entropy31

ok, so my new computer will connect fine, and at great speeds, but after surfing or doing anything for a minute or so, it slows down to nothing. the connection still shows as 54kbs, but i only recieve packets a few at a time, and sometimes it just stops. i am still connected to the net, but its so slow its unusable. no viruses or spyware, and i have brought the computer down to a fresh windows install of xp pro sp2 . sometimes it will connect and stay at good speed, but if i shut down and restart, the problem returns. this is the second card i have tried, and 2 different brands. every other computer works fine on the network, so i assume it is a problem with my comp. any ideas before i throw the thing out the window in frustration?

emo236

download your NIC driver and then reinstall it. Try that. When you say you've gone through 2 cards, are you on wireless or are you talking about NICs? If you're on wireless, it could be your location.

CanyonCarver

Maybe try some more RAM My desktop only has 1 chip (forget the size)and it's alot slower than the kids' laptop that has 4x the amount. It might also depend on your WiFi provider. I start downloading at like 120 kbps. It slows down from there. Most downloads are done by the time it gets down into the 70's. Some bigger pages will bog things down significantly slower. Another thing, where my computer sits, there's a cast iron bath tub almost in line with the wireless router. The router is high up in the kids' closet. If it gets moved too much I lose the connection.

entropy31

its wireless, and i have a gig of dual channel ram. its not the ISP because the rest of the comps work fine. full signal too, and other comps work in the same spot.

nis88300zx

You should try to install the sp4 and see if that helps at all.
Besides that the only thing i can think of would be bad device drivers,
You could always try going to the manufacturers website and download the drivers for nic card and reinstall them.

emo236

or stop being a wuss, and just use a cable when you're at your desk or wherever you have your comp. wireless is so unsecure.

CanyonCarver

O/T.... seriously, I was riding around burbank in a friends Z, trying to diagnose some problems he had using my kidz laptop and all of a sudden "wireless connected" popped up on the screen. I got Yahoo to open up before we went out of range of it.

emo236

we have wireless at my house, but I use a cable, sure it took some time to run it through the ceiling, but I don't have the same connectivity problems other guys have. We also always have people from the aprtments on our internet, stealing our bandwith. Our wireless goes down seriously like once a month. Lately, I've had to reset the modem and router every other day, until I just did a hard reset and it seems to have fixed ti pretty good.

Aphrodite

If you are having problems with people stealing your bandwidth, you should use encryption or set up the router to only allow authorized NIC's to connect wirelesly, wireless is actually very secure if properly set up and can have 64 character "passwords" if you felt like it

as for your problem with connecting to the network, are you connecting to wireless internet or to a wireless router?

emo236

I work for the govt. wireless hubs/routers/etc are prohibited b/c they are extrememly unsecure! The govt. is very good at protecting secret info so they know a thing or two about it. Wireless networks with all security measures taken are still VERY vunerable. Passwords are easy to get around for hackers with the right tools (sniffers, etc).

Aphrodite

this is true, however all electronic transfer methods are "easily" (from an experienced hackers point of view) broken into, including dns servers for "secure" information eg. credit card #'s etc... but I was referring to the fact that if you encrypt your wireless router and/or allow only certain NIC's to access them 99% of the population will be unable to steal your bandwidth through connecting to your wireless router

Fast240Z

what you can also do to protect your wireless router is to change the "name" of the router, set up your own Wireless Encryption Protocol key, or WEP key (make one your own, don't let the router do it, it uses a specific set of algorithms that is easily crackable) and use 128 bit encryption which is found on most Wireless G routers. You can also set up mac address filtering, where only specific computers can access the internet (which is what Aphrodite stated above). In all honesty, unless your neighbors are using a Linux box, they shouldn't be able to crack your network as easily as you may think.

I'm actually leeching my neighbors wireless internet right now, but since I work at Best Buy, I'm the one that sold her the router and everything else.

Entropy, I would suggest buying another wireless card, and see if it remedies your problem. Whatever you do, STAY AWAY FROM CHEAP D-LINK PRODUCTS. I see a huge return rate for the cheaper D-Link cards and routers, because it's basically a box full of ****. I'd recommend either a Linksys or a Netgear card, or if you want to work on a budget, go Belkin, which is cheap but still good quality. I've seen Linksys wireless b cards burn up on occasion, and the computer had the same errors as you stated above. I'd say replace the wireless card, and see if that fixes your problem.

Fast240Z

also, try just installing the drivers alone, and let Windows Wireless Zero Configuration handle the wireless aspect of the computer, I've seen problems with wireless programs and Windows XP.

entropy31

done that already. its a netgear card, and the second one ive tried. i have already determined that it is not the card. i agree about the wireless programs, most are crap. WZC is the way to go.