Look Ma, No Wires!

[kerravonsen]

I was very busy yesterday! Not only did I complete two ficlets, not only did I release a new version of txt2html (which took me until very late!) but I also got my wireless networking working! With WEP too! So now I can tap away on my laptop at the other end of the house and log on to the desktop too. Though it may only really be feasable for surfing the net when the desktop is connected, because it seems to be hanging erratically, I have no idea why. The ping times vary from about 7ms to 30 or 40 about every fourth ping, and then every few minutes or so, it just stops. I'm not sure if this is because of the WEP or simply because it's at the other end of the house and has to battle walls, since my initial tests were unencrypted with the laptop sitting right next to the access point. Anyway, it's still lovely, since surfing the web seems to be fine, because the wireless is still faster than the dialup (and because erratic waits are less irritating when loading a page than when one is typing!).

Comments

[bktheirregular]

What sort of router are you using? I ask because I had serious difficulties getting my laptop to talk to the new wireless router I put in (a Netgear 802.11b router), and I solved that by performing a firmware upgrade (the loaded firmware was over a year old)...

[kerravonsen]

Well, I thought I'd have less hassle if I made sure that the router and the WLAN connector were the same brand; the router is a D-Link DI-624 wireless/wired router and the WLAN connector on the laptop is a D-Link DWL-122 USB one. I think it may be the distance, since it seems to be a bit better this morning after I put the router a little higher.

Ideally, I ought to get a long extension cord and a long ethernet cable and run the cable out the door of the office and over two doorframes so I can stick the router on top of the tall bookcase in the hallway... but that's a lot of effort and nasty cabling...

[bktheirregular]

Wireless can sometimes be a bit finicky, I've noticed - though half the point of wireless networking is to avoid the messy cabling - sometimes repositioning the router does help. Sometimes the positioning's a little off, and sometimes it's something a little more serious. I know that WEP encryption can cause a bit of lag sometimes, and like I said, I was having all kinds of problems with my new Ethernet/802.11b router until I did a firmware upgrade...