend where I could work until 11 or midnight on weekday evenings? The location should have power outlets, free (speedy) wifi, and not care if I take up a table for four hours. Good food, coffee, and/or beer are bonuses. It doesn't need to be quiet, but super loud and jammed with people might make getting work done a little difficult.

Libraries close way too early. I've tried Borders and B&N, but they usually close at 10pm and their wifi sucks. Few bars or restaurants seem to have free wifi, and those that do don't have power outlets and don't like me taking up a table all evening. Do places like this even exist? Am I asking for too much?

I'd prefer locations on the Minneapolis side of town, but if you know of a hidden gem somewhere in the East Metro, I'm willing to drive.

Thanks Twin Cities Mefites!

Seeking Wifi cable vendors ...

bhance — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:23:13 -0800

Help me find a good WiFi 'cable extender' vendor ... Point me in the direction of a good (cheap) vendor for WiFi 'extension' cables? They need to ship to the US.

I have several situations where I'm looking to extend the distance between a Wifi device and its antenna by adding a 5 or 10 foot extension cable where the antenna screws into the device.

I.e. I need a cable 'extender' for a Linksys WMP54GS PCI card, a Linksys WRT54G, and some various Netgear devices -- all of which seem to have different screw-type connectors and plastic antenna connector thingies.

(Bonus points if you have already done business with the company and would recommend them to others.)

Free WiFi in Tokyo and the rest of Japan?

teem — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:39:56 -0800

How widespread is free, open WiFi in Japan (Tokyo especially)? I've had good success using free WiFi in malls and such with my iPod Touch when I'm in unfamiliar major cities. It's great for accessing Google maps, looking up addresses, etc.

Will I be able to do this when I'm in Tokyo next year? What about when I'm in smaller rural cities? Are there any potential technologic or legal worries I need to consider or things I should prepare before going?

Help, I need a stronger wifi signal!

OuttaHere — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:53:19 -0800

Help! I live in a basement and need a stronger Wi-Fi Connection! I live in a Basement of a townhome and pay for internet which my landlord provides via Wi-Fi.

The problem is that he has the router on the third floor of the house, and I am in the basement. It probably doesn't help that it is an old building, so there is a lot of brick and mortar. Anyways, he uses Comcast so in order for us to have a land line in our residence we would have to pay for a completely new cable package/modem etc.

In my room I am getting like 25% signal, 2 bars out of 5 pretty much, and get a really shitty and slow connection. If I move my computer out to the main room my speed and connection increases 10 fold.

Anyway, I'm not the greatest with this kind of tech stuff so I was wondering if people out there had options for me. I haven't talked to my landlord about it but wanted to confront him with some options.

Anyone have ideas, especially if you are familiar with comcast. Are those "Range Extenders" worth it? Can you add a router to a lower level somehow to increase the range? Is there anything comcast can do?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

No more wires please.

Jon-o — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:29:04 -0800

Apple AirPort Express wireless music question. I know iTunes has an option to play music via the speaker-output port on the AirPort Express base station. How do I route all of my computer's audio output through that?

Chicago late-night wifi

enn — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:08:47 -0800

Where on the north side of Chicago can I use a laptop and connect to a wireless network late at night? I'm looking for a place where I can bring my laptop in the evenings and work until at least midnight. Most of the coffee shops I know of close at 9 or 10.

How to separate open wifi from wired network.

Jackie_Treehorn — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:37:12 -0800

How can I offer guests in my home or business wifi that is separate from my home or business network? I'd like to be able to easily offer guests in my home or business free, unsecured wireless access, but at the same time not allow them access to my other wired or secured wireless network.

How would I do that?

Thank you!

Hope me the legitament phone filter

shoebox — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:01:26 -0800

Help me choose a legit new cellphone that's on the market now that can meet all of my 21st century needs and demands. My trusty old cellphone recently met with the business end of cutting edge Swedish furniture design (phone in pocket; bumped into table). Higher powers have recognized that a phone is essential for them to keep tabs on me - so they in their great wisdom have decided to fully subsidize my replacement and left the details up to me. However, I really have not been keeping up with current technology. That is where I need you, hive mind.

