Technolocigs Here! By Techno Girl: Home wireless network connection getting intermittent connections, help!

View online |

Share on Facebook

September 4, 2009

Home wireless network connection getting intermittent connections, help!

Dear CNET members,

Happy Friday! It's always nice to hear from you folks through e-mail. This week, I received an e-mail from Cory K. whose question and answer we are featuring in this newsletter. He wrote in to express how excited he was for getting his question selected and feels like a celebrity! Well, Cory, celebrity or not, the good news is that our community members have come up with a lot of insights, suggestions, and advice to help you on your troublesome wireless network connection.

However, there is a bit of bad news, that being a wireless network connection issue, the problems can stem from a wide variety of factors--ranging from signal interferences from other Wi-Fi signals, a bad USB port, hardware issues, to something as simple as your Wi-Fi device being moved recently. And like all tech-related issues, it's going to take a bit of effort on your part to read through our member suggestion and experiences shared, and you troubleshooting through the process of elimination. And it's always recommended to start with the basic task that you can accomplish quickly to eliminate those possibilities first and work your way up to the more time-consuming ones further down. And who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and the first few simple task you choose will correct your problem. So good luck, Cory! Lots of folks came through for you, and I've hand-picked a few members' answers for you in the Q&A section to jump-start you into troubleshooting mode. And when you do find a solution that worked, please swing by again to tell us all about it. Thank you everyone for your time, sharing your knowledge, and above all for being part of this community! Take care and have wonderful weekend, folks!

Cheers!
- Lee

Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Lee Koo
CNET Community manager

Last week's question

Home wireless network connection getting intermittent connections, help!

As a non-techie struggling to survive in a techie world, I look forward to reading the QOTW and responses every Friday afternoon. Thanks for all the insights, I frequently find solutions to things in your e-mails. I now find myself with a question that I hope is worthy of submission.

I have a very basic wireless system for my home--cable modem connected to a wireless access point/router, with a USB network adapter connected to my desktop PC operating on MS XP. The wireless connection has worked beautifully for 2+ years, but recently the connection breaks down and I get a message of "acquiring network address," which then turns into a message of "limited or no connectivity." The only way I can get the wireless connection back working is to run a hard-wire cable through the house from the access point/router directly into the desktop PC. After a few minutes the wireless connection will restore and work fine... for a short while, sometimes a couple hours, sometimes a couple days, then we have to go through the whole thing again. The access point/router seems to be broadcasting fine because my laptop connects and works without issue, but I need help stopping the calls I receive from frustrated family members trying to use the desktop... Save me! Thanks in advance.

-- Submitted by: Cory K. of San Marcos, California

Featured member solutions
for last week's question:

"Home wireless problems "
-- Submitted by: RonPal

"Several possible causes "
-- Submitted by: Flatworm

"Home wireless connections "
-- Submitted by: ltoribio

"Wireless is inherently flawed. "
-- Submitted by: caskater4

"Try this instead... "
-- Submitted by: alswilling

"My experience "
-- Submitted by: Zouch

"This is probably a hardware issue... "
-- Submitted by: Watzman

Read all member contributions

Thanks to all who contributed!

Previous questions and answers

1. Can I run my current Windows XP software programs on Windows 7?

2. What's the reason behind reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling Windows occasionally?

3. Reinstalled Windows XP, but I'm still getting BSODs and other troubles?!

4. Windows Virtual Memory is too low--what's that all about?

5. I need a backup solution for digital photos while traveling overseas

All previous Community newsletters

Community buzz

1. What should be backed up (saved) before a reformat?

2. Got that SLR? Show me how to blur the background!

3. XP to Windows 7

4. Got any good tricks for conserving energy in your home?

5. Old computer dismantle or sell?

More from the security forum

Check out next week's question:

Help, USB connections is not always being detect by PC

Hi CNET. I've noticed that some of my USB devices like flash drive, printer, even digital camera plugged as mass storage isn't readily detected by the USB ports on my laptop. At times I still have to plug and unplug on different ports before the computer finally detects the device. However, I have this one particular flash drive that can only be detected by my laptop on a particular port and does not work on the other two ports. Why is this so? Any ideas on how I can solve this mystery? In case it matters I have a Compaq CQ40 running Vista Home Basic. Thanks!

-- Submitted by: Tony M. from the Philippines

Know the answer? Click here to submit it!

Have a tech-related question?
Click here to e-mail us on one of these topics:

· PC troubleshooting
· PC upgrading
· Digital music
· Consumer electronics

· Multimedia
· Internet security
· Digital cameras
· Home audio & video

Need help tech right away? Don't wait for us, post your questions in the CNET forums for all the tech help and how-tos.