netgear MA311 PCI security?

[ginganinja]

My friend has a most frustrating problem.

I've set up a wireless network for him, which has 128 bit wep configured.

The setup is as follows:

There's a router/gateway/firewall made by d-link (I think it's the 614+). There are two computers attached to the wired hub part of this, and they can go on the internet fine.

There's also a computer downstairs with a netgear MA311 wireless pci card (windows XP). I've setup this fine, and it has been working fine, but within a couple of hours of it working (by which time I've left his house), it loses the connection although the netgear configuration software says it has a good connection. From then on it won't connect to the internet unless you retype the wep key into the configuration utility - It's as if the computer forgets the key every now and then.

Any ideas, apart from turning wep off?

[M/Q]

It probably is a signal strength problem. The connection indicator provided by the vendors are normally worthless. The fact that is was able to be initially configured but then when actually passing data begins to act erratically is a prime indicator or weak signal. It was even more obvious when you mentioned that it was down a floor. Try 64bit WEP and see if that helps, it creates less packet traffic and may not create any drops. If that works and you want to still use 128bit, think about some kind of external antenna. If there is only one computer using the wireless connection try using these little reflectors and see if it helps. They will usually double the gain from the normal vertical dipole being used.

http://osiris.urbanna.net/antenna_designs/projects/template/

You may want to also check if there are any 2.4gHz cordless phones or BlueTooth devices in the area. They will cause interference.