[INSTG8R]

My wife and I are on a Wireless Network setup we share with our Landlord, running identical NIC cards (SMC2802W 2.4G 54Mpbs Wireless PCI). Mine seems to work fine hers does not my specs are in my Sig and hers are surprisingly similar:

P4 2.4C Zalman 7000B AlCu
Abit IS7(which I was recently using and had no issues)
4x 512 DDR Corsair
9800Pro @XT
Maxtor 80GB 8mb 7200 RPM
Audigy LS

The machine has been formatted(as has mine to eliminated any potential issues)
Okay so here are the Symptoms:

Connects fine to the network, Wireless Gateway.
Can D/L files and cross network to my PC

Gaming is where this becomes an issue
My wife plays BF2 and Ghost Recon(I also play BF2 with no issues) and shortly after connecting to any server be it GR or BF2 it Kicks the connection off(dissapears from the tray) and or just hard locks the machine.

Things I have tried:

Formatted,
Reflashed the BIOS,
Used the Cards Software to run it and Windows Wireless Zero(what I normally use and works fine on mine)
I have switched the cards in the machines(card works fine here I have no issues)
Tryed card in different PCI Slots(has no conflicts)
Changed the Encryption(use WEP 64 but tryed WPA)

Im just absolutely stumped with this that I can set up 2 PCs that are almost Identical doing the same thing for both but 1 has this issue.
So PLZ if anyone has any suggestions HELP! its the weekend and my Missus is gonna wanna game.


Edit: The router is set up as DHCP enabled so address assigning is automatic tho the cards always show up as the same IPs(noticed switching the cards that the MAC determines IP as we have flipped our assignments)

[CDsDontBurn]

have you tried moving the PC closer to the router?

Is there any possible way you guys can run wired?

[INSTG8R]

Signal strength isnt an issue(its basically disabling the connection when you try to connect to a server)

Ah to be wired would be great but alas I cannot convince him to drill a hole in the floor(the router is in the room right above us)

[CDsDontBurn]

try reformatting again. maybe your wife's computer picked up a virus shortly after the reformat. after reformat, d/l and install all the windows updates.

other than that dude, i don't know what else to say. i'm stumped on that one too. you've already done everything else i woulda already done myself.

[INSTG8R]

Ran Kapersky right after format(I use Autopatcher on both machines so it doesnt touch the Net until its fully updated)

[INSTG8R]

HA HAH I think I got it beat. looking thru the Event Log had Events pertaining to Tracing, added the Reg lines to the SNMP events, it appears to be working now

[INSTG8R]

NOPE it was a fluke its still kicking the connection

[Yousaif]

Is it possible that other machines on the network are utilizing the same ports for other or similar applications? Is there any port forwarding information for routers for these games?

It kind of sounds like the port is being closed by the router or is being re-routed to another PC on the network.

To test this, see of you can hook up directly to the cable or dsl modem with your wife's machine and see if it still kicks you. If it does then the issue is on the PC side. If it doesn't then it propbably has something to do with either the router configuration or the other machines on the network tryin to utilize the same port.

[INSTG8R]

Thanks Yousaif but I cant wire it up (router isnt accessable) and I have also tried it with only the one machine on(made no difference)
The other machines on the router are wired(upstairs)and we are on our own workgroup.
As for Port forwarding the router has a hardware firewall but this is only happening with her machine mine can do any of the things without issue

I tried this
Set up her computer to host a Ghost Recon Server thru Ubi Game Service, it worked I could join it and play.(yes I had to forward some ports)
I hosted a room in the same situation(changing only the IP for the ports to mine) she cannot join and it this case it locked up and the machine had to be reset
I then hosted a LAN game she could join it no problem worked fine

Now she decided she was going to play some BF2 she could join and did play for about 20 minutes or so, then it kicked the connection and proceeded to hard lock itself, of course XP error reporting gives you the lovely generic "Device Driver" Error and no more than that and the Event Viewer is showing nothing besides the System Error and something to do with the Kernal and of course no useful info there either

it just aggravates me to no end that 2 machines set up almost identically (install patching etc.) but one seems to be an issue tho I cannot duplicate the issue on mine tho Im using the same card, drivers, and setup

[Tipstaff]

Do you have any high powered (2.4Ghz) cordless phones, or Bluetooth devices (such as one in a cellphone or wireless keyboard/mouse)?

