This weekend I upgraded our home network by installing a DIR-655 to replace on old 802.11b Linksys router and added DWA-642 adapter client to our laptop. I am not a "techie," but performance is less than I would have expected and adapter client manager doesn't work on the laptop; I had to use Windows Wireless Zero Confirguration to configure the connection. I apologize for the message length, but I wanted to try and provide as much information as possible.
Setup: desktop and laptop both running XP Pro, separated by 60ft and two floors. Desktop connected by ethernet cable to router that sits next to it. Moving the router is not an option. Pre-installation, Jperf tests, ran several dozen times showed average connection rate between computers was about 2-4 megabits (mb)/sec. on tests in which 100 megabytes (Mb) were being transmitted. Post-installation, numerous Jperf tests with laptop sitting 5 feet from router showed connection rate anywhere from 5mb/sec to 25 mb/sec. Tweaking by D-Link tech staff, disabled network completely! (Later restored by another staff member hours later.) With laptop moved back to upstairs office, connection rate appears to consistently be (so far) at about 20mb/sec. This is about 6x old rate at this distance, but far less than I would have anticipated.
Currently settings are as follows:
Security mode: WPA/WPA2-Personal; Wi-Fi protected setup (disabled per DLink tech); Rate as shown by router status page: 52Mbps at 52% signal strength; 802.11 mode is mixed (needs to be for wireless printer, which is not yet set up); channel width: 20MHz; Cipher type: TKIP and AES; WPA mode is auto WPA or WPA2; WAN port speed is 1000Mbps; Beacon period: 80 (change by DLink staff from 100); RTS and fragmentation thresholds: 2100 (changed from 2346); DTIM interval is 5 (changed from 1); and "Short GI" is unchecked (changed from "checked"). Q.1: Is there anything I can do to improve transmission rate? Even with laptop 5 ft from router, the rate averaged--at 10 mb/sec less than it currently is!
A few additional notes: we do have two wireless phones in the house, operating at 900 MHz. I have not yet tested transmission rate with them turned off. When I open Word, I now get an error message saying that "The printer has not yet responded, but the Microsoft Office program may be able to proceed without printer information. Do you want to wait for the printer?" Printer is connect by USB port to desktop and is 2 ft from router. This message never appeared prior to the network upgrade. Even if I choose to wait, Word immediately opens and the printer is available. Q.2: Did the network upgrade have anything to do with this? If so, how can I fix it?
Finally, clicking on the D-Link wireless connection manager icon on the desktop yields an error message tone (but no error message). If the Windows Wireless Zero Configuration utility is deactivated, then the D-Link manager might come up, but it is unable to connect to the network. After making some changes D-Link tech support suggested, the icons disappeared altogether. Reinstalling the client messed things up even more. Ultimately, I was able to get icon to show, but if the Zero Config utility is deactivitated in order to force the manager to open up, the manager won't connect to network. D-Link says I should send the DWA-642 back to Newegg. Q.3: Should I return the card, or just leave well enough alone? What am I missing by not being able to use the Client Manager provided with the adapter card?
Q.4: Finallly, the DWA-642 was free, with the router. Is a DWA-652 worth the $60-$65 cost?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
//Abe18
Setup: desktop and laptop both running XP Pro, separated by 60ft and two floors. Desktop connected by ethernet cable to router that sits next to it. Moving the router is not an option. Pre-installation, Jperf tests, ran several dozen times showed average connection rate between computers was about 2-4 megabits (mb)/sec. on tests in which 100 megabytes (Mb) were being transmitted. Post-installation, numerous Jperf tests with laptop sitting 5 feet from router showed connection rate anywhere from 5mb/sec to 25 mb/sec. Tweaking by D-Link tech staff, disabled network completely! (Later restored by another staff member hours later.) With laptop moved back to upstairs office, connection rate appears to consistently be (so far) at about 20mb/sec. This is about 6x old rate at this distance, but far less than I would have anticipated.
Currently settings are as follows:
Security mode: WPA/WPA2-Personal; Wi-Fi protected setup (disabled per DLink tech); Rate as shown by router status page: 52Mbps at 52% signal strength; 802.11 mode is mixed (needs to be for wireless printer, which is not yet set up); channel width: 20MHz; Cipher type: TKIP and AES; WPA mode is auto WPA or WPA2; WAN port speed is 1000Mbps; Beacon period: 80 (change by DLink staff from 100); RTS and fragmentation thresholds: 2100 (changed from 2346); DTIM interval is 5 (changed from 1); and "Short GI" is unchecked (changed from "checked"). Q.1: Is there anything I can do to improve transmission rate? Even with laptop 5 ft from router, the rate averaged--at 10 mb/sec less than it currently is!
A few additional notes: we do have two wireless phones in the house, operating at 900 MHz. I have not yet tested transmission rate with them turned off. When I open Word, I now get an error message saying that "The printer has not yet responded, but the Microsoft Office program may be able to proceed without printer information. Do you want to wait for the printer?" Printer is connect by USB port to desktop and is 2 ft from router. This message never appeared prior to the network upgrade. Even if I choose to wait, Word immediately opens and the printer is available. Q.2: Did the network upgrade have anything to do with this? If so, how can I fix it?
Finally, clicking on the D-Link wireless connection manager icon on the desktop yields an error message tone (but no error message). If the Windows Wireless Zero Configuration utility is deactivated, then the D-Link manager might come up, but it is unable to connect to the network. After making some changes D-Link tech support suggested, the icons disappeared altogether. Reinstalling the client messed things up even more. Ultimately, I was able to get icon to show, but if the Zero Config utility is deactivitated in order to force the manager to open up, the manager won't connect to network. D-Link says I should send the DWA-642 back to Newegg. Q.3: Should I return the card, or just leave well enough alone? What am I missing by not being able to use the Client Manager provided with the adapter card?
Q.4: Finallly, the DWA-642 was free, with the router. Is a DWA-652 worth the $60-$65 cost?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
//Abe18
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