My budget is ~$500 CDN, although the less spent the better. I don't mind if it goes over, but nothing too ridiculous. The plan is to basically get a phone second hand/off ebay/the black market/whatever and stick in my current Rogers SIM card. However, I don't have a data plan (on family plan right now) and don't plan to get one, so I suppose a smartphone would be out of the question.

A few other things to consider:

Wifi capability would be excellent. I am almost always in a multi-bar zone and would like to put it to good use.

Must have a decent music player (and expandable storage). I was thinking of getting a new mp3 player to replace my old zen micro from eons past, but now that cellphones can do virtually everything, this seems like a good way to kill two birds with one hand-held device.

A decent camera would be nice (same reason as above).

FM Radio. For when my music gets monotonous.

Bluetooth would be cool.

Must be black. I can live with blue or dark gray.

Most importantly, I plan to take care of this phone and need to last a long time, so something that wont be obsolete in at least a few years or so would be preferable.

Connection timing out after startup

pravit — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:48:28 -0800

After starting up, my laptop can connect to my wifi network, but I have to wait several minutes before I can actually connect to any websites without timing out. My wireless card is the Intel 4965AGN and wireless manager is Intel PROSet/Wireless. I have no problem connecting to my wifi network itself, because I can access the router page, but I time out when I try to connect to anything on the net. After waiting around for 5-10 minutes, I can connect. Occasionally it never fixes itself unless I reboot.

My iPhone doesn't seem to have this problem, and neither do other laptops using the network, so I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my network settings or the PROSet manager. I don't remember ever having this problem when I run Linux either (where I use WICD as my wifi manager).

Any idea what it might be? Thanks.

Why-Fi?

Rhaomi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:17:19 -0800

What's killing my wi-fi connection? The last few days I've been having some odd problems with my wireless network. I'll be browsing on my laptop when all of a sudden things get really slow, as if I lost the connection. But instead of being sent to "This page is not available" or "server not found" pages like when there really is no connection, I just get stuck loading forever. So if I open a tab and go to Google, it will sit and load saying "Waiting for www.google.com" in the status bar for a minute or two, then eventually say "Done" -- even though the only thing that has loaded is a completely blank tab (even the source code of the page is empty) with the raw URL in the title bar.

But throughout all this, there's no indication that I've lost my connection. The wifi icon in the system tray doesn't change, and says I'm connected if I hover over it. When I open up the Command Prompt and enter ipconfig /all, it says all my internet connection stats are normal. The subnet mask, DHCP server, DNS, etc. are all there. The IP address doesn't start with 169. It's all okay.

Weirdest of all, despite the fact that I can see that all the connection info is normal, if I enter my router's IP address into the address bar (which usually takes me to the router's settings page), it just does the same thing. Load... load... load... blank tab. I understand not being able to connect to the internet, but if I can see all my connection and router info in Command Prompt, why can't I connect to the same router with my browser?

The only way to fix it, I've found, is to disconnect from the wireless network and reconnect. It'll then work fine for anywhere from one minute to fifteen, at which point the connection drops again. This is only affecting my laptop, by the way -- iPods and other laptops connect fine.

I've tried restarting my computer, restarting the router, and repairing the connection -- nothing works. It seems that getting closer to the router improves things, but I'm not sure since the problem comes and goes randomly. And besides, the router is in the same place as it's always been, so unless it's suddenly lost broadcasting power I don't see what would cause the problem. And in the "View Wireless Networks" window, it says the network has an Excellent signal when I'm not connected (though that decreases a bar or two once I do).

The only incident I can think of is that a power surge recently burnt out the power supply, and I had to buy a universal one with an adapter to get the router up and running again. But this was a week or two before the trouble started, so that's probably not the source.

Is there anything that would cause a wireless router to lose signal strength like that? Is there something I can do to fix it, or should I just spring for a new one?

Details: I have a Dell laptop running Windows XP SP3. I have a Bellsouth Fast Access DSL internet connection. The router is a 2Wire HomePortal 1700HW. The loading problem happens on Firefox, Chrome, and IE7.

