I need some tech help

[Michael B. Ross]

Actually, I have two questions.

1. I have a Toshiba Satellite within an internal wireless card. I need to replace my router, so I will buy 11g. My laptop has 11b, and I know it will work with the new router. But, if I wanted to upgrade my laptop to g, is it difficult to find and replace the internal wireless card? I know I can purchase an external one, but I don't like having something extend out of the side. So, is replacing the internal card a big deal?

2. Is there a software program that will allow me to post a note in a folder? For instance, I open a folder from my desktop named "internet tools." Without opening a document, it would be nice to see a yellow post-it along with the icons to the programs that might say something like: "These programs are for the detection of viruses, bugs....." Does such a program exist, or is it possible using a ms office program?

[Adam Spriggs]

1. Your 11b wireless card will work on your new router. (Here's some more info on the subject: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless80211/a/aa80211standard.htm). If you want to upgrade your Toshiba's network card, I suggest you buy a new 11g PC card and disable your internal one -- which isn't too hard. I wouldn't suggest trying to replace the internal card. It would be difficult and expensive.

2. Microsoft Outlook has "sticky note" functionality. You can drag a copy of any sticky notes to any Windows folder. Simply double click on it and it will display your message.

[Michael B. Ross]

Adam, you are so helpful. I know b will work with g, but you are saying putting in a new internal g would not be easy or cheap.

I was not aware of Outlook's note option. I did drag it to a folder, and it shows as another file. Is there anyway I can post something into a folder that will stay open? Then, when I enter a folder, I can immediately read an open pasted note.

1. Your 11b wireless card will work on your new router. (Here's some more info on the subject: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless80211/a/aa80211standard.htm). If you want to upgrade your Toshiba's network card, I suggest you buy a new 11g PC card and disable your internal one -- which isn't too hard. I wouldn't suggest trying to replace the internal card. It would be difficult and expensive.

2. Microsoft Outlook has "sticky note" functionality. You can drag a copy of any sticky notes to any Windows folder. Simply double click on it and it will display your message.

[Adam Spriggs]

In order to replace your internal wireless card a 11g version that will fit in your model of Toshiba notebook would have to exist. If it did exist, it would most likely be proprietary (directly from Toshiba). You might be able to find one on eBay if you know the part number. At any rate, taking apart a notebook and replacing a part is not for the faint of heart.

What model is your Toshiba notebook?

About the sticky note thing -- I'm not aware of any software that will do what you are describing. There are several sticky note programs out there (e.g. http://finiteloop.org/~btaylor/software/stickies/) , but none that I'm aware of that will work on a folder-to-folder basis.

[Shin Inaba]

Even if you find the Toshiba proprietary wireless card it may not be economical or even worse, it may not work as expected especially the drivers. I hate to ask a silly question. What are you trying to accomplish with 11g wireless network? I asume your 11b is working, correct?

Shin

[Michael B. Ross]

Here is what is behind my question. We have two laptops at home that network through a Linksys 11b connected to our desktop's broadband. About four weeks ago, we began losing connection to one of our laptops. Sometimes it was my wife's; sometimes mine. It would not reconnect, unable to find the IP address. The only solution was to unplug the router for a few seconds and then to re-power it. (Even my desktop lost IP address once and I had to use the same solution.)

I am assuming that the router may be going bad, so I thought I might try a new one, which would be 11g. I am aware that the laptops' 11b would continue to work, but I began to wonder about upgrading my laptop to a 11g for a little more speed. My wife's is an external card, so upgrading hers would be no big deal. Mine is internal.

I am not convinced yet that it is a router problem, so I won't do anything yet. Maybe either of you have some ideas about the cause.

Anyhow, that is the story behind my question. I am open to your expertise.

Even if you find the Toshiba proprietary wireless card it may not be economical or even worse, it may not work as expected especially the drivers. I hate to ask a silly question. What are you trying to accomplish with 11g wireless network? I asume your 11b is working, correct?

Shin

[Adam Spriggs]

:: Even my desktop lost IP address once and I had to use the same solution

That's an important bit of information. Are you losing your network connection in general (can't print to a shared printer or access files on one of your other computers) or just your Internet connectivity? If you are just losing Internet, then it may not be a wireless problem at all, but rather something with your Internet Service Provider.

