Wireless Dlink internet problems

[Lep]

Been going on every once in a while for the past year, but recently, multiple times a day. I'm so sick of this.

 

We got a brand new modem today and our dlink (N) router is brand new as well as my (N) receiver. We have the main computer which sends the signal, and then 3 others which are using it wirelessly, an xbox using it wirelessly and another xbox using it wired. However, only MY computer ever [bleep]s up, and I hae no idea why. It's the cleanest computer and most taken care of out of all of the computers in this god damn house.

 

Every so often, it loses the little planet icon and becomes local only, even though the signal quality stays the same.

 

The little planet icon will only reappear when it feels like it and then the internet will start working again. It doesn't matter even if I restart the adapter or anything, it just fixes itself when it wants to. It disconnects like 30 times an hour now.

 

I have no god damn clue what the hell is wrong so can somebody PLEASE help me? Also, the main computer is connected to 2 networks for some reason unknown to me, however, everyone elses internet works completely fine. I've tried disabling 1 of those networks on the main computer but that just causes everyones internet including the main computers internet to stop working, but it works fine again when I re-enable it...

[Lep]

Just found out my brother using the main computers internet has been hosting some [cabbage] on minecraft? Open servers or whatever or some crap with 5 people using our internet or something? He said he'll stop doing it for the next few days to see if it stops. Idk if that has anything to do with it.

 

Edit: It's still doing it.

[indy500fan]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "the main computer sends the signal". Why would you have internet connection sharing set up through that computer if you have a router? The computers shouldn't need to connect to a main computer, unless you have some sort of server with a domain set up on it. Not too much point in that on a home network though.

[Lep]

I mean that the main computer is sending the wireless signal from the modem & router with the antenna and we receive the wireless signal with our adapters.

[Ember]

.

[Lep]

I believe it's serving as a gateway attached to a shared wireless access point.

[lsubzero]

Is your router password protected? if not, people can leech your internet. It will make your internet go slow. I have 3 computers at home and the first router I had was somehow diving the internet speed. Then I bought a better router and now I have full internet speed on each pc. Might also be your internet service provider.

[indy500fan]

I mean that the main computer is sending the wireless signal from the modem & router with the antenna and we receive the wireless signal with our adapters.

 

But why? What particular reason are you doing it that way for?

[Lep]

What do you mean? I went to radioshack and bought a router, plugged it into the modem and hooked up my wireless receiver to my upstairs computer. Is there some secret ninja way of doing internet? Isn't this how it's supposed to be?

[Ember]

.

[indy500fan]

What do you mean? I went to radioshack and bought a router, plugged it into the modem and hooked up my wireless receiver to my upstairs computer. Is there some secret ninja way of doing internet? Isn't this how it's supposed to be?

 

Basically I was trying to figure out what you actually have without actually saying that you don't have what you think. I do this for a living you see :wink: .

 

The way you were describing originally is not common at all. The way you described it in this post is normal, though it is still possible that it is somehow configured like you said in the first post (only saying it's possible because you mentioned that shutting off one of the networks on the "main computer" causes everyone's internet to go down).

 

As it stands now I still have no idea how you would have configured it so that everyone's internet goes through one computer (well, I know how it is done but not why it would be done). None of your computers should be connected to the "main computer". They should be connected to the wireless router. If there is any sort of internet sharing on the main computer then it should be turned off. The main computer should just connect to one wireless network (the wireless router).

[Lord Diddy]

 

Sorry but I'm just trying to clarify your question for myself and other people. In the diagram the router may be a direct switch that just expands lan ports or be a wireless router. Usually a router works independent of computers, so you could disconnect your "main" computer out of the equation and your router will still send out a wireless signal. I believe you may be getting it confused because you do router configurations on your computer (when really you could do it from any machine connected to your network, with the appropriate username and password of course). Or you're using another setup in which case this paragraph and picture is totally irrelevant.

