Bloody WiFi - Page 2

aximx3dude · 11-01-03, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevepierce
Do all three access points share the same SSID?

- Steve

no they don't share the same ssid.

JmE · 11-01-03, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chrisms
If it is the x3 that has a dodgy wifi adapter what should i do???Dell tech support, won't they just blame my wifi network?

Chris

If it is within the 30 day window, insist on a replacement. Dell US and Canada have a a 30 total satisfaction policy.

-JmE-

JmE · 11-01-03, 05:14 PM

In the WiFi AP/computers list look at if you have it set to only computer to computer and automatically connect to non-preferred networks unchecked.

Are you running XP pro on the desktop you are adhoc ing to?

-JmE-

chrisms · 11-01-03, 07:53 PM

Ad-hoc (computer to computer) is selected and nonn prefe3rred un checked.

I'm just as stuck as you guys sound, thanks for the help tho!

doogald · 11-01-03, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chrisms
Well,
After the last thread fixed my initial connection problems for my wifi network I now have another problem. The Axim is able to connect to my ad-hoc network but it only does so successfully on time in about ten, the rest of the time it is connected but has a faulty IP address(169.xxxetc).

I am running an onboard Belkin PCI 54g adapter and ad-hoc wifi with a wired broadband router. The two networks have been bridged to allow me to use the broadband internet.

I presume it is some dhcp settings but as the router acts as the dhcp server not mcuh I can do really, i think!

I thought that when you bridged connections like this with ad hoc that the PC that bridges the networks must server the IP address. As the Axim and the Router are not on the same subnet, the Axim should not be able to be served an IP address from the router.

aximx3dude · 11-01-03, 08:32 PM

doogald brings up a good point - hehe, i didn't even read the original post. Before beating up Dell about the pda... cuz chances are it's not the pda, but the network.

Looks like you have the router connected to the desktop via wired ethernet. And you have a wireless 54g PCI card. correct?

How did you "bridge" the connection?

Most likely you will have to enable Internet Sharing in Windows so that your windows will have DHCP. you will need to share the wired ethernet. As doogald said, I don't think the router can assign through the PCI (as far as I know in windows).

stevepierce · 11-01-03, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aximx3dude
no they don't share the same ssid.

Tha is why yours is working. And that is what I have been saying, In a campus/tech park environment with a large number of Access Points, all on the same SSID, the X3i does not join the closest, most powerful AP, it selects the lowest Radio number. That is a serious problem and one that hopefully Dell and Microsoft can address.

Sadly Dell's response is to call the Access Point manufacturer. We have now tested this with 4 different brands of Access Points and 6 different types of Access Points. The problem is not the AP, but rather the X3i.

Cheers!

- Steve

aximx3dude · 11-01-03, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Tha is why yours is working. And that is what I have been saying, In a campus/tech park environment with a large number of Access Points, all on the same SSID, the X3i does not join the closest, most powerful AP, it selects the lowest Radio number. That is a serious problem and one that hopefully Dell and Microsoft can address.

not to be annoying, but I just changed my ssid to match one of my neighbors and it works... hmm... maybe i'm just lucky?

JmE · 11-01-03, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevepierce
Tha is why yours is working. And that is what I have been saying, In a campus/tech park environment with a large number of Access Points, all on the same SSID, the X3i does not join the closest, most powerful AP, it selects the lowest Radio number. That is a serious problem and one that hopefully Dell and Microsoft can address.

Sadly Dell's response is to call the Access Point manufacturer. We have now tested this with 4 different brands of Access Points and 6 different types of Access Points. The problem is not the AP, but rather the X3i.

Cheers!

- Steve

That may be, but I have had absolutley NO problems here and there are AP's all over the stinking place. Perhaps it is not a big deal for me to go in and click on the AP I want?

I just didn't seem to have this problem.

-JmE-

stevepierce · 11-01-03, 11:46 PM

It is a big deal for some customers as they actually walk or drive around the campus with the unit on and the X3i will not hand off to the next AP. So you can't roam. It would be like having a cell phone and each time you switched antennas your phone would hang up and you would manually have to you place the call again. - Steve

stevepierce · 11-01-03, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aximx3dude
not to be annoying, but I just changed my ssid to match one of my neighbors and it works... hmm... maybe i'm just lucky?

It does work, I understand that. And you are not be annoying.

It does work. Set you AP to a number lower then your neighbors. Attache to your AP and now move away from your unit and get closer to your neighbors. Eventually passing by your neighbors and keep walking away from your unit and your neighbors. The X3i should automatically switch to your neighbors as it has the stronger signal. It doesn't So you bandwidth slowly decreases because it is trying to reach the far AP. Yet a closer AP, your neighbors, is sitting right there waiting to give you an 11MB connecion. Yet the X3i won't select the closer and more powerful AP. You have to open up the control panel app and rescan the network and reload the IP address.

You can see which radio has a stonger signal by looking a the status. However, the X3i will not select the stronge radio. It selects the first radio it finds, no matter how weak the signal. So if Channel 1 is 30% and Channell 11 is 90%, the X3i will still select the Channel 1. The only way to fix this is to rescan the netok, until you can manually find the msot powerful which is also the most reliable and fastest connection.

This is one of about three critical problems with WiFi and the X3i. The X3i is advertised as a Enterprise tool for business. Yet it is best suited for an environment where you only have one AP and you don't wander to far away from it.

Cheers!

- Steve

JmE · 11-02-03, 03:29 AM

I can see where it could be a problem for some, but what you describe is exactly what I do... I am running around campus and around town where there are APs everywhere. But, even my Netgear dual band PCMCIA NIC in my laptop does not roam like that (unless I let XP manage it). I have to do the same thing with it as I had to with the X3i.

I agree that it would be nice or it should roam to the strongest AP listed in profiles, but I would not necessarily say the way the X3i does it sucks.

-JmE-

Toaster · 11-02-03, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by stevepierce
Are you testing with multiple AP in the same area all set to different channels. IF so what AP's are yo uusing and what channels are they set to?

- Steve

Steve, I haven't had quite as many problems as you seem to have. I notice that the X3i is fairly slow to switch from one AP to the next. And it doesn't always lock onto the strongest signal. But I'm still able to roam from one AP to the next without dropping a connection. FYI, this is at both school and work for me. At both places, there are a combination of Cisco Aironet 1200 + 1100 APs on the same SSID using channels 1, 6, and 11.

chrisms · 11-02-03, 11:37 AM

Hi Guys,
I'm still having problems with my connection from the start of this string, and to hear you guys talking about your biggest problem being which ap to connect to just gets me more depressed.

From earlier I have bridged my ethernet(broadband) connection and my wifi pci card to allow my desktop to function as an ap in effect, I think! Therefore the router should be doing the dhcp fuinctions and everything but still to no luck!

I tried deleting the bridge and then connection sharing but it won't allow it because the router is et to 192.168.0.1 and to connnection share win XP wants that IP address. I can change the router to a different IP but can't then set my dektop to be the .1 address. I have a netgear dslm odem router with print servyer and a belkin 54g wireless pci card.

As before all help welcomed.

Chris

ikehiker · 11-02-03, 12:20 PM

chrisms,

I suspect you have not been getting much help with your problem because you've got a rather unusual set up. I think the problem probably lies in the inability of your PC to act as a pass-through for the router's DHCP functions. I suspect it's not possible to set it up that way. What may work, however, is to enable ICS on the PC and allow it to assign the IP to the Axim. This is not anything I've ever tried so I'm not sure if you'll be able to run the wireless and wired networks on the same subnet or if maybe ICS will be able to tie the two together.