WRT320N : Wireless connection keeps restarting

Discussion in 'hardware' started by JeremyP, Aug 1, 2010.

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  1. JeremyP

    JeremyP Registered Member

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    My daughter has an Asus (Atheros wireless chip) netbook, running the latest Ubuntu. I managed to install wifi OK, however the connection seems to drop and restart all the time - this makes apps like Skype more or less unusable.

    Any ideas?
     
  2. iravgupta

    iravgupta Registered Member

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    I have been down this road before - Atheros WiFi chips on Linux are a miserable failure. This is one of the things to keep in mind when getting a notebook for running Linux - no ATI, no Atheros. Look for NVIDIA and Broadcom instead.
     
  3. JeremyP

    JeremyP Registered Member

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    Bugger. Wish I'd known that before. Hey ho. It's my stepdaughter's netbook, and she's off to Syria shortly for 8 months, and really needs working wifi. Sigh...
     
  4. iravgupta

    iravgupta Registered Member

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    How abt temporarily putting Windows 7 on it, and extend the trial using the rearm technique? I know suggesting Windows to a Linux user is asking for trouble, but that depends how hard core a fan boy you are. P.M. me if you want help setting it up and securing it properly.
     
  5. JeremyP

    JeremyP Registered Member

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    It is in fact my stepdaughter's netbook, and we got Linux on it as it has such a small footprint. I'm Windows back to good old 3.1, and love Windows 7. Yes - it's a possibility I had wondered about, especially as 7 is so much better with memory than XP.

    I did load a couple of packages recommended on a forum, and we have now had an unbroken wireless connection for over an hour. Fingers X'd.

    Cheers
     
  6. YeOldeStonecat

    YeOldeStonecat Registered Member

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    Even worse with Windows. Atheros ==> run far far away from.
    Whenever I'm configuring a laptop for someone, I always upgrade that wireless option to Intel.
     
  7. JeremyP

    JeremyP Registered Member

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    I shall bear that in mind in future - thanks
     
  8. YeOldeStonecat

    YeOldeStonecat Registered Member

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    Forgive me if you mentioned it above and I missed it..
    ...but, are there any other users on this network? If so, when it disconnects her, does it disconnect other users? If there are other users, what are they typically doing? Any heave 'net users doing p2p/torrent stuff that bogs it down? Or is she the only one?

    Some things you can try..
    Often flashing the firmware of the router with the latest version will fix issues and improve compatibility.
    Also try changing the wireless channel from auto or 6 to ch 1 or ch 11.
     
  9. iravgupta

    iravgupta Registered Member

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    I would have agreed with you, but with Windows 7, MS is on top of the Atheros driver situation. Out of 4 laptops in my immediate household, 2 run Atheros. But yes, I too prefer Intel. One of the reasons being the easily available latest official drivers.
     
  10. JeremyP

    JeremyP Registered Member

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    This is the only wireless connection. I do some p2p, but the previous laptops my stepdaughter had (intel) were both fine. She's away at the mo, but it does seem a lot better since I installed a couple of linux packages recommended on another forum. Had thought of using a mains internet connection, but will hold that in reserve just in case.

    Maybe will put W7 on it for her, so she can dual boot in case of emergencies. She likes Linux, and like all youngsters, adapts to new tech fare more quickly than an old timer like myself.

    I like Linux, but I haven't found the apps that I have in Windows to maintain my 4TB music library. And Windows 7 - at last - works!
     
  11. YeOldeStonecat

    YeOldeStonecat Registered Member

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    I can't share that love for Atheros, based on experience with some clients that unfortunately have them on some of their fleet. They drop connection under heavy load (when updating the medical software on the laptops of one particularly large business client that I have)...their laptops that have the Atheros wireless...I've learned to plug in via ethernet cable. Because most of the time when I do it via wireless like I do with the rest of their laptop fleet (about 40 laptops)...it will drop the connection several times during the attempt. All while the rest of the laptops with good wireless NIC chipsets purr along just fine. While I'll agree the Win7 based wireless config utility does better when them than XP managed to, anything heavier than basic AOL home user like web surfing still bonks them out.
     
  12. Searching_ _ _

    Searching_ _ _ Registered Member

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    Check for ARP Poisoning.
    If you are recieving replies that have no request from your system you are being attacked. If you are seeing ARP Ping Scans it's an attack.
    XARP will let you know if you are under attack but won't stop it.
    Setting up static ARP cache entries in the router and each computer can help.
    A program like netCut can be used maliciously, by network Admins or ISP to punt people from networks.

    If you're having bandwidth issues try seeing what the data is doing and where it's going.
    Wireshark or something like Wireshark but also will map the network for you.
    The Program I'm thinking of is Network (Analyzer)--unsure. It's a commercial program that is free for personal use and will do what Wireshark does plus map it graphically.

    Outside of that, Equipment or Drivers.
    Check the Aircrack-ng site for links to updated drivers for your card.
    They may have third(fourth) party drivers but will have more functionality than manufacturer drivers as well as fixing some issues.
    You could try buying a USB wifi device like the Alpha (check ebay) which has 1 watt rec/trans or borrow a USB wifi card and see if that makes a difference.

    HTH

    Edit: If it's a Wireless N card in the netbook, Linux Kernel may not support it well yet. Check your wifi Chipset like "A9570" to see if it is supported.
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2010
  13. Searching_ _ _

    Searching_ _ _ Registered Member

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    The program I was thinking of is NetWitness Investigator.

    Netwitness Investigator
    Features:

    * 802.11 support
    * Right-click custom actions
    * Windows 7 support
    * Captures raw packets live from most wired or wireless interfaces
    * Imports packets from any open-source, home-grown and commercial packet capture system (e.g. .pcap file import)
    * License supports 25 simultaneous 1GB captures - far exceeding data manipulation capabilities of packet tools like Wireshark
    * Real-time, patented layer 7 analytics
    – Effectively analyze data starting from application layer entities like users, email, address, files , and actions.
    – Infinite, free-form analysis paths
    – Content starting points
    – Patented port agnostic service identification
    * Extensive network and application layer filtering (e.g. MAC, IP, User, Keywords, Etc.)
    * IPv6 support
    * Full content search, with Regex support
    * Exports data in .pcap format
    * Bookmarking & history tracking
    * Integrated GeoIP for resolving IP addresses to city/county, supporting Google® Earth visualization
    * SSL Decryption (with server certificate)
    * Interactive time charts, and summary view
    * Interactive packet view and decode
    * Hash PCAP on Export
    * Supports Org, Domain, and ISP databases
    * Supports NetWitness Live Threat Intelligence
    * Supports VLAN meta tagging
    * Supports IP Tunnel(i.e. GRE) meta tagging

    Minimum system requirements:
    NetWitness recommends the following minimum hardware requirements for NetWitness Investigator:

    * Windows® XP, 2003 Server, Vista, or 7 (32/64-bit)
    * Single 2Ghz Intel-based processor(Dual-core recommended)
    * 1GB RAM(2GB Recommended)
    * 1 Ethernet Port
    * Internet Explorer v7+ (IE v6.x may limit some functionality)
    * Ample data storage for collected data
    * Note: Linux infrastructure available in commercial versions
     
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