Please help - Wireless Connection

I have just setup a wireless connection on my PC using a USB 54M (802.11g) Wireless Network Adapter.

The router came with Sky Broadband and is a Netgear.

The problem is that despite only being around 30 feet and 3 thin walls from the router, my signal strength is usually at 15-20%. This has a direct effect on my connection speed (which is up to 8 meg). When the strength peaked at 44%, I did a speed test and got 0.8 meg. At 20% it gets around 0.4 meg. My girlfriend has a laptop with a signal strengh in the 90s and a connection speed of 3 meg.

I'm an experienced PC user but completely new to wireless connections. Is it that the USB adapter is rubbish? I used the marketplace on Amazon, thinking I was buying a Belkin one using the "new and used.." link, but it's actually a no-make. I can't move the router (at phone point) or PC (in office room) from their current positions.

Also, when I plug in my USB adapter, Windows warns me about using a hi-speed USB device in a non-hi-speed USB socket - I think this is because it's USB 2.0 but my PC only has USB 1.0.

Windows XP also shows "Encyption: Disabled" for my Wireless Connection. The router has WPA and I connected to it using the password. How do I also secure my actual connection?

Thanks.

Are you certain that you are connecting to your own network and not a neighbours network?

You need to:
Change the default user name and password for the router setup pages.
Disable remote access.
Rename your SSID to something memorable to you.
Set wireless encryption to WPA-PSK/TKIP. An alphanumeric passphrase of at least 10 characters should be used.

You may need to:
Change the wireless channel. I believe the default is 6.
Experiment with router and/or laptop placement.
Experiment with data rate standards (802.11b or 802.11a/g).

The above changes ideally need to be made via a hard wired ethernet connection.
Speed tests need to be made from a hard wired ethernet connection.
Stud partition walls constructed with foil backed plasterboard can seriously degrade a wireless signal.

You are correct in your USB 1.1/2 assumption although in reality, this should make little difference.

Edited by Deadbeat (Wed 09-May-07 22:28:36)

Definitely using own connection. It has the SSID given to us by Sky, and also it's the only connection the USB adapter detects. The PCMCIA wireless card in the laptop (in the same room as the PC) detects several other networks belonging to neighbours, and a signal strength of 90+% for our own network. Our network also requires a WPA network key provided by Sky (which I will change once I'm properly up and running). It seems to be the adapter as it also has a lower signal strength when plugged into the laptop.

If the network is WPA protected, is my own personal connection also protected? It's just that in the control panel when I select my connection and the details are displayed on the left, it says "Encryption: Disabled". It also says "Signal Strength: No Signal", although the adapter's software shows 8% at the moment.

"It has the SSID given to us by Sky, and also it's the only connection the USB adapter detects."
Meaningless I'm afraid.

"Our network also requires a WPA network key provided by Sky (which I will change once I'm properly up and running)."
I've outlined above what steps you should take. You need to take them now (See the caveat below first).

"If the network is WPA protected, is my own personal connection also protected?"
WPA does not protect a network! It is merely a method of encrypting the data that passes between your wirelessly connected units. Your firewall(s) should be protecting your network.

"It's just that in the control panel when I select my connection and the details are displayed on the left, it says "Encryption: Disabled". It also says "Signal Strength: No Signal", although the adapter's software shows 8% at the moment. "
This may be because you are using the adapters software. It may be something else. Do as I have suggested above but don't use any wireless encryption methods until you you can confirm that you are connected to your own network.
As soon as you have that confirmation, use the encryption method already outlined above.

Pay particular attention to what I said regarding remote administration!

Edited by Deadbeat (Wed 09-May-07 23:07:41)

Definitely connected to own network. As explained, we use a network WPA key to access the connection. The chances of it being the same key as a neighbour are about 1 in 50 zillion. I've also logged into the router and altered the SSID and network key to mvoe from the defaults.

The connection is definitely WPA protected as this is in the router's settings via the web page. The question is, why does my girlfriend's laptop say for her wireless connection "Encryption: Enabled" but on mine it says "Encryption:Disabled". I cannot find a setting to alter this for my connection. It suggests that data from my PC to the router is currently not protected and I'd like/need to change that ASAP!

In reply to:

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It suggests that data from my PC to the router is currently not protected and I'd like/need to change that ASAP!

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If your router has WPA enabled, I would suggest that all the data must be encrypted.

Andrew

Maybe, but the wireless connection on the laptop has a padlock icon and says encrypted, but on my PC it has no padlock and says encryption disabled. Data is a two way thing - perhaps it's encrypted from the router to my PC but not from my PC to the router? If you go to Start > Connect To > Show All Connections and then select the wireless one, you will see the attributes in the bar on the left hand side, one of which is for Encryption. I'd guess yours will say Enabled?

In reply to:

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Data is a two way thing

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Yes, but the router won't (or at least shouldn't) 'talk to' any device that isn't using the same encryption key.

Andrew.