Security problem

[thenewguy]

My setup:
DI-624 wireless router (2.70 firmware)
Wired to a PC (Win ME) D-link fast ethernet PCI card
Wireless to laptop (XP SP2) Dell Wireless1370 WLAN Mini-PCI card
PSP (wireless of course)

Before iI encrypted the wireless, everything worked fine. I then went into the router to setup WPA-TKIP. Put in the long passphrase and then put it in the laptop so it could access the wireless again. After a couple of tries, the laptop is well connected. Satisfied, I close the laptop and start surfing with my PSP; no problems here either. When my mom starts using the laptop to check email and what-not, the wireless systray icon states "Little to no connection: click bubble to repair" So I click, tries to get another IP but to no avail. My mom starts to get pissed, so I go back into the router and drop the encryption and switch to MAC filtering. It starts working again, but it drops to "little to no connectivity" again. This time I restart the laptop and its able to reconnect, but only on restart.

I would like to know what the problem is with the laptop; why isn't it holding the connection? I put in the right passphrase, it should work right? I definitely don't want to use WEP so I didn't even try. And the problem must lie with the laptop because the PSP holds connection perfectly with either WPA-TKIP or MAC filtering. HELP!

[YeOldeStonecat]

I just remoted into a friends PC who had gotten a new laptop....he had a DLink wireless router...a Super-G model. He could not get his brand new Acer laptop to connect well.....it hung at trying to obtain an IP address...using the Intel wireless. An upgrade of firmware to the latest version got him to at least connect..but it was painfully slow.

The next thing I changed on the router...was to turn off "Super-G" turbo mode. The problem with those "proprietary turbo modes"...is that if you have any wireless network card that is not the same brand...supporting that turbo mode....if you have turbo mode enabled on the router..performance is very poor. After disabling that...putting it to "standard G" mode...his performance got better..but not all the way.

The next step I did...(pain in the butt setup he had)..by default, most APs start with channel 6. I flipped it to channel 11...and he began flying like a raped ape.

So the things to try...
*Latest firmware is generally a good rule of thumb (there are some rare exceptions)
*All windows updates, latest drivers for the NICs
*Disable proprietary "turbo" modes if mixing brands
*Try channel 1 or 11 if default 6 is poor

I'd reset the router to factory defaults..and start over. Note that you should know your ISP setup ahead of time before resetting it to factory defaults..nothing worse than if you have a PPPoE DSL connection...you reset the router..then you cannot find what your username and password is for PPPoE. Or if you did MAC spoofing on cable..and can't find that MAC.

Don't waste time with WEP...it actually has MORE overhead than WPA..so has more of a performance hit. Maybe start with a shorter PSK for WPA.