One way to use Linksys WLAN monitor with XP (solved some disconnect issues)

[vitocorleone]

I just installed the Linksys Wireless-G router, laptop adapter and PCI card. It all went smoothly. However, even with 80% - 100% signal strength, the PCI card in the XP PC was sometimes dropping the connection for no discernable reason after a period of inactivity (power-save modes were disabled), even though the laptop sitting 5' away in the same room with a Win2k PC never did. I did some Google searching and came across this:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/mfcf/co...reless/xp.html

This Canadian university indicates a problem with XP + DHCP + wireless.

I decided I'd make the Linksys WLAN monitor work on XP (or at least try):

1) I downloaded both the latest Laptop Wireless-G drivers for Win2k and the latest PCI drivers (no WPA yet - come on Linksys!)

2) I extracted the Utility folder from both

3) I copied the setup.ini from the PCI Utility folder into the Laptop Utility folder, overwriting the original one

4) I disabled Wireless Zero Config in XP services

5) I installed the Laptop Utility (setup.exe)

6) When prompted about installing the actual driver set (XP displayed a pop-up about uncertified driver), I pressed the STOP button and cancelled the rest of the installation because I knew that the WLAN software had already been installed

7) I went into START/Programs and started up the software for the Wireless-G Laptop Adapter (renamed the folder though for aesthetics)

So far no disconnects and everything is working smootly - in fact, the Net seems slightly "snappier" without using XP's built-in software. Your mileage may vary... good luck and I hope this might help some people.

[Jay]

This is interesting. I've got the same setup except for an access point instead of the router. What kind of disconnect problems were you having? Was it solved temporarily by resetting your wireless router? I am having all kinds of disconnect problems, so maybe ditching the XP util and going with the Linksys one will improve things. Thanks!

[vitocorleone]

The disconnect problem was that I'd go away from the computer for awhile after using it and everything working, to coming back sometime later to find that the connection to the router was dropped from the XP PC with the PCI card (but the laptop with Win2k was still connected). EDIT - both the laptop and PC were in the same room as the wireless router, and both within 5- 10' so I know it wasn't a signal strength issue.

Linksys support was, of course, no help at this level of technical detail, so I did the "driver hack" (this kind of stuff is sometimes done with video card adapater drivers... mix and match files) as a matter of last resort before reverting to wiring the to the network.

I recommend backing up your PC before trying this :-) It may also complicate upgrading the drivers for the PCI card whenever Linksys gets around to it. Good luck!