WiFi connectivity problem

I just installed a Buffalo Systems WLAR L-11 802.11b network and although
I had slight problems getting the Buffalo PC card to work (which I cured in
3 seconds by putting in an Orinoco Silver one) the connection worked
perfectly and immediately and without configuration in Windows 2000. The
signal strength is reported to be 'excellent'



So I bought a D-Link WLR-122 USB receiver and put in on a Windows XP Pro
computer about 20 feet and through two very thin walls (practically in line
of sight in fact) but the D-Link won't really pick up the signal at all.
Occasionally it does log on (usually with what it calls a weak signal) but
won't transfer information and even when the signal suddenly gets reported
as being ' GOOD', it won't transfer data: I can't access the internet or get
Outlook Express to access my e-mail. But usually it just won't log on to
the network.



Interestingly when I go into the configuration and scan for networks (I am
on a 17th floor so there can't be THAT many networks all that close to me)
the D-Link software sees a large number of networks, some even reporting
signal rates as high as 86% and the scan process does see my network even
when it wont log on to it but nothing I can do will make this network work.
I checked with Buffalo tech support and they ensured that all channels and
configuration settings were set correctly (and on a Windows 2000 system,
this shouldn't be easy although it was) and with D-Link technical support
who did the same thing and then blamed the properly-working Buffalo network.
They did admit however that 802.11b is a bit like radio in that you have to
constantly adjust antennas and placement of receivers etc and that ANYTHING
can interfere with it, making the whole 802.11b system inherently flaky and
sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.



Is this fair comment or are they kidding themselves/myself? My next door
neighbour installed a Linksys a few months ago (I think it is an 802.11g and
everything in her home is XP) and has absolutely no computer knowledge
whatsoever and her system worked perfectly instantly she installed it. I
did ask her to turn hers on last night (she doesn't have encryption on
either) just to see what the effect would be on my scan and whether my
AirStation would log on to her network which is probably about 150 feet (and
numerous walls) away from mine and I suspect it would see it but I couldn't
log on to or get that to work either.



MFS

Just a thought. I had trouble hooking up a Toshiba satellite laptop to a
DLink DI-624 the other day and had similar symptoms. The network worked
flawlessly when wired, but when I tried to go wireless, blah. It showed an
excellent signal but couldn't connect to Internet or LAN. I did an ipconfig
and couldn't get a proper IP address. Did a release and a renew but it
didn't help. Router was set up to use DHCP.

So, after some frustration, I went into Device manager, disabled the bridge
and uninstalled the wireless card, rebooted and all worked perfectly.
Give it a shot, not much to lose.

"My father's son" <myfathersson RemoveThis @nospam.rcn.com> wrote in message
news:40643c86$0$3059$61fed72c@news.rcn.com...
 > I just installed a Buffalo Systems WLAR L-11 802.11b network and
although
 > I had slight problems getting the Buffalo PC card to work (which I cured
in
 > 3 seconds by putting in an Orinoco Silver one) the connection worked
 > perfectly and immediately and without configuration in Windows 2000. The
 > signal strength is reported to be 'excellent'
 >
 >
 >
 > So I bought a D-Link WLR-122 USB receiver and put in on a Windows XP Pro
 > computer about 20 feet and through two very thin walls (practically in
line
 > of sight in fact) but the D-Link won't really pick up the signal at all.
 > Occasionally it does log on (usually with what it calls a weak signal) but
 > won't transfer information and even when the signal suddenly gets reported
 > as being ' GOOD', it won't transfer data: I can't access the internet or
get
 > Outlook Express to access my e-mail. But usually it just won't log on to
 > the network.
 >
 >
 >
 > Interestingly when I go into the configuration and scan for networks (I am
 > on a 17th floor so there can't be THAT many networks all that close to me)
 > the D-Link software sees a large number of networks, some even reporting
 > signal rates as high as 86% and the scan process does see my network even
 > when it wont log on to it but nothing I can do will make this network
work.
 > I checked with Buffalo tech support and they ensured that all channels and
 > configuration settings were set correctly (and on a Windows 2000 system,
 > this shouldn't be easy although it was) and with D-Link technical support
 > who did the same thing and then blamed the properly-working Buffalo
network.
 > They did admit however that 802.11b is a bit like radio in that you have
to
 > constantly adjust antennas and placement of receivers etc and that
ANYTHING
 > can interfere with it, making the whole 802.11b system inherently flaky
and
 > sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
 >
 >
 >
 > Is this fair comment or are they kidding themselves/myself? My next door
 > neighbour installed a Linksys a few months ago (I think it is an 802.11g
and
 > everything in her home is XP) and has absolutely no computer knowledge
 > whatsoever and her system worked perfectly instantly she installed it. I
 > did ask her to turn hers on last night (she doesn't have encryption on
 > either) just to see what the effect would be on my scan and whether my
 > AirStation would log on to her network which is probably about 150 feet
(and
 > numerous walls) away from mine and I suspect it would see it but I
couldn't
 > log on to or get that to work either.
 >
 >
 >
 > MFS
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->