SP2

[Shooter]

Hi all,

I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without problems, except for the
computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which is networked to my
small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link - mainly to enable a
broadband connection through the main gateway computer.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered that SP2 had enabled
the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet connection is encrypted).

But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I should reinstall the
radio hardware?

Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)

[Jim Macklin]

Or get better antennas. You would be advised to turn the
firewall back ON, but put your LAN in the list of allowed
connections. I presume your "radio" is a WiFi IEEE 802.11.
You can try moving the base station around or the rec. ant.
to get the best signal.

It doesn't sound like an XP problem, it sounds like a
problem with the amount of walls and metal between your
systems.


"Shooter" > wrote in message
...
| Hi all,
|
| I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without problems,
except for the
| computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which
is networked to my
| small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link -
mainly to enable a
| broadband connection through the main gateway computer.
|
| Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered
that SP2 had enabled
| the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet connection
is encrypted).
|
| But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I
should reinstall the
| radio hardware?
|
| Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)
|
|
|

[Michael Pardee]

I agree with Jim - unless you can think of a better
reason for the times it works and the times it doesn't,
it sounds like the radio connection is just too poor.

For my D-Link system the solution was to buy external
antennas (about $25 each on line) for the two stations
that worked OK some days and not at all other days, with
most days being on-again, off-again. Problem solved.

Mike

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi all,
>
>I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without
problems, except for the
>computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which
is networked to my
>small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link -
mainly to enable a
>broadband connection through the main gateway computer.
>
>Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered
that SP2 had enabled
>the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet
connection is encrypted).
>
>But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I
should reinstall the
>radio hardware?
>
>Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)
>
>
>
>.
>

[Sharon F]

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 08:55:39 +0000 (UTC), Shooter wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without problems, except for the
> computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which is networked to my
> small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link - mainly to enable a
> broadband connection through the main gateway computer.
>
> Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered that SP2 had enabled
> the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet connection is encrypted).
>
> But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I should reinstall the
> radio hardware?
>
> Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)

In addition to the other suggestions posted, check properties for the
connection to see if you have 802.1x Authentication enabled. You don't
need it with WEP.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

[Colin Barnhorst]

I had an older PC that kept dropping the connection and turning off
authentication helped because it appears the older motherboard did not
support it.

"Sharon F" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 08:55:39 +0000 (UTC), Shooter wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without problems, except for the
>> computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which is networked to
>> my
>> small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link - mainly to enable a
>> broadband connection through the main gateway computer.
>>
>> Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered that SP2 had
>> enabled
>> the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet connection is encrypted).
>>
>> But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I should reinstall
>> the
>> radio hardware?
>>
>> Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)
>
> In addition to the other suggestions posted, check properties for the
> connection to see if you have 802.1x Authentication enabled. You don't
> need it with WEP.
>
> --
> Sharon F
> MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

[Sharon F]

On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:30:18 -0600, Colin Barnhorst wrote:

> I had an older PC that kept dropping the connection and turning off
> authentication helped because it appears the older motherboard did not
> support it.

That setting is for larger networks where an authentication server is in
place. It is enabled by default but can be unchecked on most home systems
since having an active authentication server is not common in a home
network environment.

Installing some patches (such as SP2) can reset this option to enabled and
you have to go back into settings and disable it again.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

[Colin Barnhorst]

I was wondering if that made the difference. Perhaps not. I read a kb
article that advised that some older systems did not support authentication
and that could cause the wireless router and the access point on the
computer to contend over the transmissions (pardon me if I am getting the
vocab wrong in places) and went to the connection properties to turn off
authentication, if I recall correctly. The Linksys customer service rep
also had me make some changes on the router so it is hard to tell what
effects came from what actions. I still get drop offs, especially when I
initiate lengthy actions, like incremental backups over the lan. None of my
other computers has had that sort of problem. I do know that this is my
last legacy box. Even with an up to date BIOS, legacy boxes just can't do
all that I would like to do with XP.

"Sharon F" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:30:18 -0600, Colin Barnhorst wrote:
>
>> I had an older PC that kept dropping the connection and turning off
>> authentication helped because it appears the older motherboard did not
>> support it.
>
> That setting is for larger networks where an authentication server is in
> place. It is enabled by default but can be unchecked on most home systems
> since having an active authentication server is not common in a home
> network environment.
>
> Installing some patches (such as SP2) can reset this option to enabled and
> you have to go back into settings and disable it again.
>
> --
> Sharon F
> MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

[Shooter]

So the general conclusion is - we don't know.

What is clear, is that the connection was extremely reliable, and now isn't.

The only connecting feature, is that it was reliable before SP2, and now is
not.

It may well be a hardware problem - but there again it may not be (?).

Does anyone have any sensible advice - beyond speculation?

I don't like to sound harsh - but I don't require speculation - I can do
that all by my self - I need advice.

Cheers

"Shooter" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I've installed SP2 on all my computers, without problems, except for the
> computer downstairs that I bought for my young son which is networked to
> my small hard wired network upstairs via a radio link - mainly to enable a
> broadband connection through the main gateway computer.
>
> Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I discovered that SP2 had
> enabled the firewall - which I've turned off (the INet connection is
> encrypted).
>
> But still having problems - any suggestions? Maybe I should reinstall the
> radio hardware?
>
> Anyway - it's all very irritating :-)
>
>
>