One more detail I remembered: For awhile when the problem first started, ipconfig /all was giving me some weird info. For instance, it said that the "lease" for the connection expired one second after it was obtained. But it's not doing that anymore.

OhMyGodIThinkTheItouchIsCoolBut...

wittgenstein — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:23:29 -0800

Question about wi-fi and my new itouch. I was lucky enough to recieve a free itouch from work. After downloading the software upgrade, I am now going crazy with apps (after reading previous AskMeFis, of course.)

One evening, while using the LastFm app, I lost the internet connection. Since then, my itouch does not seem to be able to "receive" the wi-fi at my house.

Data Points:
1. I have tried telling the itouch to "forget" the house wi-fi, so that I have to log in to it again.

2. The itouch works fine at other locations (school, Barnes and Noble, etc.)

3. The home wi-fi is working fine for our laptops.

4. On the very unlikely chance that LastFm had anything to do with it, I deleted and reloaded that application. That had no effect as well.

When I try to connect, and then use Safari, for example, the screen turns a darker color and keeps trying to connect until the operation times out (or I end it myself.)

Obviously, this is not a life or death situation, but it is annoying, and I would like to solve it myself if I can. Any suggestions?

Seattle company that provides temporary internet for events?

kables — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:31:21 -0800

Where can I find a Seattle company that provides temporary internet connections for conferences & events? My Google-fu is failing me.

I'm part of a group organizing an unconference in Seattle in October. Our location is a public high school.... and it is looking like we might need to get internet access from a separate vendor (connectivity issues asides, public-school-mandated content filters might be a real issue if we use the school's connection).

Does anyone know of any companies in Seattle that provide temporary internet drops for conferences and events? We expect around 300 attendees.

Experience with Sprint / Nextel MiFi?

bamassippi — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:04:59 -0800

Experience with Sprint / Nextel MiFi? Moving into an area of Seattle with a cable/Internet provider with a poor reputation and performance. My wife and I are considering the MiFi 2200. We both work from home and I wanted to ask the MeFi-ers first to see if anyone has had any experience with this device/service.

We need something that can handle everything from running reports through VPNs, to watching videos, to downloading large files. What should we need to know (or be concerned) about? How does it compare to a top-of-the-line high-speed broadband service?

ableton, wifi and low latency

Moistener — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:42:40 -0800

If you're able to run Ableton with very low ASIO latency AND have a USB wifi dongle AND can run both simultaneously AND run Windows XP, please tell me what wifi dongle you have. Wifi dongles and their drivers have a known habit of locking up, blocking up and cocking up the smooth flow of data required for low latency ASIO Ableton awesomeness.

My Zydas/Linkskey USB dongle is such a one.

I'd like to buy a different wifi USB dongle so I can stream Ableton awesomeness via wifi.

Help keep my old Powerbook G4 on WiFi. (Technical Mac Question.)

Mid — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:57:25 -0800

Help keep my old Powerbook G4 on WiFi. (Technical Mac Question.) I have an older Powerbook G4 that has seen better days. At some point, the internal Airport card stopped working (I think because the internal antenna broke after a fall). I then popped an external wireless card into the PC slot (the Morotola WN825G) and it worked like a charm for 2+ years. Suddenly, however, the external card is dead. None of the LEDs light up and the computer does not detect it in any program or profiler. I bought a new card (they're only $20) and got the same result. I have done about every kind of reset there is -- battery and power out overnight, reset-nvram in the firmware, control-apple-PR, etc and there is no change. When I look at "Console," nothing happens when I put the card in and pull it out -- i.e., the computer is not registering that a card is in the slot as far as I can tell.

Here are my questions:

1. I have not done any software re-installs. Is it worth it to start re-installing the OS? This seems more like a hardware problem, no? If I re-install, do I need to wipe the drive and start over? Or can I just re-install the system on existing drive?

2. I have not done anything with drivers. I'm pretty sure the Mac does not need a driver to operate this card because the card uses the same chipset as the orginal Airport card.

3. Assuming this is a hardware issue, should I just junk the machine? I feel like anything over $250 is wasted in a machine that is already pretty beat up.

Thanks for your thoughts and guesses.