strange problem... pls help

hi everyone =)

i have a small problem..
i've set up my wireless D-Link router and notebook and i got it working, im quite happy with it apart from one thing!
just say i stop using my notebook(turn it off) at 11pm and go to bed, when i wake up and turn it back on, it says its connected to the router, but my internet doesn't work! i have to unplug the router, wait awhile, and turn it back on for it to start working again! this is getting anoying! my notebook is the only system connecting to it, and for some reason it doesn't like being alone for a few hours or it will want a reset!

Please help, i dont want to have to reset it everytime i wake up!

Thanx in advance!

 

are you powering off or going into standy/hibernation?

 

If you check the status/support tab once you are connected are you getting a normal IP address like 192.168.0.*? You can access this menu by right clicking on your taskbar wi-fi icon.

 

ye, im powering off completly!

ill have to wait and see when it happens again and ill do some tests, let me get back to you guys!

Thanx for the replys by the way =)

 

Try upgrading the router's firmware, there might be a fix in the lastest update (that's if you don't already have it).

My SMC router has an option to disconnect my link with the ISP after 10mins of inactivity (I can set a time) and to reconnect on demand. Check to see if you have this option and se if it's enabled. It could be disconnecting and when you try to re-connect after logging back on, it might have trought re-establishing the link. It's also possible the re-connect on demand option may not be enabled (if you have it).

One quick thing to try. After starting up in the morning and not being able to connect, give it 1 min and try again. The router may just need a couple mins to reconnect to your ISP. Or, go into your routers setup screen and see if you can manually re-establish a connection. My router has an establish connection button (used when reconnect on demand disabled).

-Vb-

 

Did you try shutting down your firewall if applicable?

 

my router has an "auto reconnect" option and its enabled...
my firmware is up-to-date and i have the latest drivers for my intel wireless card... just to make things more clearly, this is my setup!

Laptop-----> Wireless router(problem) ------>Cable router----->Modem-----> ISP

ill try and give it a minute when i turn my laptop on tomorrow and see what happens..

Thanks for all the input guys!

 

hmmm... well, according to your diagram, you have redundant routers on your LAN. have you tried removing the "cable router" and just running the modem straight into the wifi router?

the redundant routers may be the problem (not sure because i'm actually running two (wifi) routers on my LAN w/no problems).

i would suggest removing the "cable router" and plugging the "wireless router" straight into the modem and see if the problem persists.

 

i would love to get rid of it, but its easier for me to keep it becasue its up stairs, my dads computer connected to it....

 

why don't u just plug your dad's computer into the wifi router? doesn't it have ethernet ports for just that reason?

 

From your setup diagram, it might not be the wireless router that is the problem, it could be because you have 2 routers in sequence. The signal to get a new connection to your wireless router may be hindered by the cable router. The cable router may also be suffering from the connect on demand issue. See if there's an option that will keep the connection alive on both routers.

-Vb-

 

ok, i woke up this morning and it happened again! let me explain my setup and the problem im having!

i can't get rid of the upstairs router casue my dad computer doesn't have wireless and i would have to pass a cable all the way downstairs for him to connect to my router and the cable modem wall socket is only upstairs! (coaxial), so geting rid of the upstairs router isn't an option for me!

BUT, i dont think its the routers guys, cause i woke up this morening and turned my laptop on, and just as i was expecting.......no internet! but not only did i not get the internet working, the wireless was not connecting (<-- this is the problem). i search for wireless networks and i dont find any! normally unplugging/replugging the router would let me connect, but this morning it took a couple of reboots an restarts just for my laptop to see the network! when i couldn't find any wireles network, and connected my laptop to it with a cable and everything is fine! its like the wireless stops transmitting over night...... this is killing me, please, anyone??

 

Although you did say unplugging normally helped it may be that your wi-fi card is bad. I used to have the same problem, but after a few tweaks, ie. changed the channel adjusted firewall etc., it's worked great. It's more than likely not a bad card from the sound of it though. I am curious as well though, why don't you just connect your dads computer to your Wi-Fi router and not use the second router? I think Venom is right on, it's very possible that although you can connect to the wi-fi router via wire, the signal is hindered by passing through the other router and isn't always stable enough to trasmit wirelessly.

