Wireless Problem

[cabinetman]

We lost the internet connection a couple of days ago. It was down intermittently and would come back, and this would happen different times all day, and finally it didn't come back. We had an AT&T contractor out, and then an AT&T tech guy.

It seems our modem was on the blink, in conjunction with some corrosion at the phone line connection at the house.

We had a Linksys router and Westell modem. They were replaced with an all-in-one Motorola. It seems the two computers we have on wireless wouldn't recognize the Motorola, so the Linksys was used for the router device. Now the speed is worse than dial up.

Is there some compatibility steps to acquaint the computer to the Motorola (router part). I know this sounds confusing, but to get the internet at all, we eliminated the Westell modem, and use the modem part of the Motorola and the router part of the Linksys.
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[crokett]

Is wireless active on the Motorola? Most manufacturers of wireless routers ship them with the wireless part disabled. This is a security feature. Are you sure it is wireless capable?

[phi1l]

Do you have any computers wired to the router, or just wireless. If it is just wireless, intermitant RF interference may be the cause of your problem. Have you moved the router or computers lately? Added a new wireless phone that uses the 2.4Ghz band? How about the neighbors? any new wireless routers in range, it may be a channel conflict & changing the channel may solve the problem.

The Motorola all in one should work, if properly configured, and the computers' encryption is set up to match the router. you should not have to use the Linksys unit. But if the wireless adapters on the computers are older, they may not have the more popular WPA encryption protocols that the new Router/modem like to use.

Remember if you make changes in configuration, you will probably need to power everything down & restart for the changes to take effect.

The problem can really be from a variety of sources. I would first rule out RF interference. The intermittent nature of the problem points to that. THen start lookign at the new equipment.


They probably didn't leave you a manual for the new router/modem but you can usually find it on line somewhere.

Also keep in mind that they probably didn't give you a new unit, so there may be problems with the router/modem.

Good Luck..

[cabinetman]

Do you have any computers wired to the router, or just wireless. If it is just wireless, intermitant RF interference may be the cause of your problem. Have you moved the router or computers lately? Added a new wireless phone that uses the 2.4Ghz band? How about the neighbors? any new wireless routers in range, it may be a channel conflict & changing the channel may solve the problem.

The Motorola all in one should work, if properly configured, and the computers' encryption is set up to match the router. you should not have to use the Linksys unit. But if the wireless adapters on the computers are older, they may not have the more popular WPA encryption protocols that the new Router/modem like to use.

Remember if you make changes in configuration, you will probably need to power everything down & restart for the changes to take effect.

The problem can really be from a variety of sources. I would first rule out RF interference. The intermittent nature of the problem points to that. THen start lookign at the new equipment.


They probably didn't leave you a manual for the new router/modem but you can usually find it on line somewhere.

Also keep in mind that they probably didn't give you a new unit, so there may be problems with the router/modem.

Good Luck..

We have one desktop that the wireless is connected to. Another desktop in the same room wired with an ethernet cable. We have a desktop and a laptop in other rooms on wireless. The one remote desktop has a Linksys remote antenna. Between the two desktops in the one room, all is well. I'm using the one that is hard wired.

As for the other two, they either take forever to load or don't load at all. IIRC, when we hooked up the Linksys originally, there were steps to introduce the hardware. I'm thinking that the all-in-one Motorola has to be configured. The tech that was here was more of a lineman and wasn't a hardware specialist. He did try his best and did succeed to get the two desktops to work. The Motorola was new and out of the box. There was no manual provided.
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[crokett]

What's the model number on the Motorola? There is probably a manual out on the web.

[cabinetman]

What's the model number on the Motorola? There is probably a manual out on the web.

Couldn't find a model #, but it looks like this.
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[crokett]

Googling Netopia, there should be a tag on the bottom with the model number. Here's how to find it:
http://www.netopia.com/support/hardw..._wireless.html

However, picking one similar to yours, this page suggests that wireless is turned off. It doesn't say it is, but under basic wireless config, it says to enable it:

http://www.netopia.com/support/hardw...s/NQG_110.html

[cabinetman]

Thanks for the links. We're having a "computer guy" come over tomorrow. We have other issues to solve including this one. He has helped in the past. But, I'd rather have all you BT3 forum IT guys here to figure it out...I'll buy the beer.
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[cabinetman]

UPDATE: Our independent tech guy came over this morning (yes on Sunday), and got the all-in-one working properly, and both wireless machines get a strong signal. What a pleasure!! Took him about 20 minutes of clicking to straighten out and set up what the AT&T guy couldn't do.
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[crokett]

Do you know what he did to fix it?

[cabinetman]

Do you know what he did to fix it?

Not exactly. I sat right next to him and he was so fast it was hard to follow what he clicked on. I think it was a combination of enabling the router, and giving a username and password. We still are using the Linksys antenna for the one desktop. Whatever he did our wireless has never been this fast.

I do have to give some credit to the AT&T guy. He changed out the outdoor phone box to a new one. There was some corrosion and the test wire connection was really bad off. The new ones (according to the guy) are in a gel that seals out the moisture.
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[phi1l]

Do you know what he did to fix it?

Ya, I hope he left you with a hard copy of the critical settings:
Access IP address,
user name,
password,
Wireless channel,
encryption type & Key(s)
etc...

[cabinetman]

Ya, I hope he left you with a hard copy of the critical settings:
Access IP address,
user name,
password,
Wireless channel,
encryption type & Key(s)
etc...

He did leave that, and have already needed to answer a window asking for username and password.
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[crokett]

I think it was a combination of enabling the router,
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I love being correct. Or at least close to it.

[cabinetman]

I love being correct. Or at least close to it.

My favorite motto is "I'm never wrong...but, I 'm not always right".
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