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In my fraternity house there are 3 floors. There is a Wireless G Router on 2nd floor, and a Wireless B Router next too it. I checked out the settings on the G router and it appears that it's set up to be the "Router" of the two and is running DHCP. I checked the B Router and it seems that the B Router is configured to be an Access Point.

Here's the problem, guys in the house on all floors around this router get periodically dropped connections (even in the rooms right around the routers, so I don't think it's a distance issue). Actually, one guy got dropped, I went onto his computer (Win98 SE) and ran winipcfg, and did a release/renew. He had connection instantly.

My idea of the situation is that everytime the Router refreshes the IP's there's enough guys on the network that some guys get assigned the same IP. This causes one of them to be kicked off, while the other gets the new IP. If I remember from my networking class, the kicked off computer should be put on a random line that after a short waiting period, the computer should ask for a new IP. This works for some, and the guys get on, but have a problem again later in the day.

The other symptom that leads me to believe this is that every time they reset the router they seem to get connection back. This makes me think that they are getting the new IP's so getting a good connection again.

I'm thinking the only real solution to this mess is to hard code everyone's IP so that they don't get a refreshed one. Suggestions? Tips? I'm also thinking about trying to start from scratch. Tearing down the network and rebuilding it. Apparently they had Geek Squad out to do work on it (guys Best Buy sends out) and I've never trusted their work anyways.

If any of you guys have suggestions, reply here or contact me on AIM too, Bigguyo5

That really would be the best thing to do.. Assign static IPs to all of the PCs. It's really not hard to do. Anybody could do it. Or you could walk around and do it. It takes less than 5 minutes. Just start with a number and increase it by 5 for each PC you go to.. For instance in my house I have 5 computers that may or may not be online at any one time.. My IPs go like this : 192.168.1.100, 192.168.1.105, 192.168.1.110 and so on..

If you need help on assigning the IPs, just post again and somebody will be along with a walk through..

GL

eGo

Alright well I'll have to convince them to stop playing poker long enough for me to run around and hard code everything. Anyways, thanks for the help Nathan... or is it Mark?

lol It's neither.. Chal it is

Hmm... damn, I forget Nathan and Mark's name but I remember yours for some reason.

hehe.. np.. I think Nate is Hypnotic_Tranz.. Not sure if it's the same nate..

eGo

Originally posted by eGoCeNTRoNiX
hehe.. np.. I think Nate is Hypnotic_Tranz.. Not sure if it's the same nate..

eGo

Haha yea it is! Anyways, if anyone else has any tips feel free to drop them in this thread, this issue is still under way.

check the event logs on some of the systems to see if you find anything in common.

make sure you only have 1 dhcp server running. i believe even if you set one up to be an access point, there is another option in there you have to disable dhcp, but i am not sure, it's been a while. and also, there may be a machine on your network running a dhcp server; make sure this is not the case.

i also vote for static IP's for your regular users. it would eliminate any of the issues i just wrote. make sure your DHCP range is outside any of your assigned static ip's

make sure their netbios machine names are different and unique. you will know pretty quickly from looking at the event logs if this is the cause.

In my house the laptop downstairs get dropped all the time. And what do you know the PC upstairs says ip address problems/issues, etc. I never really put two and two together, but now that yo point it out yeah static IP's would solve it all. SO after all that said give me a breif run through on an XP machine.

No im really serious, anyone who knows a pretty good deal about this please fill me in with a good run through on maybe how to get a wireless laptop to work (without breaking connections) at all times all the while having a desktop run (not wirelessly) all the time as well. If youre not sure of my exact setup then let me know in your explanation. My parents are really getting mad over this, since the laptop keeps losing connections, and they are almost on the verge of calling someone who could do it. Which i dont want because i want them to believe i pretty much always know what im doing when it comes to these things.

Ok.. To setup static IPs, you need to go into the Network connections on XP.. Then you need to go to TCP/IP Protocol and high light it.. Then click on properties.. Then it will allow you to assign the Static IP.. You can click the bubble that says "Use This IP".. Then key in the IP you want it to use... Something like : 192.168.1.110 to start.. Then make the default gateway "192.168.1.1" Now, this may or may not be your default gateway. You can find your default by going to the command prompt and typing : ipconfig It will then list your current IP, Subnet, and your Default Gateway.. You want to use whatever it has listed there as your default gateway. Then for the bottom window where it has DNS you want to enter your default gateway in the top part and leave the bottom one blank. Do this on both PCs, but assign the 2nd PC an IP of 192.168.1.115.. And you should be set as far as the fact that there won't be any conflicting IP addresses on the network unless somebody is leeching from you. Now, the connection dropping may or may not be related to this. If it's dropping and coming right back on, it could be related to signal strength. I know that my iPAQ and my Laptops can get a signal anywhere in my home, a strong one. But my Desktop PCs have to be withing at least 20ft of the Router (there are a couple walls in the way) or I can't get a constant signal. I really hope this is helpful. If you need clarification, LMK

eGo

assuming you have a wired network card on(in) your laptop, go into device manager and disable it.

do you have a router/access point combo, or are they two separate devices?