 

i still don't understand why you can't eliminate the redundant (non-wifi) router. at least do it temporarily for testing purposes. take the router that is plugged into your dad's computer out. replace it with the wifi router by plugging the wifi router into your dad's computer instead. your notebook doesn't care if the router is upstairs or downstairs since it's wireless, correct?

cable/dsl modem -- [ethernet cable] -- wifi router -- [ethernet cable] -- dad's computer

connect your laptop wirelessly to the wifi router

are you saying that your wifi router does not have ethernet ports to be used for connecting to other computers? your reasons for not connecting the wifi router directly to your dad's computer are not making sense. additionally, IF the redundant routers ARE the problem, you're never going to solve it because you aren't eliminating this possibility as a problem.

 

ok, i might try and get rid of the upstairs router, ill see what kind of signal i get (concrete floors!), if i was to connect my dads computer to the wifi router while keeping it closer to me, i would need a VERY long cable and its a lot of work......

i dont think its the other router though guys... when i get this "no signal" problem in the mornings, the internet still works if i connect with a cable (before restarting the router), so i dont think it has anything to do with the upstairs router.... but i dont know... im stumped...

 

It may not be the second router but that would be my first suggestion to attempt to avoid trying multiple solutions. Are you able to connect when you are right next to the wi-fi in the morning? If not then other than removing the second router, I don't recall if it's been suggested already or not but you should switch to a less common channel. Make sure there are no other devices near the wi-fi router that may be interfering, desktop pcs, cordless phones, microwaves, all the most common ones. If you have a firewall, have you tried disabling it? Certain firewalls will prevent wi-fi from connecting if the firewall isn't allowed to load BEFORE the wi-fi attempts to connect. Those are the most common things to adjust for connection issues, also, if you are running XP be sure to have SP2, it improves wi-fi realiability greatly. Since you have concrete floors you may also benefit from a wi-fi extender to increase your range around the house. Hope all this helps.

Sorry I kinda went all over the place there lol, its early and my mind is drifting lol.

 

=) any kind of input is appreciated =)
well, i tried getting rid of the other router, but it still happeded........
this moring wasn't TOO bad, it didn't connect, but when i went to view available wireless networks, it came up!! i clicked connect and it tried but didn't connect (no message either!!??)

im kinda stumpped.. is there a way to make sessions never expire??

 

Yeah, it's startin to fry my brain lol What I would suggest doing is completely resetting your router (a hard reset) so that all settings revert to default. Then go through the inital setup, you will have to connect your notebook directly to enable wireless. But leave all security off and just use the basic settings. This way you will know that you have everything set up correctly. If you are still unable to connect this way then the only other thing I can think of is that it is either a bad wi-fi card or you may need to try a different router, I prefer Netgear over D-link but both should work just fine.

Is your dad getting the download speeds that your ISP claims? You can go to Speakeasy to test your speeds, just choose the server closest to you. If you are not getting at least 80% of your ISP's claims then I would suggest having them check your signal quality and to check for noise on the line. I have never heard of line quality affecting your ability to wi-fi but if it's bad enough it may be the problem.

 

Well guys, after a week of testing and more testing, i cancelled out everything i could think of! so once again i contacted the D-Link Customer support (quite impressed with their service i might add) and explained my problem once again!

this time a new element was to be reported, the same thing happend even when i disabled my wireless card and connected it with a cable! when i woke up the next morning, even the cable connection didn't work!

D-Link went on to explain that when no devices are connected to the router for a certain period of time, it goes into a sort of "sleep" mode, and for some reason my d-link router didn't want to wake up! so i returned it to the store i got it from and picked myself up a Netgear router and its working just fine! hopefully no more problems will arrise!

thanx for all your help guys!

 

Woohoo, GO NETGEAR! Happy to hear you're up and running.