The great mystery of wi-fi
- 7 Apr 08, 11:32 GMT
Wireless networks are a mystery.
One moment they are working perfectly, the next there is no connection and you are left scratching your head.
Certainly that's my experience with my Macs at home. And I'm not alone; there are widespread of problems with Macs losing connections or dropping connections.
My experience is no different. I have a laptop and a desktop Mac and some days both machines will start dropping the connection inexplicably.
I've tried changing router - but the problem persists.
Other people are - but there's silence from Apple on the matter.
The latest problem is my wireless . My machines - Macs and PCs - no longer see each other on the local area network.
God knows why. Nothing has changed in my settings. I've not updated firmware or altered the firewall. It would seem the problem this time is my router - as I can see a colleague's machine when logged into a different wireless network.
But this is the problem with wi-fi; and in many ways a metaphor for many people's experiences with technology at large.
If I can't fix a problem with my home network and I'm a technology journalist, what hope do other people have?
Wi-fi has taken off globally despite the many flaws - from security limitations and set-up difficulties to confusing standards and draft formats.
The advertised speed and range of wi-fi is a standing joke - and the official roll out of the next standard has been beset with delays.
Frankly, it's enough to make me want to buy 100 metres of Ethernet cable and start wiring the house up.
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This is dot.life - a blog about technology from 大象传媒 News.
Rory Cellan-Jones is the 大象传媒's technology correspondent.
Maggie Shiels is the 大象传媒's tech reporter based in Silicon Valley.
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Comments
What a useless post
My sentiments exactly. And, I did exactly as you mentioned.
Although my "network" only consists of two computers I became so frustrated with the vagaries of wireless that I just went out and bought an Ethernet cable.
Technology huh!
Why use ethernet cable when Homeplug exists? Run all of your connections over the power lines already in your house instead of either laying more cable or relying on flaky wireless. Then again, as you're a technology journalist, surely you know all about it anyway.............
Try devolo mains ethernet plugs, Darren. They're phenomenal.
Wi-Fi Ha yes
Well I had the same problem just could not figure out why untill I noticed that every time my Zone alarm firewall updated itself my wire less LAN fell apart. This required me to reset all the IP addresses for each computer, I eventually gave up on Zone alarm and now stick to the onboard router NAT firewall and the windows XP built in firewall I nolonger have the problem maybe this applies to other third party firewalls out there.
Have fun keep the faith
That also happens with Windows machines: I've had the problem with Windows machines, Macs, and I haven't even managed to get it to work with Linux machines.
Perhaps my wi-fi base station is just old and crabby. I'll need to go and give it a good thump and a kick.
Wireless networks are reliable, if configured properly. Especially with multiple access-points close together, make sure the channels used are not conflicting (pity Windows doesn't show that information - Linux has a nice tool to show all networks and all settings for each network in the area).
As for computers not seeing each other, don't blame WiFi but rather CIFS. It's an old problem and happens with wires as well. Resetting the master-browser computer is often enough to create havoc. Before anything else, try if you can "ping" other computers by their IP address, that way you quickly can deduct whether it is your network or some higher layer protocol to blame.
The reason most people have trouble is because they don't understand the technology and incorrectly set-up equipment - or don't know how to diagnose and resolve problems.
Spend some money - get an expert in.
For example, it is like complaining your car is faulty when you've never had it serviced or tuned and try to fix it yourself when it breaks down.
This is why professionals do wireless surveys and spend many hours analysing problems like this in large business environments. People forget that we are talking about a shared medium over radio. In the home, all sorts of things can cause interruptions such as wireless video senders, electrical interference, and most notably other peoples wireless networks on the same channels! It's not rocket science, but people need to understand that it's not always a case of plug and play!
WiFi (WLAN) is a radio connection and, like all radio links, basically unreliable. It works or it doesn't - live with it. And remember that the bandwidth is a scarce resource shared with your neighbours: as more people set up wireless home networks the available bandwidth on your home network will become more variable - sometimes it will be zero.
Wireless networks can interfere with each other. As more and more of your neighbours plug-in their wireless routers, the more interference there will be.
Cordless phones or even putting the router next to a filing cabinet can also cause problems.
Have a read of this... When Wireless LANs Collide!
I believe the new n standard is supposed to be better and definitely has a better range than the g routers.
And homeplug... pretty good, but there can be problems with old houses and houses that use a different ring for different parts of the house.
How about scanning for other wireless networks, to make sure there are no channel conflicts. Also make sure that your firmware is upto date as well.
Richard
I'm having the same problem, here is my checklist so far.
1) Turn off mobile phones
2) For usb dongles - in hardware/device manager ensure the relevant USB root hub does not power off.
3)Make sure the wireless channel you are using is not the same channel as you neighbours - you can change the wireless channel by logging into the wireless router.
4)Check the control panel power options - try an 'always on' power scheme for a few days to see if the problem goes away.
5).....still thinking
i've just started using a wireless hub at home because i got it free, but all my computers are still connected by wires to it via my old ethernet switch, i dont see the point in removing the wires and then having a worse network when i can just leave them in place ^^
"Wires for performance and Wireless for convenience".
Stating the obvious if you want it to work reliability every time use wires.
100% agree on the devolo post..
I have two sets of devolo Ethernet Over Power kit. One for standard 100mbps connections to a router in the loft which has a backup server, media server and IMAP/Zimbra server connected to it. Then I have a Devolo AV EOP between my office and the lounge to provide high (claimed Gigabit) throughput for my Sonos and Slingbox connections..