The reason I ask is that one problem with 2.4Ghz cordless phones is that they hop around from frequency to frequency along the entire 2.4Ghz spectrum in order to keep contact between the base unit and handset (for clairity and connection). Bluetooth will uses a set spread of frequencies (79 I think) within that spectrum, however it can share them by communicating with other Bluetooth devices. Wireless b/g network cards,however, uses a specific portion of that 2.4Ghz spectrum. Wireless b usually uses a set 1/3 of it, while wireless g will use multiple frequencies in that 2.4ghz spectrum. Since cordless phones jump all over that 2.4Ghz spectrum, and Bluetooth uses a set number, they can actually interferre with Wifi by jumping into the spectrum that it is using, and sometimes vice versa.

You can try unplugging your cordless phones, or turning off any cellphones to see if this helps. Of note: you could also be receiving interferance from outside your home, especially from nieghbours if they use devices that use similar frequencies. This is actually one of the reasons why cordless phone manufacturers are moving into the 5Ghz range (and why the 900Mhz phones are making a comeback) as there is less of a chance of interferance, however, there are a number of high power routers now that use that 5Ghz range too.

[swimtech]

Check this article too, when you get a chance - their are myriad reasons for wireless disconnects. And thank the Lord my phones are 900Mhz - that problem is common too.

Overclockers article

[INSTG8R]

Thanks swimtech theres seems to be some useful info there for sure and I will try some of those fixs
Im currently reformatting her machine again and doing the absolute long way(No Autopatcher, running SP1A then SP2 thru it) hopefully it will replace/sort this out.
I mean its just the one machine and mine works fine in every app that hers does not.

[Tipstaff]

Very good article, swimtech.

One thing I forgot to mention was that I had a similar problem with my Toshiba Tecra S2 laptop. Never noticed it until this last week, but when using my home wireless router the speed was flopping around going from 1Mbps (sometimes slower) to 54Mbps. I was using Microsofts Wireless Zero Configuration over Toshibas ConfigFree tool since it was giving me problems at work. I finally narrowed it down to my home 2.4Ghz cordless phone. I tried changing back to Toshibas tool which helped a bit. My other 2 laptops use Intels ProSet 2100B, and I use Intels ProSet software for them. Never had a problem with them, so I decided to switch to it for the Toshiba (it uses an Intel ProSet 2200 B/G Wireless Nic, and Marvel Yukon Gigabit Nic). Worked like a charm, and since then, no problems, and a solid 54Mbps connection all the time.

[INSTG8R]

Well again if it was about signal it would be an issue for both machines. its just the one and it only when she trys to join a game, it crosses the network to my PC, can browse the web, D/L files, even host a game, can join a game over the LAN, WHEN she tries joining an older game like Ghost Recon it kicks the connection from the tray(disables it) and it will not re-enable and or hard locks the PC. Newer games like BF2 connect fine but goes for about 20 minutes before it kicks the connection.
I am back on the NIC cards software now and not using wireless zero but still the same effect

[swimtech]

Crap,

Stack and packet management problems - I hate those - and know very little... Intel's software has always been pretty reliable - given a choice I've always chosen their hardware because their software is so solid and thus haven't had to manually deal with the low level configs... Time to learn...

[INSTG8R]

Well as ridiculous as it sounds I think I have sorted it. I turned off the machine moved it a PCI slot without uninstalling it so the "new" card came up as card #2 and well its working and just to be safe I lowered the DHCP range on the router and made both our cards static IPs outside the DHCP range so they no longer show up in the LAN in the router at all. She has been happily playing Ghost Recon and BF2 all evening without incident

[INSTG8R]

ARRRGH!!! same problem is back it ran flawlessly for days and suddenly back to kick the connection and lock ups. no changes in settings just the same problem back again.