 

If you don't mind, saying your ISP, computer specs, ethernet/wireless adapter model, ect. would help to solve your problem. My guess would be that your wireless reciever may be the cause, i would try and connect it directly with an ethernet cable and see if you get steady internet and then you can narrow down the causes. Also do all your computers use Vista?

[Guy]

I'm not entirely sure what that icon is with/without the globe..? I presume you're on vista? If its a third party program I would suggest just sticking with the default utility included with windows.

[Lep]

Yes I'm using vista.

 

I have a feeling I'm getting the terms completely wrong or something.

 

I believe my internet provided is East Link.

 

[Lep]

When my internet isn't completely 'dropping', it is slowing down, going from 135 MB/S to 13.5 MB/S or a little lower - which I find is odd that when it slows it's 10x slower...

 

I find it wierd that whenever I browse this thing the globe icon disappears and my internet stops working as well;

[Lord Diddy]

First I would start out with narrowing down what is the cause of the problem. Try doing diffrent experiments that will help you narrow down your causes

 

Bring your computer closer to the wireless router, if the connection is fine then there may be interference between walls or some blockage

Check other computers if they have the same problem, it might not be as bad as yours but any significant drops could mean the router is a bit funny.

Make sure there arent weird setting in vista that are somehow limiting the wireless to a certain range, interference from phones may cause this.

Reinstall the driver for your wireless adapter to make sure it is up to date.

 

Once you determine whether it is the router, computer, adapter, or interference then it is easier to find a solution. (I have a weird feeling its something with Vista settings...) are all the computers in the house running the Vista OS

 

Edit: Usually when you have wireless on a computer only ONE manager is supposed to control the wireless internet. In your setup it seems that your wireless adapter along with your Vista wireless managing your network. This will in most cases cause conflicts, I recommend that you let either Vista or D-Link manage it and disable the other. I recommend disabling built in vista windows amd using your adapter

[Lep]

First I would start out with narrowing down what is the cause of the problem. Try doing diffrent experiments that will help you narrow down your causes

 

Bring your computer closer to the wireless router, if the connection is fine then there may be interference between walls or some blockage

Check other computers if they have the same problem, it might not be as bad as yours but any significant drops could mean the router is a bit funny.

Make sure there arent weird setting in vista that are somehow limiting the wireless to a certain range, interference from phones may cause this.

Reinstall the driver for your wireless adapter to make sure it is up to date.

 

Once you determine whether it is the router, computer, adapter, or interference then it is easier to find a solution. (I have a weird feeling its something with Vista settings...) are all the computers in the house running the Vista OS

 

Edit: Usually when you have wireless on a computer only ONE manager is supposed to control the wireless internet. In your setup it seems that your wireless adapter along with your Vista wireless managing your network. This will in most cases cause conflicts, I recommend that you let either Vista or D-Link manage it and disable the other. I recommend disabling built in vista windows amd using your adapter

 

As in the picture, there isn't anything blocking the 2 besides 140 year old, paper-thin windows. Our microwave is always unplugged and the only phone in the house is fairly far away. I have already made sure my wireless adapter is up to date. However, my mom is using XP and I'm pretty sure my uncle is also using XP as he's 50 something years old. Very clever, I didn't think of this.

 

Yes you are right that vista and my adapter are both controlling it (at least I think they are, because the green bar only appeared after I installed my new one while the globe thing was there before)

 

How do I go about disabling the vista controller?

[Lord Diddy]

I have rarely did any networking in Vista, but it does seem that disabling it is very annoying. It would be easier to try to configure your adapter (the green bars) though the properties. Take a look and you may see something along the lines of "Allow this program to manage your wireless" and disable it. If it worked with Vista before perfectly then it would be best to recreate that situation. The link below is an alternative if you cannot find that setting.

 

http://www.nerdgrind.com/wireless-networking-frequently-asked-questions-for-windows-vista/