Re: [tlug] Setting up a Reliable Local WiFi Network

[CL <az.4tlug@example.com>]

Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> CL writes:
>
>  > ROUTER AND WLAN:  First off, the Net connection is FLETs ADSL 40.  
>
> I gather you have a separate ADSL modem, which connects to the router
> by ethernet?

Yes.  The modem is an NTT NV-3 which recently had its firmware upgraded 
from v.2.49 to v.2.73.  It worked just fine with the previous Buffalo 
BBR-4HG router, both at the old place and here.  And it worked just fine 
with the new router, as well, until this weekend.

>  > Router is a Buffalo WHR-G300N.

This is a new router and a new install.  Router switch is hard set to 
autodetect both WiFi and ethernet use but the "LAN" light does not 
illuminate when the ethernet connections are used.

> If you're getting signal strength of zero that sounds like hardware
> issues, probably with the router.  

I am willing to accept this as a possibility, HOWEVER, the WiFi router 
works extremely well with the WIN XP laptop and not at all with the two 
Kubuntu ones.  The WIN machine reports a healthy signal on both floors; 
the Kubuntu machines do not ... and the basic hardware is the same for 
all three.

> It could be a foreign hardware issue, too. Maybe the KCIA is beaming
> microwaves at your house, 

Thanks.  This may also explain why the chicken was still pink in the 
middle after 45 minutes of baking in the denshi range / microwave 
combination oven last Sunday night.  And here I thought we were safe 
after we got rid of the Guamanian terrorist spies who were staying out 
in the dog house last Summer.

> or you just have a neighbor who's hacked her WLAN power into the
> kilowatt range so she can have a nice tan year-round.

She _does_ have a healthier glow, now that you mention it.  And that 
could also be the reason for the blue light leaking out from around her 
drapes and window frames at night.

> Was that the first time you did this?  If not, I really have to
> suspect hardware issues with the router.

No, it was not the first time we'd been hooked up.  However, not to beat 
a dead horse, it is only the Kubuntu machines having this problem, not 
the Xubuntu machine on the ethernet connection nor the WiFi WIN XP 
machine.

> If there's a configuration or hardware issue, rebooting probably is
> not going to help.  You should try firing up the config utility for
> the router, and the modem if it has one (unfortunately the FLETS
> modems usually come as black boxes painted white; there's a POST and
> that's all you get).  It probably has a self-test mode as well as a
> other diagnostic utilities.

The router is artfully non-responsive to all attempts to open it up.  I 
guess I am going to have to unplug it and push the little red button on 
the bottom to make it forget its previous incarnations when I plug it 
back in.  Since it worked with Kubuntu and then didn't work with Kubuntu 
... and the Kubuntu machines are the only two out of five total that are 
having problems, I am wondering what else the problem might be.

--
CL