Poor Connection from car

[Crispin]

Hi Folks,

I have a problem that has caused me a great deal of hair loss.
I have the following:
linksys 54g router running DDWRT, a WRN2000 running most recent
firmware, various USB wifi adapters.

In my car, I have a computer. Said computer needs to connect to my
home network which either runs from the linksys or the netgear
depending on the colour socks I am wearing.
My problem is the reliability of the connection between the two. All
other wifi devices I have are rock solid. Even on the fringe, they
slow but hold on to the connection for dear life.
The car connection however is rubbish. The car is parked out side the
house, the antenna is against the rear passenger window (forget
Faraday cage possibilities) and the total distance between the router
and USB dongle is about 3-6 foot. No matter which dongle I use or
which router, indeed, I have even changed the computer in the car 3
times, nothing can make for a reliable connection. They all claim
signal strength is excellent, connect at 54Mb/s but either very very
slow or drop the connection after 5 minutes.

Any ideas as to why / how this is happening? Anything that may help.
OS is XP with everything up to date.

TIA

Cheers,
Crispin

[Crispin]

sorry, should have added: linksys is G, netgear is N, dongles are a
mix and match of N's and G's.

[Frankster]

How does the car computer do when you move it inside?

-Frank

"Crispin" <crispin...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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[Crispin]

Frank,
this is there is gets annoying - perfectly. :|
When inside, it is further away from the AP than when outside. Also,
this happens when the car is both on and off so it is not a noise
thing.

I am going to try yet another dongle which has an external, high gain
antenna. Maybe it will be a bit better then.

[David B.]

Perhaps you need to change the color of your socks?

--

--

"Crispin" <crispin...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d02a34ee-cc33-42a9...@j4g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...

[Crispin]

Already tried mixing and matching...

[Jack [MVP-Networking]]

Hi
The Antenna is in the car's window.
How it connects to the computer.
If the car's computer is not in the car and the USB is directly connected
(No extension) does the wireless works OK?
If it does not you have to find one the does.
Something like this,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315075
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

"Crispin" <crispin...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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[Crispin]

yup, dongle has a suction cup glued onto it. This then gets stuck to
the window. For the others, blutak or duct tape as a temporary
measure. :)
From there, they use a 2m USB extension to the pc. I have tried other
extensions as well as used the extension indoors with the same effect.

I am now looking at getting either getting a mini-pci wifi card such
as http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=11331 which is capable of
400mw (standard is 70mw me thinks) with an "over clocked" DDWRT router
or something like you said and a dedicated aerial. Either way, a
dedicated aerial is a must.

As for no extension on the USB when it is in the car, it is very poor.
This is only because the pc is on the floor and there are masses of
steel line of sight between it and the router. Forwards is the engine,
backwards is 2/3 of the truck. Hence the window mounted antenna :)

[Jack [MVP-Networking]]

Hi
Higher mW on the receiving side is Not very effective.
You can try a Router the can be flashed with DD_WRT and configured to work
as a Client Bridge (I.e it becomes a driverless Wireless card)
Put the Router in the Car's windows and then connect it with Cat5e (length
would not matter) to an Ethernet port on the computer.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

"Crispin" <crispin...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:8787e0f5-a4b4-4fde...@u41g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...

[Crispin]

Jack,

Yes, the higher power output has no baring on the receiving but does
allow the router a clearer (to a point) signal. Agreed on the dd_wrt,
as mentioned, I already use it and use it at a higher output on the
transmitter. Together, these two might improve things.

I have though of using a router in the car but I would still need a
wifi card as I use hotspots which are much easier to configure / use
from windows instead of logging into the router each time.

I do now think that it might be a power issue on the USB side. Not
sure why it would appear in car and not on the bench though.
On occasion windows dongs as if I have removed a USB device. It very
quickly ding-dings to tell me its plugged back in. I suspect the USB
drops power long enough to break the connection / cause the connection
to become unstable but not always long enough for windows to think the
device is unplugged.
I have been running it from a powered hub now with a bit more success.
Will see how time goes...

Cheers,
Crispin