On 23 Jul 2005 15:13:54 -0700,
snowdogdb@yahoo.com wrote:
>I'm stumped and looking for help.
>I had wireless set up in my house working fine for months using a
>D-Link Wireless router with a Hawking signal booster.
>Then one day no wireless devices would connect; or they would connect
>but not stay connected. I removed the signal booster and the problem
>persisted.
>I bought separate router a new AP (Trendnet) and it worked but clients
>would initially connect at 54mbs and within minutes the signal strength
>reported by Windows XP would be 1mb. This was seen on all laptops of
>various vendors. No wireless devices can stay connected for more than a
>few minutes.
>I bought another AP (Netgear) and still no clients can connect and stay
>connected for more than a couple of minutes or can not even connect at
>all.
>I've tried every channel 1-11; I'v had a laptop 10 inches from the AP
>antenna and it makes no difference.
>I'm running Netstubmler on Windows XP and it shows -50db fairly
>consistantly, but no clients can connect.
>Any ideas? Any other analysis I can do to find the problem?
>Some interference? How can I tell? How do I find it?
I'll guess interference of some sort. The failure to operate 10
inches away is not exactly typical, but possible if the interference
is strong enough. That happened to a friend that found a pole top
mounted mesh network repeater mounted very near his house running a 1
watt xmitter. Absolutely nothing wireless would work. Trying to find
the owner was deemed impossible so he just climbed the pole, pulled
the plug, and waited for someone to show up. That worked and the mesh
monster was moved to a less obnoxious location.
I think what needs to happen first is a sanity check. Drag your
existing wireless contrivance (DLink, Trendnet, laptop) to a radically
different location. Verify that they work normally away from the
alleged interference. Keep the booster out of the picture as it
causes more problems and complications than it fixes. If it works
normally away from your location, then it's surely interference from
something. If it fails, then you may have some type of defective
hardware, but methinks this is unlikely.
Finding the interference is going to be rough. You have already tried
Netstumbler and that didn't show anything. Try to find a Linux LiveCD
with Kismet. This is what I use:
http://new.remote-exploit.org/index.php/Auditor_main
It will show access points that have disabled SSID broadcasting.
However, it's a huge 500Mbyte download and somewhat of a learning
ordeal if you don't know Linux.
The right way is to use a spectrum analyzer. Bug some of the local
hams, comm shops, and radio station people. None of these will loan
you their expensive instruments but often will do a site survey for
you to be helpful. I do it all too often (like today) in order to
sniff out sources of interference. Incidentally, today's culprit was
a 5 watt wireless camera owned by a TV station that was in town for a
big foot race. Yes, 5 watts. Sigh. In the past, I found one of
these abominations:
http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/ha2410.php
and also what I think may have been one of these:
http://www.eyespyvideo.com/lawenforcement/thx-24x4.htm
Export and military only, my ass.
If you are really desperate and have lots of money, I could use one of
these spectrum analyzers:
http://www.bantaminstruments.com/425a_data_sheet.pdf http://www.avcomofva.com/products/de...?page=psa1727b
My current spectrum analyzer weights about 50lbs and is not exactly
portable.
--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831.336.2558 voice
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
#
jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
#
jeffl@cruzio.com AE6KS
Troubleshooting wierd wireless problem 
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