Wireless networking woes

[Woolfman]

I'm trying to set up a wireless network in my apartment and am going around in circles. I'm using Netvigator, plus d-link router and Linksys PCI. Needing tech support - can anyone point me to a reliable Mr or Ms fix-it?

[ohchk2001]

I'm trying to set up a wireless network in my apartment and am going around in circles. I'm using Netvigator, plus d-link router and Linksys PCI. Needing tech support - can anyone point me to a reliable Mr or Ms fix-it?

I have heard from people that they had a lot of problems with wireless D link routers.

I would suggest returning it for a Linksys router. A linksys is a no brainer to set up.

[Woolfman]

thanks Ohchk. Crazy thing it is worked back home (Oz) but i was using a Motorola cable modem (not Linksys PCI and Netvigator brand x modem). May go Linksys as you suggest, but am at a point with my tech skills where it may be throwing good money after bad!

[HKFella]

It can also depend on layout of your dwelling. Hard brick walls in HK and twists and turns can make a difference, compared with countries where drywall and wood are common. If possible, you may wish to try moving your other PC temporarily to the same room as the router/access point to test if you still have the problem. Then you'll know if it's the layout or something else.

[discobay]

What is the setup i.e. a desktop with the pci card trying to wirelessly connect to the wireless router?

[dougp]

What exactly is the problem? I've just moved over from Oz and am having problems with Minitar wireless router I brought over (on Netvigator). Things sort of work fine, except that most emails won't send. Both companies' tech support say the problem "may be" the MTU setting. As happens the world over though, the router manufacturers say it's a server issue - the router uses the standard MTU etc - while Netvigator say maybe my router just isn't compatible - sorry, nothing we can do.

If this sounds even vaguely like your problem, and your router allows it, try increasing the MTU above the default 1492 - that's what Netvigator suggested. Sadly I can't try it, but I'd be interested to know if it works.

Doug.

[angiebaby80]

must be the mtu setting then, dougp/woolfman..i bought a netgear wireless router (HK$580 but i got a discount) from the apple centre for my ibook and it's working like fire..better buy a new one if you still cant make yours to work..good luck!

[dougp]

must be the mtu setting then, dougp/woolfman..i bought a netgear wireless router (HK$580 but i got a discount) from the apple centre for my ibook and it's working like fire

Wonderful - I ditched a Netgear router in Oz because it didn't work properly with BigPond. The Minitar was great... until now.

What model have you got? And come to think of it, what's your MTU setting??

Doug.

[dwaindibbley]

Dougp, Your emails won't send almost certainly because of your SMTP settings. Most ISP's (Netvigator is one) won't let you send emails using other peoples SMTP servers. There are two ways around this. The first is to set your SMTP settings to use Netvigators own which is something like smtp.netvigator.com. This is fine for desktops, but is a nuisance on laptops as you have to change it wherever you are in the world. In this case many providers will give you an alternative port to log on to than the normal (Blocked) port 25. My provider is easyspace, and they provide me with port 2525 which I can use anywhere in the world.

As far as the wireless routers are concerned I doubt its the MTU value, I have never used a router in Australia, but in Hong kong they use PPoE protocol usually, make sure your router is set to use this. I know in UK they often use PPPoA to make things hard for people with routers. Can you give us more information aboutthe problem? Can your computer talk to the Router for example? Wirlessly and/or wired. If its just connection to the provider, my guess is its the protocol. I have used D-Link routers in HK with no problem, personally I have had more problems with Linksys (although not the connection, they sometimes crash when certain data is sent through them).

[dougp]

Dougp, Your emails won't send almost certainly because of your SMTP settings

No, as I said, it's just some (larger) emails. Small plain text mails send ok. Everything else works fine - web, wireless, pop3 etc. The server settings are fine, the protocol settings are fine (PPPoE). Both Netvigator and Minitar independently decided it's probably an MTU issue - just didn't offer a practical way to fix it, sadly.

One of life's little incompatibilities.

Doug.