USB wifi adapter has strong signal but poor link quality ...

[tonderai]

I have a strange and perplexing problem with the connection of one of my linksys wusb11 adapters: the pc it is connected to shows an excellent signal strength (c95%), but link quality is only c50%, and the internet connection unbearably slow. Pings are quick, but 1 or 2 out of 4 are always dropped - so it seems to be a packet loss problem.

At first I thought it was down to a poor signal or interference, but we tested this by connecting the adapter in the same position to my laptop: the connection was 100%-100%! Also I have other adapters of the same type positioned further away that work perfectly.

So this must be a problem with the pc, right? It is quite low spec: AMD K6 processor; 32MB RAM; Win98. Or is it a configuration problem? Any ideas?

edit: typos

[Planet]

Hi tonderai,

If you've tried swapping one of the other known working adapters with the one that is not working so well then yes, it has to be a configuration problem. You can then try mirroring the settings from the other working machines.
Good Luck!

Planet...

[tonderai]

Thanks.

Any idea what kind of problem would cause packet loss? The network settings are the same as the other pcs, and I've tried increasing the tcp receive window, although on this tuning site (http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/index.htm) they say:

There is no adjustment that you can use to decrease packet loss.

Whether this applies to wireless I don't know.

If anybody has a clue what hardware problem could cause packet loss (ie not enough RAM etc) that would greatly appreciated, before I shell out on unnessecary upgrades to find it is a simple adjustment ;)