Possible to troubleshoot this?

I live in a condominium and there are wireless APs all over the building...there's one at the ends of each floor, supposedly. There's one pointing right at my room, and I get a "very good" signal as reported by windows and linksys.

However, no matter whether I use my laptop or desktop computer(or wii)...my connection disappears every few minutes, sometimes seconds. It's acting unstable and I'm getting very frustrated seeing this "wireless connection unavailable" message. >_<
It doesn't matter whether I'm viewing a webpage or a video, it will disconnect me at random. Sometimes the AP will disappear completely and then come back after a couple minutes.

I reported these problems, but the hotel is saying that they checked the router and didn't see an issue. The APs downstairs in the lobby seem to work fine as well.

Is there a way to troubleshoot this and figure out where the problem lies without having physical access to the AP?

I've checked for interference, and the only thing in my room that is always on is my air conditioner, which sits next to my PC. I turned it off, but it didn't improve anything.

KG

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Comments

RTmarc

Personally, it sounds like an AP issue. 9/10 these hotel IT groups aren't very, how can I put this delicate, they aren't the most skilled in the business; if the hotel staff even has someone in IT. Most of the ones I've stayed, their idea of checking the AP is walking in the room and making sure it's plugged in.

sthomas

RTmarc wrote:

Personally, it sounds like an AP issue. 9/10 these hotel IT groups aren't very, how can I put this delicate, they aren't the most skilled in the business; if the hotel staff even has someone in IT. Most of the ones I've stayed, their idea of checking the AP is walking in the room and making sure it's plugged in.

Which usually means 9/10 times the default password on the access point has not been changed either. So if you can get in the web interface on the box you may be able to fix it.

Ahriakin

You could install Netstumbler, not connect to the network and just watch the SNR and general signal levels. See if they seem to fluctuate. It could be an overloaded AP, or there could be environmental issues such as electronics/microwaves etc. in the way that are bursting RF interference.
I had a situation recently trying to deploy some wireless clients on our manufacturing floor. The coverage was good with strong signals reported when I did a site survey of the area. But the users kept getting kicked off the network every 30-60 seconds. Essentially while they had plenty of APs in range and high SNR there was some piece of machinery in the area that was intermittently saturating the Wifi frequencies.

KGhaleon

I haven't been able to figure out the password. I know the logon name, but it seems the password might be a bit more sophisticated.

I'm not familiar with how larger wireless networks are structured, but if I do a tracert I can see my subnet(192.168.9.0), followed by two other subnets on 192.168.2.0 and 192.168.0.0.
I ran a protocol analyzer(packet sniffer, cough) and didn't see anything out of the ordinary...though there were these "RIPv1/2: Response" messages every one or two minutes. Maybe sending routing information? Not sure how these smaller DSL routers work compared to more expensive routers.

The router is a buffalo WBR2-G54S, with some AirStation One-Touch Security system. I can never seem to ping or connect to other wireless devices that I own, so I'm not sure if it's a security feature.

KG

KGhaleon

The SNR seems to sit at 37 for the AP I'm using, though it dropped to 25 and then returned to 37 a few times. Not sure if that is normal.
I did note however, that the SNR for almost *all* the nearby APs began disappearing a couple times. Either it was refreshing or they were disconnected. At least two of the nearby APs were labeled as having "fake" vendors.

Netstumbler's website says that this might occur when your card hiccups, but mine is a PCI card and I've already tried installing the drivers and reseating it.

Construction is being performed in the lobby and on the upper floors of the building, but that shouldn't effect the APs at night, when I still have this issue.

KG

KGhaleon

It's now disconnecting me ever 10 seconds. This is madness