I have a WLAN too but that's just for simplicity, if I need to move files quickly from one place to another, I use the wired connections..
(I have macs, windows and linux clients)
If a technology journalist cannot make it work then we are in big trouble :o)
Seriously, the biggest issue with wireless networks in my experience is 'noise'. Microwaves, video senders, Your neighbours wireless network etc, will all interfere with your wireless network. It is important you select the correct wireless channel. I still use the old 802.11b standard, which is more than fast enough for my needs. I found that using wireless channel 6 and below stopped our Microwave from interfering. Since then I have had no other issue except for coverage, where I used a wireless antenna to boost the signal so that the WII console could connect to the Internet.
Another vacuuous 大象传媒 blog posting.
And yes. I have wasted my time not only reading it, but replying to it...
There's always a reason for a connection dropping... it's wireless, it's not going to be completely reliable. State the obvious.
Having had a little experience with WiFi networking on Mac's and a great deal more on PC's I believe problems are due to different providers' interpretations of standards and their attempts to either "simplify" the configuration process or provide only the most useful features (in their opinion). By and large WiFi has always worked for me although I have recently had a problem with my BT Homehub's refusal to supply IP addresses to WiFi clients!
Where I take issue with previous respondents is in their unqualified recommendation of Homeplug networks. They may provide a short-term solution to a network connectivity problem but with their attendant EMC problems i.e. emission of noise over large parts of the radio frequency spectrum, I urge readers not to deploy them wholesale or indefinitely. The interference they can cause (not all types but certainly some do not meet EU regulations on EMC, nor indeed is the standard tight enough in my opinion) makes reception of weak signals nearly impossible. Could this be a contributory factor in reported poor performance of WiFi networks since connection speed will be reduced as the received signal-to-noise ratio reduces!
If you don't like WiFi (which at least confines itself to a narrow part of the radio spectrum) stick to wired Ethernet.
Haven't heard about that on Macs but on Windows the problem is often due to Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration that purposely disconnects on a scheduled basis - more information about it and how to stop it here:
Never had any problems on Ubuntu!
why not use apple's 'airport system' instead of a regular router..?
drop-out is attributed to too many things to discuss on such a small forum! (sun spots, weather fluctuations, FM radio signals etc...)
It's not just Macs, I have the same problem with my Sony Vaio. I was stuck in Devner Airport the otherday and (while utilizing the free wireless connection [I wish we had them in the UK ;-) ]) I was being dropped every 10/15 minutes. I had the same problem on the train on the way home and then at home.
WiFi is very sensitive to interference from other radio and microwave frequencies.
My PCs and Macs lose their WiFi connection to the router frequently. I find turning off my DECT phone and baby monitor (!) help to keep it alive for longer :)
I'm a technology journalist too and I gave up trying to make Wireless work as anything other than a toy, long ago: since when, I understand, it's got worse!
Some people now think that all networks must be wireless, because "that's how it's done". I'm pleased by this because it pays about half my consultancy income. "Put in wires" is all I ever say.
NB: Mains plug networking is OK, provided you can show that your home network data doesn't leak out of your home, to appear a few houses or flats along on the next guy on your phase of the mains. Could be unfortunate...
Wireless networks are notoriously
o Slow
o Unreliable
o Insecure
I've played with them, but I'd never risk any valuable data on one. Buy the wire!
Using Windows I've only had one home network problem. And that was when iTunes installed Bonjour and appeared to muck up DNS for the entire network. Maybe it's just Apple.
I have found that evey wireless router i have had (all 8 of them) have been about as reliable as the 'withdaraw' method of birth control.
I have two Macbooks - one has bought in November one bought last week - the os versions are both 10.5.2 and the configurations are identical. The latest mb suffers from wireless 'dropouts'. I can reproduce the problem at will - just click on the menubar wifi icon. This induces a scan for new networks and on the latest mb the wifi drops. You can see both machines 'stutter' (but the older machine regains the connection) by having a ping session in the background - you will see the ping time extend during the scan. My research shows that the only difference is that the newer machine has a different wireless card/firmware revision. And that is probably why Apple are quite over the issue - because a recall looks like the only fix. Kevin
I use Macs and use wifi non-stop and have for the last 5 years.
I have never had a problem with my wifi, at home, working of using hot spots. Even when I travel I use wifi in airports and hotels, with no problem either.
Hmmmm.
from Snowy Montr茅al
I have an intermittent problem with my BT Homehub . . .
It will happilly work OK with our desktop and two laptops, and then after a few days, it just stops. The only way to get it working again is to switch off our room to room TV relay box which uses some kind of RF to transmit the TV signal.
Does this light a bulb with anyone ?
I think that pretty much every single respondent on this item is missing Darren's point. The computer industry continually pushes wireless as a consumer device, like a dvd player or a cordless phone, without putting any effort into actually making it work like one. When I bought my DECT phone set I plugged them in, they worked, end of story.
When I plugged my first wireless router it took me half a day to work out that there wasn't anything actually wrong with it and that:
a) I had to select a particular frequency to get it to work
b) It couldn't cope with sending a signal four metres through a single skinned internal wall
and
c) God forbid that I actually turn on a second laptop and attempt to connect with it.
If the netware industry want to sell a consumer device than for goodness sake make it function like one. Make it set itself up with out asking confusing technical questions, make it tell you clearly when external factors are affecting performance and most of all make it work the same every time it is switched on.