Upstairs I have a 2003 vintage computer hardwired to a Netgear WTG624 wireless router. No problems.

Downstairs I have a similar vintage computer using a USB WG111 wireless adapter.

I am using WEP encription.

The Netgear assistant shows I have good to very good signal strength & 54Mbps

Home page takes a long time to load & when I try to go to other pages I watch the speed drop to 22, 11, 5.5, 2, 1 Mbps. Most pages won't load at the low speeds. After a short while, the speed ramps back up to 54, but the pages still won't load & I get the error message.

This has been a continuing problem, though at times the combination has worked perfectly well.

Today I purchased a new router (the updated version of the 624) and put a USB 2.0 card in the computer (thinking that the 1.1USB was the cause of the slow speed.) No real change.

Thoughts?

 

They installed the same Netgear at our church and are having the same problem. I have a feeling it's the Netgear hardware. We'll see who else chimes in here with a solution other than trashing the Netgear.

 

Try switching channels on your router. It'll be somewhere in the router config page.

 

If both the network card and the router are G capable, you may want to go into the settings for each and set them to G exclusively. Mixed or Auto negotiate modes sometimes have handshake issues that can reduce performance and result in dropped packets/connectivity issues.


Who is your ISP?

 

Not to hijack Daves thread but the church is on Time Warner.

 

just buy a Linksys.

 

Ok, not sure which version of the router you guys have, but you may check out updating the firmware to the latest/greatest (http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/WGT624.asp). The most recent updates for the v4 of the WGT624 appears to fix some of the similar situations. While the switch to G-only fix may have helped for the OP, probably wouldn't work at the church where I would imagine you have B/G mix.

I've heard that doing the automatic upgrade from the routers admin interface may not work properly so you may need to do it manually.

Some of the fixes that may apply:
Fixed “Router reboots and crashes automatically issue under a heavy interference environment and wireless mode is Auto 108 Mbps”.
Fixed “The WGT624v4 SSID can’t be seen from adapter site survey list after this router puts in a heavy interference environment and run for a period of time” issue.


If the above doesn't work, then there is this article which may apply. Make sure to keep track of everything you do related to this so that if it doesn't work, you can set everything back to it's original state.

http://kbserver.netgear.com/inquira/...05#__highlight

 

It is the Netgear router itself (hardware and "software" issue). Like was posted before, trying switching to just B or G mode. Also trying turning off the "firewall". A lot of things could be happening. Again like posted before, update firmware. Chan to channel 11. To be honest Netgear in my book is about as good as a knife in a gun fight. They have cosmetically appealing products, but the perform like a honda fit. My advice, try opting for a replacement router through warranty or store warranty. I would for ****s and giggles go get a linksys or buffalo and see if the same problem exist.

I have a Linksys WRT54GX4 V1 and this thing works like a dream. It goes about 50 miles I swear it. J/k. It is a nice router. If you get the matching wireless cards it gets some distance and speed added. Otherwise your limited to 54mbps. But that is def over what you go with your ISP. The high speeds is more or less for network browsing.

My last bit of advice is to see if you have any 2.4 GHZ equipment in the house. Phones, wireless mouse keyboards, printers, etc.**** them all off temporarily, restart computer and see if the problem persist. When I lived with my dad, we had a wireless doorbell. My router would make the door bell chime when I was using the computer.

So, stranger things have happend. Get rid of the netgear. Get a linksys, buffalo, or asus.

 

I second the Linksys Router. WRT54G with Sveasofts firmware. Lots of modifications can be made. I had a netgear router that kept dropping the WAN connection until it was rebooted. Had great range but other than that it sucked. After the firmware update to the Linksys it has even better range.

 

Hmmmm...... Not real sure what to tell ya. Like has been suggested, start out with updating the firmware. Netgear site has a good troubleshooting FAQ.

Might try google'n your problem. You'll most likely find more technical info than can be provided here.

I use a Netgear router at home and have had 3 laptops connected to the internet at the same time with zero problems. All running at 54mps. I have no complaints with Netgear.

Best of luck.

 

Linksys routers rock, but keep in mind that after v4, the WRT54G can no longer accept custom firmware, as it is VXSoft based, not Linux based like the previous generation routers. Being as I bought my v5 over 2 years ago, you probably won't find a v1-v4 in any store anymore. MAYBE eBay, but good luck looking there too.

I wish I could upgrade my firmware to custom so I could extend the range of my router. I really do.

 

WRT54G 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, and 8.0 VXWorks-based routers will accept DD-WRT micro version. VXWorks is not the direct reason most 3rd party firmware is not supported, it's the lack of enough flash memory in the things to hold anything but factory firmware and very compact 3rd party versions.

Even better, you can mail order a Linksys WRT54GL from the major vendors (Newegg, etc.) which is a reissued WRT54G version 4. It takes all kinds of custom firmware.

You should be able to jack up the power of your v5 with DD-WRT micro - I'd suggest you not exceed 70mw. Considering stock is 28mw, this should help a lot.