Linksys wireless router & t42p with ibm abg slow perform

[PetraM]

I know this has been discussed a million times before. I did read all the older posts addressing this issue. The thing is I'm new to wireless networking and I just don't understand them. I got the router as a present from my brother (he's a practical guy). Before that the closest I got with wireless was turning it on in a cafe and say "look I'm online, cool!".

The problem is that the network is very slow. I've got the linksys WRT54GS and the IBM a/b/g card. I installed the latest wireless driver (4.0.100.140a) and Access Connections (3.71). I modified the wlan settings and put the power save mode to low (best network performance). I'm sitting in the kitchen now and the wireless connection status shows 76% and 18 Mbps. (The router is two rooms away.) However, the windows status always shows 54 Mbps but very low signal. My brother with a HP has excellent signal with excellent speeds from the same point. We installed some third party firmware - not sure which exactly.

The speed is ok for internet browsing but really bad and unuseful for a file sharing home network.

Any suggestions on what else could I try out to make it work?
Thank you for your help.

Petra

[PetraM]

To the moderator who moved my post:
Is this really an off topic post? It has to do with the T42p since the other laptop doesn't have the problem.

I'm asking other members to help me on this issue, which I can't resolve on my own. To me it doesn't look like an off-topic-talk-about-whatever thing.

It would be nice to find out why my post has been moved. Thank you.

Petra

Note from Moderator: Sorry, meant to move it to General TP questions since the problem seemed to be more with the router settings than the TP.

[jdhurst]

Check the firmware on your router. I have had problems with the "54" and "55" series routers that needed firmware upgrades to operate.
... JD Hurst

[desdinova]

We have a linksys WAP at work because the owner wouldn't drop the extra coin to get a wifi-equipped sonicwall ;_;

Aaaaanyway, even after updating the firmware, I can not consistantly get a connecting when using AC. It sucks because I love that software, I think it's an excellent tool for mobile computing.

I just disabled AC and am using WZC until I can scrounge up a different WAP.

(This is on a T30 with stock wifi minipci, intel, iirc)

Note: This is with the official firmware, I haven't looked into third party jobbers yet.

[mlshelton]

How did you disable the AC? Thanks, Mike

[beaker]

Check to make sure that your IBM a/b/g driver is using Channel 6 to communicate with the linksys router and your brother's computer. Linksys always broadcasts on Channel 6.

START > right click on MY COMPUTER > MANAGE > double click on DEVICE MANAGER > double click on NETWORK CARDS > choose IBM a/b/g > click on advanced tab >

(I am using an Intel card) but that's where it is on mine....

[PetraM]

That's the thing. The router was broadcasting on channel 6. I've got a Logitech MX 610 laser mouse and there was some interference with the wireless router. So we played with the frequency channels a bit and switched it to channel 1. It didn't solve the interference but it solved the slow network speeds!!! A total boost, the network is at 54 mbps almost all the time.
(Plus I restored the firmware to initial settings but I don't think that has helped.)

Petra