I think I mentioned this before, but...what about cordless phones? Do you you use one at home where you are losing connectivity? Some can interfere with 802.11b wireless networks (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/2191241).

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

Michael, have you tried assigning IP addresses to the three computers? Instead of letting the network assign them, you can do it - 192.168.0.1, 2, and 3.

Here is what is behind my question. We have two laptops at home that network through a Linksys 11b connected to our desktop's broadband. About four weeks ago, we began losing connection to one of our laptops. Sometimes it was my wife's; sometimes mine. It would not reconnect, unable to find the IP address. The only solution was to unplug the router for a few seconds and then to re-power it. (Even my desktop lost IP address once and I had to use the same solution.)

I am assuming that the router may be going bad, so I thought I might try a new one, which would be 11g. I am aware that the laptops' 11b would continue to work, but I began to wonder about upgrading my laptop to a 11g for a little more speed. My wife's is an external card, so upgrading hers would be no big deal. Mine is internal.

I am not convinced yet that it is a router problem, so I won't do anything yet. Maybe either of you have some ideas about the cause.

Anyhow, that is the story behind my question. I am open to your expertise.

[Michael B. Ross]

Adam, I remember your earlier post about the cordless phones and I read the info to which you provided a link. Yes, we have the same cordless phones for about two years. There has not been a problem, however, until recently.

Your questions help me to remember something that may be pertinent. A few weeks ago, I added a wireless printer router. It is near our laptops so that we could print downstairs and not have to go upstairs to the other printers. Could that be interfering?

:: Even my desktop lost IP address once and I had to use the same solution

That's an important bit of information. Are you losing your network connection in general (can't print to a shared printer or access files on one of your other computers) or just your Internet connectivity? If you are just losing Internet, then it may not be a wireless problem at all, but rather something with your Internet Service Provider.

I think I mentioned this before, but...what about cordless phones? Do you you use one at home where you are losing connectivity? Some can interfere with 802.11b wireless networks (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/2191241).

[Michael B. Ross]

Scott, I tried that once, but didn't know what to do with DNS or something like that.

Michael, have you tried assigning IP addresses to the three computers? Instead of letting the network assign them, you can do it - 192.168.0.1, 2, and 3.

[Adam Spriggs]

Yes, it could be. If you ever have two IP addresses for a device on your network (printer, notebook) that are the same, neither will work.

If your wireless printer router and your access point are both set to be DHCP servers (serving out IP addresses to devices on the network), then there's a possibilty that they could be assigning the same IP addresses to devices added to your network.

You should only have one router set up as a DHCP server. Any other ones on your network should either get their addresses via DHCP or have them assigned -- which I think is what Scott just mentioned.

I have a wireless access point running at church that is connected to our wired network. I set to have a fixed IP address. The only thing on our network that assigns IP addresses is our firewall/router. All of the other routers and access points all have fixed IP addresses. The DHCP server is set to start handing out addresses outside of the fixed range. For example, IP addresses 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.100 are reserved for network devices. The DHCP configuration on our firewall/router is set to hand out addresses starting at 192.168.0.101. So when a computer connects via wifi at church, they get an address like 192.168.0.102.

Hope that all makes sense. It's kinda hard to explain.

[Shin Inaba]

Michael,
When you do ipconfig /all under MS Dos prompt, do you see any ip address? If you see 0.0.0.0 or 168.100.0.0 or something similar then your router is not advertising the ip address for your PCs. When you try to surf the internet on any of your machine, do you let it idle (no network activity) like say about 15 to 20 minutes or more any chance? I've seen this problem before. I found out the "Keep Alive" setting was not checked under router setup. You might want to check there to see if that's checked before you make the upgrade to 11g wireless network. I honestly don't think upgrading to 11g wouldn't solve your basic problem. It may save you some money that you really don't have to spend. Let me know if this solution helps a bit.

Shin

[Dave McClung]

Michael

This may or may not be helpful. When I had a problem with dropping IP addresses, I tracked it down to my firewall software. I solved the problem by cosing all of the firewall programs on the computers. I did not turn off the firewall protection built in to the router.

Once I turned off all firewall software, I confirmed that all of the computers (4 of them) were connected to the network. With all of them connected, I turned the firewall software back on one computer at a time. The IP disconnect issue has not returned.