I have no dramas wiht networking my Mac at home.
My wife's older PC has a card that won't talk to a new router we have, but it worked fine with the old router that we thought had died. Turns out that was $200 down teh drain because of a password issue too.

Everything in my house is wireless, even the PC sitting right next to the router. No need for cables at all.

If I'm doing a bug download I will position the laptop or iphone next to the router.

in the pc world,

the problem with wireless networks is that old tech doesn't like to talk to new tech and vice versa.

even when dumbing down the security encryption you can still have big issues. like cards dropping out every now and then for no reason..........

you can sometimes get it working but it may take you a day or 2 of pain and then 1-2 months down the track it will fall over again for no reason.

the best advice is to upgrade all of your network devices in one go. across the board.

if you get a new wireles router then buy the matching wirless cards for each device that needs them.

the down side is that this includes the OS... if you upgrade an os you should upgrade all of the other machines on the network......

There R 2 main frequencies used.
Older equip' = 802.11 b & g use 20 MHz
Newer equip' = 802.11 n have 20 & 40 MHz options
Generally backward compatible with b & g standard.

The 'n' was designed to over-come short comings with other 2.
These included:
i) better range
ii) stronger signal
iii) better at penetrating walls ( mine have cement and reo in)
iv) the higher frequency avoided interference problems with a number of other common household electrical devices (tv re-transmit - wireless phones etc).

So good advice above (Gestalt) - I keep all my stuff from the same brand - currently D-Link - you may have QOS (Quality of Service) issues with VOIP hogging bandwidth but likely interference or in-compatible.

Having said that the EEEEEEEE-pc my princess wanted and the kids ipods all link in fine.

Suggest using 802.11n = LAN based wireless.
The other side is WAN wireless is good and cheaper than 6 mths back (think Telstra here) - A good source of advice and info is www.whirlpool.net.au

On the interference front from other wireless LAN's in neighbourhood - when you are trying to link your PC / Laptop you do a search for the signal / station SSID - this sniff's the available signals - for you to choose yours from. I have 3 showing in the 20MHz range.
On my display it gives ID and strength - this will allow you to work out if this is the trouble.
Another thing to check - are the aerials on the ADSL box 1) screwed in fully and 2) are they making a good connection (look at signal strength as you move around with laptop)
time 4 bed said zebedy

AquaPlow said...

There R 2 main frequencies used.
Older equip' = 802.11 b & g use 20 MHz

I think you mean 2.4 GHz... but hey what's a factor of 100 between friends

Also I meant data rate not frequency when talking about disabling G
That'll teach me to type when rushed!

I have a Telstra prepaid USB modem on a laptop which I use infrequently. Credit time limit usually expires so I have to log back in to cash up account. Yesterday I tried and got a modem busy or searching continuous light and no signal strength/service indicated. Telstra hotline helpdesk requires a 3 hour hold for technical help. Any clues what I can do? This was at Barwon Heads and another Telstra wireless service showed plenty of signal strength. From memory a similar thing happened last time that I tried to log on to credit the account. After some dicking around I managed to log on then but can't remember whether it was a systematic solution or random success caused by saying F@#K very loudly.