Internet connection *head desk*

[Roto13]

My wireless internet connection no my laptop works for about a minute at a time before dying. When I try to sign onto MSN and run the diagnostic thingy, it says the problem is that my default gateway appears to be offline. When I tell it to fix it, it doesn't work.

Things that may have some importance: It worked fine until the other day. Well, not fine, because it always randomly dropped off, but only now and then and only for a moment. Now it just barely works, if at all. The modem is really old and doesn't have enough WAN (is what it says above the slot on my router) ports to connect it to both my router and desktop computer at the same time. When I'm using my roommate's desktop, it works fine. When my laptop is trying to connect, it seems to work fine if I don't try to do anything. If I just look at it for an hour it'll run my Gmail notifier and even stay signed into MSN. But when I message someone or use Firefox, it works for about a minute or so before it stops completely.

Right now I'm using my roommate's computer. I want to be able to use my laptop again because all of my programs and stuff are on it and there's a leather jockstrap on the floor of this room and it's making me very uncomfortable. Help me?

[Baloki]

Sounds odd, what OS you running?

If it's XP try using the wireless cards own utility rather then WIndows one?

[Roto13]

It is XP. And how would I find my wireless card's utilities? :P

[o_O]

Many laptops don't have the wifi card utilities installed on it by default. You should be able to find the relevant drivers on the manufacturer's website.

As for your router, it sounds like it's either a router issue or a laptop wifi card rather than the network or ISP you're connected to. Does anything abnormal occur with the lights on your router when the connection drops?

Also, can you post the output of "Start>run>cmd /k ipconfig" while the problem is happening? If it is your gateway timing out and the problem is not the firmware of your router locking up it's probably fixable by forcing IPs in the computer.

[Roto13]

I'm using my laptop from closer to the router and it doesn't seem to be having any problems. It's in the same room (my roommate's bedroom) though so it doesn't solve the problem. But I'm sure it's important information. :P

That's kind of odd. I'm downloading the drivers now (I think they're the right ones) and I'm going to do what you said when it screws up again.

[Discord]

I'm actually more or less familiar with the problem. A friend of mine installed a WLAN, which ran fine on all computers in the household, except his own. The Linksys drivers just had certain "difficulties" with his system. He ran it on Win2k first, then installed XP and it still kept kicking him out of the net. He recently switched to a newer system and it's working alright.

I think the best advice I can give you is to make sure you have all the updates for your OS installed. That's the one thing we didn't try, due to him having a shady key.

[Roto13]

Actually, I installed the drivers I downloaded earlier and now it seems to be working tolerably. I'm not sure, though. My Wii is also having problems with the connection, so I'm thinking it might just be a coincidence and it'll stop working again in the not-too-distant future. :/ (I probably should have mentioned the Wii thing earlier. xP)

[o_O]

If more than one device is having trouble with the connection, it's likely an IP conflict. Each computer on your network needs to be assigned a unique internal IP address, and if the router fails to allocate unique ones, the machines will fight for the same addresses and boot each other off of the network. You may need to assign IPs. You'd have an indicator of this if your laptop is always getting kicked off when your Wii is connected.

[Roto13]

The desktop and laptop aren't connected to the modem/network/whatever at the same time, though. :/ My Wii isn't connected to the internet now either, and my laptop still isn't working with it. Could it have something to do with someone else being on the network without me knowing? There is a password, but it's a very simple one. I live in a big apartment building.

[MecaKane]

I'm using my laptop from closer to the router and it doesn't seem to be having any problems. It's in the same room (my roommate's bedroom) though so it doesn't solve the problem. But I'm sure it's important information. :P
That's the most important information, it could be that the signal's not getting to your laptop very well, when you (try to) connect see what it says about the signal strength or the bars it has or whatnot, and if it's weak or one bar or whatnot get a better router, aim the antenna in the direction of your room, or put it closer to the middle of the place!

[Roto13]

In between my laptop and the router is a bedroom and that's it, and the signal strength is always 4 or 5 bars. When it worked tolerably, though, the signal strength tended to hover around 2 bars.

[MecaKane]

Well yeah, that'd probably be it then, you said the router was old and all!

[Roto13]

The router is about six months old and it worked ok before I moved. It's the modem that's really old. I really don't think it;s the distance because if it was, it'd have been a problem since the beginning, wouldn't it? Also, the weaker the signal, the more reliable the connection seems to be.