WiFi issues

[madcat]

Question to whoever uses GBPVR over a wireless network (this applies to any PC as well, but more important on a "un-attended" PC such as PVR).


I am currently using the XP SP2 built-in Wireless configuration. It's "ok", but the problem I have is that sometimes I will loose the connection, and XP will not try (or not insist enough) to re-connect. So, I may find the GBPVR PC has been disconnected hours (and in cases, days) from the network.

There are other applications out there to control different WiFi (or network in general) profiles. I tired several (BVRP-something? I forget the others), but none reached that sweet-spot.

I need something that will try and reconnect, and make sure I'm connected all the time. Also has to be discreet - I can't have new dialogs/popus open all the time (for obvious reasons).

(I have two AP in the house, so the perfect solution would be a proggy that will try to reconnect, and if it fails after a while, or if the connection-speed is below X, will switch to the other AP).

Anyone has good experience with such proggy to recommend?

[fuzzweed]

Anyone has good experience with such proggy to recommend?

in one word - "no" (IMO). I gave up on wireless for some of the reasons you mention - it's basically massively unreliable for continuous connection or large amounts of data. Of course I still use it for web browsing etc on the laptop, but my other pcs are now solidly connected with a bit of cat5 and they've never been better

[madcat]

Yeah, I wish it was that simple. I would then even opt for 1G/b Eth!
However, PVR machine is on another floor from other PCs (mainly, the internet connection, and the PC running other...well... media "download" stuff).
And it's a house we're renting, so i'm not into big projects in the walls. If and when we buy a house, I will run wires as part of the renovations/fix-up, etc.

anyone else maybe?

[ASD]

Have you considered a wireless bridge?

As no drivers etc are required, the bridge should maintain connectivity and handle encryption while XP just see's an ethernet network so doesn't have to do any authentication.

Haven't tried this myself as I'm still setting up my PVR

Cheers

AD

[madcat]

Have you considered a wireless bridge?

As no drivers etc are required, the bridge should maintain connectivity and handle encryption while XP just see's an ethernet network so doesn't have to do any authentication.

Haven't tried this myself as I'm still setting up my PVR

Cheers

AD

Actually, it's a good idea. Did cross my mind.
Benefit: all you said, plus, I have another media player (a DVD/DivX player that has wired/wireless capability) which will then benefit from the nearby router.
Downside: I will have to use my Linksys router for that, and the main AP would be my shitty NetGear (I'm not going to buy a third WiFi router...). Rest of the house will not benefit from the Linksys.

My current approach is buying a Wifi USB dongle (<10$ on eBay) plus a USB extenstion cable (~5$) and then having it outside the media cabinet (I could notice the reception is much better if I jsut pull the PVR-laptop out the cabinet). If this fails, then the WiFi bridge would be next stop.

[systemshark]

Madcat,

what you want is the replacement network / wifi manager. I note you are using the IBM thinkpad, I use a thinkpad for work and have a piece of software called 'access connections' http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.w...GR-4ZLNJB

I use this to manage all my different network profiles, (home, work, office wifi, hotel wifi, client wifi) etc but a useful service this software provides is to ensure you are always connected.... which is what you want. This way you can keep the Wifi coverage and not have to install a Wfi bridge etc....

When you have installed it the ms wifi support will still work but you need to drive everything from access connections....

if you need any support let me know...

[pieter]

I tried using a wireless connection, but it was not stable enough. Now I use Power LAN. Two computers are connected with the router with three Power LAN devices. And there were never problems any more. It is as stable as Cat5.
Power LAN has different speeds. Choose 85 Mbps as minimum.

[madcat]

Madcat,

what you want is the replacement network / wifi manager. I note you are using the IBM thinkpad, I use a thinkpad for work and have a piece of software called 'access connections' http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-4ZLNJB

I use this to manage all my different network profiles, (home, work, office wifi, hotel wifi, client wifi) etc but a useful service this software provides is to ensure you are always connected.... which is what you want. This way you can keep the Wifi coverage and not have to install a Wfi bridge etc....

When you have installed it the ms wifi support will still work but you need to drive everything from access connections....

if you need any support let me know...

Thanks. I am actually familiar with this AC. I used it in the past (have been "attached" to a thinkpad for 5 years now).
And yes, I do remember it to be quite persistant (and the most feature rich - will control TCP properties, Printers, proxies, etc.).
However, I did install it on this machine (twice actually, before the format and lately once again), and it never performed the way I wanted (again, it was perfect on other machines). For some reasons, it will fail to connect, while the built-in XP tool will connect easily. After seeing your post, I will maybe give it another go.

I tried using a wireless connection, but it was not stable enough. Now I use Power LAN. Two computers are connected with the router with three Power LAN devices. And there were never problems any more. It is as stable as Cat5.
Power LAN has different speeds. Choose 85 Mbps as minimum.

I will look into that too. Thanks for the idea (depending on the price...).

[fla]

Wireless for GB-PVR can work...

I bought a cheap Trendnet wireless router + wireless usb adapter for $9.99 on boxing day a year ago. The wireless router is used only as an access point since a my router is a linux box.

I also bought a $50 D-Link pci wireless adapter for my GB-PVR box. The D-Link disk installed a wireless management application that seems to take over from the wireless stuff XP does by default. There is now an extra "D" (for D-Link) icon in the taskbar.

Point is I never noticed a single GB-PVR network disconnect in over a year of use. The EPG updates nightly and I use VNC from the laptop to manage the keyboardless/mouseless GB-PVR box. I copy mpg files of several gigabytes back and forth quite frequently. It all feels rock solid just like my wired network does between my other boxes.

I had always been sceptical of wireless since I live in a highrise building with 6-10 other wireless networks visible at any given time not to mention wireless phones but the $9.99 sale convinced me to try.

Is the Trendnet hardware or the D-Link hardware/software responsible for the stable connection? Anyways I have never felt the need to run a wire to my GB-PVR box.

[systemshark]

Thanks. I am actually familiar with this AC. I used it in the past (have been "attached" to a thinkpad for 5 years now).
And yes, I do remember it to be quite persistant (and the most feature rich - will control TCP properties, Printers, proxies, etc.).
However, I did install it on this machine (twice actually, before the format and lately once again), and it never performed the way I wanted (again, it was perfect on other machines). For some reasons, it will fail to connect, while the built-in XP tool will connect easily. After seeing your post, I will maybe give it another go.

Madcat,

I've also used AC for a number of years, I know that there was a build which didn't work well. I'm using the latest version on my thinkpad and it's working fine, however I have noticed you need to install it before you install .NET framework 2.0 (but I don't know why)