Faulty wireless drivers?

[_sorrow_]

Okay, so i don't know if any (or all) of you are aware of this, but i've been having some pretty heinous problems with the wireless network at my house, and for the most part have given up on it -- until the past day or two that is. One of my flat mates is plugged right into the (d-link 624s) wireless router, and therefore has no problems (the router is jacked into the comcast modem). The other guy is, for all intensive purposes, computer illiterate, so when i described the problems i was having, he didn't understand, but also didn't think that he was having the same problem. At one point or another though, i messed with something on his computer, and saw the same lagg problem that i was having.

Things changed yesterday though. A friend of mine bought a new (used) computer, and asked me to clean it off, make sure everything was working, etc. Told him it wouldn't be a problem, bring it by when he got the chance. So he dropped it off, and i've done most of the house-cleaning things that needed to be done to a new windows installation, and then finally got to getting the wireless card working properly. Installed the drivers, and jumped on the network to make sure it was working alright, which it was. Then i got kind of confused, because it was working almost too well. After a little while, i realized it was working perfectly. What gives?

So i've decided that its my wireless drivers that are causing my problem. Okay, that can be fixed; so i download an older version, uninstall the newest version, reboot and... what, i'm connected to the wireless? Ugh, okay, i guess it re-installed the driver with windows file protection or whatever that service is. So i uninstalled the drivers again, and without re-booting, installed the older ones. That was all fine and dandy, but when i moused over the icon in the tray, it say "Wireless Network Connection (2)" and then the other regular stuff. Wtf?

So at this point, i've done that several times, tried rebooting, tried it again without rebooting, tried some of the oldest drivers i can find, and in the long run, nothing has changed -- other than, of course, the number of my "Wireless Network Connect (5)" or whatever its at now. The connection is still terrible, websites are more than likely to not load properly (if at all), and i'm still tearing my hair out over the problem.

Any ideas as to what to do? Even if its just properly (and completely) uninstalling the drivers, any information will probably be helpful.. hopefully i can get this solved before my friend wants his computer back -- otherwise i'll have to research this while on campus, which is just a pain.. :cool:

[striker1211]

What ethernet adapters are you using? Are your cards g compatible?

[darknessgp]

What OS? 32bit or 64bit? What's the router? Any other wireless networks in your area? Are there any 2.4 Ghz cordless phones in the house? My wireless had problems only when our cordless phone was in use, we switched to a 5 Ghz cordless and haven't had problems since.

Honestly, you didn't provide nearly enough info. For future reference, if your asking for help with something it better to say more than "It just wasn't working right for me." or "It worked fine on someone else's computer but not mine." Not only did you not provide any info for the questions we asked, but we don't even know what the wireless is doing wrong. Is it dropping connections? Are you just not connecting at the full rated speed and think it's a hardware problem? etc.

[xibalba]

If you are using D-link wireless card, they tend to come with the wrong drivers. Finding the right ones can be a hassle. Took me forever to find the right ones for the card I have it came with drivers that went to a more expensive card and wasn't compatible with mine. Also on their website the wrong drivers were there as well listed under the cards downloads.

[_sorrow_]

First of all, sorry for the slow reply, i'm in the process of driving across the country.. long story, and few internet connection times. Secondly, sorry for the lack of information, i think when i posted that i was about to lose my mind, and the details were seeping out of my ears at that point -- but somehow didn't make it into the post.

My wireless card is a (sigh) dell truemobile 1300 (broadcom), 802.11b/g compatible.
The router is a DL-624S router with super-g capabilities, even though none of us have super-g -- so i have that disabled. I have also forced it into G mode exclusively, also with no luck.


There are other networks in the area, but none of them have caused any problems for any of the other computers on the network -- even one put in the same exact spot as i usually use. No cordless phones in the house either, and the signal strength is "great" most of the time. Oh, and i'm using a 32-bit dell, running windows xp pro.

On Dells driver website, after putting in my service tag number, i am offered these downloads: Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
Dell _Wireless (Except US,Japan) WLAN Card
Dell _Wireless (Japan) WLAN Card
Dell _Wireless (US) WLAN Card
Dell True Mobile 1150 Series Mini-PCI Card
Dell True Mobile 1180 Internal 802.11b Mini-PCI Card
Dell TrueMobile 1150 Series PC Card
Dell TrueMobile 1170 Access Point
Dell TrueMobile 1300 MPCI Card
Dell TrueMobile 1300 PCMCIA
Dell TrueMobile 1400 WLAN
Dell TrueMobile 2300 Wireless Broadband Router
Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN MiniPCI Card
Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN PC Card
Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN MiniPCI Card
Dell Wireless 1450 WLAN miniPCI Card
Dell Wireless 1470 Dual-Band WLAN miniPCI Card

I have tried the 1300 pcmcia, 1300 mpci card, and the 1400 wan drivers, all with no success.

Also, i got to goofing around with CC cleaner the other day, and did a complete uninstall of the drivers and everything i could find relating to them, rebooted, and reinstalled some old versions of the proper drivers (and rebooted again). After that, things looked promising for a couple of minutes, but in the long run nothing was solved.

Oh, and i dunno if i mentioned this in my first post, but my wireless works fine with any other wireless networks, and from what i've seen, my home wireless network works fine with any other computer... :confused:

If it would help at all, next time i get online i can post what Sandra has to say about my network cards, but that will have to wait until i'm back home, and can pull it off my external hard drive.

Thanks for all the input

[_sorrow_]

Just an update: i was given a new Linksys wrt54g router, so i have no need for this d-link anymore... Craigslist, here come! ;)

Moral of the story is that (in theory) i won't need to fix my wireless drivers or change them or anything, because its very specific to that router.. :cool:

[masherscf]

The other guy is, for all intensive purposes, computer illiterate, so when i described the problems i was having, he didn't understand, but also didn't think that he was having the same problem.
:cool:

A couple of things.

The phrase is "For all intents and purposes..."

Wireless cards can be pretty sketchy things. Unless you tries your wireless card in your buddies computer and tries using it from the exact position, you still can't conclude that the problem is the drivers. You're problem way be a source of interference like a cordless phone or even a wireless router next door. Your adapter or router could be crappy. Something might be blocking the signal in your place. If your using the windows zero config utility, try using the manufacter's utility or visa versa.

I have a linksys WRTG54G and it needs to be reset at least once every two days or so.