Problem with Intel Pro/Wireless 2915 & Belkin router... Solved!!

So this is mostly venting as I am a little annoyed....

So I was having a lot of problems connecting my new ASUS z70va with the Intel Pro/wireless 2915 card wireless through my Belkin router.

I followed people's suggestions: I looked to update the firmware... after some time with Belkin tech who did not even know where to find it on their own website... I found that it was already current.

One tech said the problem was that the channels were not right... that the Belkin router operated on channel 11 and I had to find out what channel the Intel functioned on... I sort of did not believe this (correctly so as it proved) but he said I had to get in touch with the manufacturer to find out. Well, after Justin suggesting that I look at the Intel software.. I found that it was operating on channel 5 and when I called back Belkin... and the new tech said that what the old tech said was wrong.. and there is an automatic selection.

After doing the number re: turning off firewalls etc. which did not work, and my old Laptop having no problem transmitting... he asked if there was something blocking. I was using my new laptop in a different room than my old.

I went to the old spot and it worked fine. The line of "sight" between modem, router and new Laptop position was thru a bathroom.

So he suggested that I move the router and get it high up and off the floor. So I moved it and the modem to another spot in the room it was in... and now everything works fine... That only took about 5 hours of tech time til I got someone who knew what he was doing... But he said another tech had to get back to me re: securing the network and one would call within the hour. I waited 2 hours, called back and different tech walked me through securing it in 3 minutes.

So the whole thing could have been solved in about 20 minutes, instead of it being stretched out for a couple of weeks.

But I thought the idea of getting the router off the floor was interesting. I just happened to put mine there.

 

Thanks Justitia...this is good info and I should say that, being a Belkin router owner, I have struggled with their Customer Support guys too...

Happy to hear you got the issue resolved...

 

Well here is a stupid update. My internet service went out this evening.

I realize that the problems I have been having over the last month are a repeat of what has happened several times over the last year and half since I signed on for DSL. My ISP is Earthlink... but the actual provider is Covad. Covad lets the strength of the signal degrade as they add on more customers. When the complaints get bad enough they are focred to boost the signal strength.

I don't realize it is this problem until after about 6 weeks as I have increasing problems with getting on line. It is only when the service actually goes out that it is clear it is this problem again. And it went out tonight... and Earthlink's tech support makes me go through a song and dance for a couple of hours before they finally conclude that the problem is the central office... not my computer, not the modem, not the phone lines, not the phone box outside. ANd even though I tell them this.. they still make me go through it all over again.

So I think both problems were contributing to my difficulties: the placement of the router and the degrading quality of service.

This degraded quality of service has happend 6 times at least over the last year and a half.

I went to get rid of Earthlink... but my e-mail adress has been the same for nearly 10 years and it is listed everywhere in all kinds of professional situations. I can keep the e-mail address for $10 a month...but that is crazy...

I don't know what to do. I feel like suing Earthlink to force them to give me my e-mail address for free after what they put me through. The value of my time that they have wasted certainly runs into the thousands of dollars.... keeping my e-mail address (which is not even an earthlink domain but two previous incarnations that ultimately merged with earthlink) would be little recompense for them to make.

My concern is that if I switch to verizon..which seems to be my only other choice, that things would not improve. Would they use the same local provider that Earthlink does: Covad? The alternative is cable but it is provided here by Comcast whose service completely sucks....

 

First thing I'd do is slowly migrate your email address over to gmail...you have over 2GB of space and is free, you don't depend on an ISP...
Once you've changed your email everywere (give it 2-6 months) swith providers...

 

I have already started to do that with one e-mail address that I don't get a lot of spam at because I don't use it for anything.

But G-mail sucks as a spam filter. My Earthlink ISP distinguishes between "known" spam and "suspect" spam. They keep pretty assiduous track of known spam and put it one folder. You can look at it if you want, but there is not point of that. They are extremely accurate. It is self-cleaning.

The "suspect" folder is any e-mail that is not on their "known" spam list and also not in my address book. It goes into a separate folder and on e-mail senders are sent an "allowed sender" request immediately. It states that I have a spam filter due to the large amount of spam and the sender can fill out a form and request to be allowed in. The only e-mailers are people who really know and want to get in touch with me. No spammers ever send that back.

So I get to look through the "suspect" list, pick the ones I want to admit to my inbox (with or without looking at the e-mail first); I also get allowed sender requests in my mail box in case I forget to check the suspect folder (but I check it every day) and I get an e-mail form Earthlink in my inbox listing the e-mail in the suspect folder so I can just check off from there what I want in my inbox. The person's e-mail address is also added to my address book automatically if I want.

It is a great program and saves me a tremendous amount of time. I get about 500-600 "known" spam a day at my main e-mail address (it has been around for 10 years.) And I never have to check that. I get about 10-15 "suspect" e-mail a day and about 2 -3 a week are actual e-mail I want; the rest is spam.

G-Mail lumps all that together and it would mean I would have to check out over 500 spam every day instead of 10 to 15 to see if there is any real e-mail in there. Plus G-mail does not have "an allowed sender request" feature.

I doubt that G-mail would institute this because this means they would have to monitor spam rather closely to catch the huge volumes of real spam that come out every day. That is a lot of human labor to expend on a free account.

So I would have to find another account that does what Earthlink does. And I doubt it. I think I will end up fighting with Earthlink to get them to get on Covad's case....