Weird wireless behaviour

[Speedster]

For the last couple of weeks I've been having some really strange behaviour on my wireless network at home. The setup is a basic TP-Link MR3220 with Huawei USB 3G dongle on 8ta 10GB.

Basically, when I connect to the wireless I have full internet & network access but after a couple of seconds (variable) it goes haywire - at times it doesn't lose connection at all, other times it's within a few seconds. Here's where it get's weird: if I've opened a gmail tab I'm able to continue using gmail perfectly, as I can Google Reader, but I don't have any other network access - no outlook email, no browsing, no sharing. I can't even access the router page (192.168.0.1). But the Google stuff still works :wtf: Wireless still shows as connected.

I know the router hasn't lost internet because some other devices aren't picking up this issue at all and are working fine at exactly the same time that some other devices are giving the problem. The devices I've picked up the issue with - my MacBook Pro, HTC Desire S and wife's Samsung Galaxy Y - are all 802.11n devices. My wife's laptop - 802.11g - doesn't seem to have any problems. Also, the problematic devices don't necessarily exhibit the problems at the same time. i.e. both my phone and Mac give problems but at times my Mac works while the phone doesn't, and visa versa.

My MacBook and phone connect perfectly to the wifi at the office so I doubt they're the issue.

Anybody got any (constructive) suggestions?

EDIT: Wireless settings are as follows
Channel: Auto
Mode: 11bgn mixed
Channel Width: Auto
Max Tx Rate: 150Mbps

 

[Edduck]

Hmmmmm I would recommend a full spyware/malware/virus scan, check your hosts file for any weird IPs. Then install inSSIDer onto one of your android phones and check what channels are being used by your wifi and any other nearby APs. Set the router to the channel that has the least number of APs on.

 

[Prof.]

Gmail and Google Reader download most of their navigation and files onto your drive when you open the app. It usually works for a while even when you pull out your LAN cable or WiFi dongle. You're probably losing 3G connectivity, I'm on 8ta too with my portable dongle and this happens all the time, terrible connection stability.

 

[Speedster]

Thanks for the input guys,

Hmmmmm I would recommend a full spyware/malware/virus scan, check your hosts file for any weird IPs. Then install inSSIDer onto one of your android phones and check what channels are being used by your wifi and any other nearby APs. Set the router to the channel that has the least number of APs on.

I played around with all the wifi channel options and Channel 5 - the one that the router auto-selects - is the optimum channel. I doubt it's a spyware / malware issue as I only pick up the issue at home, not on any other wireless networks.

Gmail and Google Reader download most of their navigation and files onto your drive when you open the app. It usually works for a while even when you pull out your LAN cable or WiFi dongle. You're probably losing 3G connectivity, I'm on 8ta too with my portable dongle and this happens all the time, terrible connection stability.

It's not this - the other clients definitely still have internet access. It's a wifi issue as turning wifi on my mac off and back on again restores connectivity, at least for a while. Also, when the problem occurs I don't have any network access, not just no internet.

 

[Speedster]

Gmail and Google Reader download most of their navigation and files onto your drive when you open the app. It usually works for a while even when you pull out your LAN cable or WiFi dongle. You're probably losing 3G connectivity, I'm on 8ta too with my portable dongle and this happens all the time, terrible connection stability.

Also, I'm able to receive email on gmail, compose and send new mails, make skype calls etc so I doubt it has to do with pre-loaded files.

 

[P924]

Try setting the router to only g or b/g mode (at least to test). Also try updating the firmware.

 

[Speedster]

Try setting the router to only g or b/g mode (at least to test). Also try updating the firmware.

Great suggestion. I've switched to g only, will let you know if that helps. I updated the firmware last week in trying to sort the issue, so I'm on the latest firmware at present.

 

[Rickster]

Great suggestion. I've switched to g only, will let you know if that helps. I updated the firmware last week in trying to sort the issue, so I'm on the latest firmware at present.

Try to reset the wireless adapters on the laptops also flush the DNS (forgot the command)

 

[Speedster]

Try setting the router to only g or b/g mode (at least to test). Also try updating the firmware.

Everything's been working fine all morning since I switched to g only. So what could be causing the error with the n connections?

 

[P924]

In that case it is the router FW having trouble switching between modes, or one of the devices connected to it causing the FW to malfunction.

Personally, I would install openWRT, but ddwrt is more user-friendly, so give it a bash (if you have version 1 of this device, I'm not sure if there is support for v2)

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=681855
ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2013/01-24-2013-r20548/tplink_tl-mr3220v1/

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3420

 

[Speedster]

In that case it is the router FW having trouble switching between modes, or one of the devices connected to it causing the FW to malfunction.

Personally, I would install openWRT, but ddwrt is more user-friendly, so give it a bash (if you have version 1 of this device, I'm not sure if there is support for v2)

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=681855
ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/BrainSlayer-V24-preSP2/2013/01-24-2013-r20548/tplink_tl-mr3220v1/

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-mr3420

Awesome, will do! Thanks