Re: Wireless Issue

Harvey Gratt <hgratt@xxxxxxxxxxx> hath wroth:

1. The firmware is the latest as posted on the Belkin website. I even
did file compares since the dates had changed. Remember, my version1 pc
card ( I believe they're up to version 4 now) is many years old - I
doubt Belkin will ever update them. But FWIW, the following is for the
pc cards:
Board: V1799 D7010 Rev. 4.5
Chipset: BCM4306 /BCM2050
Driver Version: 3.30.15.0

Belkin does not list the driver version on their web pile. However, I
do note that the date is 1/24/07, which might be a new driver or the
same old one. No way to tell without comparing versions numbers.
<http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5D7010&aid=6003&scid=221>

Incidentally, this is one reason I don't like Belkin products. There
are usually 1 or possibly 2 firmware updates, followed by nothing.
Eventually, it gets discontinued. Meanwhile, Netgear, Dlink, and
especially Linksys, continue to upgrade and fix problems even on
obsolete products.

2. Problem last night happened with 2 laptops on. Problem remained when
the furthest laptop was turned off. No major downloads by any laptop
were in progress

Ok, so that eliminates my guess that it's your other laptop.

3. I did reboot the router when I decided to broadcast my SSID to see if
this was an issue - it did not help.

SSID juggling will not help with what appears to be an interference
problem. However, rebooting the router was useful in case it was
partially hung or insane.

4. The problem is very intermittent, 3 or 4 times with the old router,
and once with this new router. The problem occurred at intervals of one
to several weeks and would last for at least several hours.

If it only happens a few times every several weeks, it's going to be
very difficult to identify. However, I have seen situations exactly
like that. One customer was having a problem that only appeared every
3 weeks. I marked the dates and times on the calendar and found that
it was the same days of the week every time. Eventually, we
discovered that the neighbors had a wireless system (that was not
broadcasting its SSID). The adults used their wired computer.
However, their son was doing the time share routine between houses. He
would arrive with his laptop full of peer to peer file sharing junk,
and promptly setup a server, via wireless. The result was almost
traffic continuous traffic until he disarmed the monster.

If you feel ambitious, download a Linux LiveCD with Kismet and go
looking for such hidden access points.
<http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack.html>

The client
SNR remains high - signal around -40dbm to -33dbm, noise level around
-80dbm.

If the interference was only being received by the Belkin router, you
would not see a drop in SNR at the client end. If your Belkin
wireless router is sitting in a window, where it can hear the world,
you might want to move it away to a more protected location.

5. I cannot deduce a pattern

Deduceing the pattern is my problem. You supply the data.

6. I checked my router's web pages - does not seem to indicate any SNR
information.

Bummer. That's one reason I like using DD-WRT firmware. I can get
individual stats on each client, perform scans, tweak settings, etc.
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wl_command>
Most cheap routers lack these troubleshooting features.

7. Since both laptops showed erratic behavior, I assumed the issue was
at the router (interference at the router as you had indicated). This is
just speculation on my part.

It's a fair deduction. We're still not sure it's interference, but I
don't have much in the way of alternatives.

8. Before I decide to try it, what will the exploit test show us?

I suspected that you might be sending or receiving mal-formed or
mangled packets. These have a detrimental effect on router stability
and might be causing a problem. I'm just guessing but it seems like
an easy and fairly harmless test to try. Try it both wired and
wireless. If it appears to slow down when run via wireless, then it's
possible we may have a suitable culprit.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
.

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