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TROUblesHOOTInG, sUPPORT, anD WaRRanTY
My wi rele ss net work pe rfo rman ce is s low , in con sist ent ,
suffers from weak s ignal, or I’m hav ing difficult y maintaining a
VPn connection.
Wireless techn ology is rad io-ba sed, w hich m eans c onnec tivit y
and the t hrough put pe rform ance betwee n devi ces
decrease s when the d istanc e bet ween d evices incre ases.
Other factors that will cause signal degradation (metal is
generall y the w orst c ulpri t) are obstr uction s suc h as wa lls
and metal appli ances . Note also t hat c onnect ion sp eed m ay
decrease as you move far ther away from th e Router.
In order to dete rmine if wi reless issu es are relate d to
range, we sugge st tem porari ly mov ing th e com puter
within 10 feet from the Router if possible.
Changing the wireless channel—Dependin g on l ocal
wireless traff ic and inter feren ce, swi tchin g the wirele ss
channel o f your netwo rk can impr ove per forma nce an d
reliability. See the section titled “Changing the Wireless
Channel” for instructions on how to choose other channels.
limiting the wireless transmit rate—Limiting the wireless transmit
rate can h elp i mprove range and c onnect ion st abili ty. Mos t wire less
cards hav e the a bilit y to l imit t he tra nsmis sion r ate. To c hange this
propert y in Wi ndows, go to the Wi ndows C ontro l Panel , open “Net work
Connecti ons”, a nd dou ble-c lick o n your wirel ess c ard’s c onnec tion. In
the prope rties dialo g, se lect t he “Co nfigu re” bu tton o n the “Gene ral”
tab, then choose the “Advanced” tab and select the rate property.
Wireless clien t card s are usuall y set to auto matic ally a djust
the wireless transmit rate for you, but doing so can cause
periodic disco nnect s when the w ireles s sign al is too we ak; as
a rule, s lower t ransm ission rates are m ore st able. Exper iment
with dif ferent conne ction rates until you fi nd the best one
for your environment. Note that all available transmission
rates sho uld be accep table for br owsing the I nterne t. For
more assistance, see your wireless card’s user manual.