WAG354G problems

[Vauxmad]

Im having a couple of problems with my linksys wag354g wireless router.
My setup is comprises of main pc connected thru ethernet with static ip, laptop wireless with dhcp and my isp is nildram.

The first problem im having is that after about 24hours the dns stops working. i am able to receive e-mails and messenger still works but when i try to get on any internet sites its unable to find them. if i go into the router status and look at gateway (this is the dns isn't it?) it says connected. If i click disconnect half the time it doesnt it just returns back to the status page still connected. When i finally do disconnect and then reconnect the internet is once more alive! now this is gettin slighty annoying.

The other problem im having is the wireless range is terrible - at the moment can only get a medium strenght signal when sitting about 2m away from the router! The wag354g is next to my hifi and tv could this be the reason for the poor performance?

Has anyone got any ideas?

 

[MAllen]

"Gateway" is the term for what your router is doing. It acts as a "gateway" into your house. This is the "gate" that all traffic comes in through and is directed out through. So any message that is not for your local network gets sents to the gateway for passing up the line. You often hear "Router" and "Gateway" swapped around as terms.

This is not the same as DNS. A DNS Server is the service which converts domain addresses into IP Addresses www.bbc.co.uk into 212.58.224.121. With your router it is actually doing both jobs....

-_-_-_

You mentioned that your PC has a static IP Address. Make sure that this IP Address is not the same as the router. Also make sure it is not in the DHCP pool. (Look at your router control panel. Somewhere in there you will see a DHCP range setup. Probally 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.250 or something like that. Just adjust this range so your PC with it's static address is outside of the DHCP range.

-_-_-_

Which PC is "losing DNS Services"? Is it the PC with the static IP Address or your laptop using DHCP? With your PC, how are you setting up the DNS Settings if you have a fixed IP Address? You could just copy your ISP's DNS servers into your PC alongside the fixed IP Address. This means it will always bypass your router and ask your ISP for it's details.

BUT... what you describe doesn't make sense. If you had lost DNS, then you would not be able to get email or MSN to continue working. Most email programs are setup with mailservers enters as "pop.ispname.com" and "smtp.ispname.com" so these are still addresses that need to be looked up using DNS.

So something else could be affecting your connection.... could be worth know if you get problems on both the laptop and PC at the same time. Or is it just one machine?

-_-_-_

Yes - your TV and HiFi will be interferring with the WiFI signal. So do microwaves, fish tanks (water) and metalwork. Download a copy of netstumbler and install that on the laptop. This will allow you to check your signal strength when you experiment with the location of the WiFi Router.

If you want to prove to yourself that the TV and HiFi is doing this - unplug them from the mains. YOu shoudl see your signal strength go up.....

NetStumbler will also allow you to make sure you are not using the same "channel" as your neighbours WiFi setup.

http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads/

-_-_-_

That is a lot of info for you to work on.... should keep ya busy for a while.

 

[Sone]

i belive its a known issue with the WAG354G, i did what mallen said and used isp's dns servers and i havent had a problem since

 

[errata]

Any particular reason you use a static IP?

As suggested you can define the DNS servers to use on the laptop in its wireless ethernet settings.

You could also try manually setting them on the router rather than allowing the router to discover them.

Your ISP may have a intermittent problem, try using another ISP's DNS servers and see if there is any improvement.

Letting the router discover DNS is generally prefferable as the ISP may change the IP's from time to time for upgrade or mainatencce reasons.