Wireless frustrations

[HalifaxJ]

Greetings,

Just recently purchased a custom build i7 920 with Asus P6T MOBO. It runs great, but I completely forgot to include a network adapter for wireless. I went to futureshop and the guy told me to get a USB wireless adapter, so I did - I even paid extra and got the D-link DWA-160 Xtreme N adapter. I use to have an old D-link adapter and worked great.

The room I have both my new computer and old desktop is not very far from our wireless router. In fact, my laptop - which does not have the best wireless card, receives an excellent signal from the router. I've never had a problem. I was sure that a higher end dual band USB adapter would at least receive the same signal.

I install the D-link, and the connection signal is very poor. It keeps disconnecting as soon as I try to download something, and most of the time I can't even connect.

What gives? Are these USB adapters useless or is there something I'm missing here? I'm using Windows 7 64bit, but was told it would not be an issue.

Thanks,

Julien

[Perineum]

Originally Posted by HalifaxJ

Greetings,

Just recently purchased a custom build i7 920 with Asus P6T MOBO. It runs great, but I completely forgot to include a network adapter for wireless. I went to futureshop and the guy told me to get a USB wireless adapter, so I did - I even paid extra and got the D-link DWA-160 Xtreme N adapter. I use to have an old D-link adapter and worked great.

The room I have both my new computer and old desktop is not very far from our wireless router. In fact, my laptop - which does not have the best wireless card, receives an excellent signal from the router. I've never had a problem. I was sure that a higher end dual band USB adapter would at least receive the same signal.

I install the D-link, and the connection signal is very poor. It keeps disconnecting as soon as I try to download something, and most of the time I can't even connect.

What gives? Are these USB adapters useless or is there something I'm missing here? I'm using Windows 7 64bit, but was told it would not be an issue.

Thanks,

Julien

First of all, not trying to be a dick here, but welcome to my experience with wireless. I could get my wireless to connect and it would link up with full strength but after an hour it would just drop for no reason. I even got high gain antennas, used DD-WRT to increase power output, and tuned for best S/N ratio. Nothing helped.

I'm not sure of the guidance of the FS employee.... I can't see why a USB adapter would work better than a full size PCI card but hey, wtf......

Windows 7 would be an asset for you, so it's not the problem.

All I can suggest to try is put the machine right near the wireless router and see if you get full signal strength. If you don't, then you've got a problem with either the router or the usb dongle.

[HalifaxJ]

Thanks,

Well my laptop which only has a 800mhz card (does this sound right???) connects perfectly. We're trying to decide whether to return the USB device and get a proper wireless card - any suggestions?

J

P.S. Also if anyone knows how to rename the computer...when they installed Win7, they used another name (Greg). Now if I rename the computer, say to Jocelyne, it will still say Jocelyne/greg. When I look in user acounts, it shows a folder with the name greg and has a little lock next to it.

Can't I remove that name??? I want it named something else!

[HalifaxJ]

Also...If I look in my device manager, it does show under network adapters the following;

RealTek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Is this Ethernet?

[M1K3Z0R]

Originally Posted by HalifaxJ

Also...If I look in my device manager, it does show under network adapters the following;

RealTek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Is this Ethernet?

Correct

Have you tried updated dlink drivers from their site?

[crazyhorsejohnny]

Originally Posted by M1K3Z0R

Correct

Have you tried updated dlink drivers from their site?

That worked for my bro.

[sswilson]

You're not using older portable phones in your house by any chance are you? If so, any chance the base station is located near the new PC?

[HalifaxJ]

Tried new drivers, but nothing worked. It just seems to get a very poor signal (between 1mbs to 6mbs).

How easy is it to install a proper PCI card? D-link has one with 3 antennas for the same price as the USB, so I could just return it.

J

[MrDiaz]

Originally Posted by HalifaxJ

P.S. Also if anyone knows how to rename the computer...when they installed Win7, they used another name (Greg). Now if I rename the computer, say to Jocelyne, it will still say Jocelyne/greg. When I look in user acounts, it shows a folder with the name greg and has a little lock next to it.

Can't I remove that name??? I want it named something else!

Sure,

1. Type sysdm.cpl into the start menu search box
2. Click on "Change" to change the name of your computer

hope it helps.

Regards,
Manuel

[Perineum]

Originally Posted by HalifaxJ

Tried new drivers, but nothing worked. It just seems to get a very poor signal (between 1mbs to 6mbs).

How easy is it to install a proper PCI card? D-link has one with 3 antennas for the same price as the USB, so I could just return it.

J

After you get the cover off it's usually 1 screw and then just insert the card.

I don't expect you'll have much problem.