wireless laptop nukes network...

I have no idea where else to go from here...

My gf's laptop is running Vista. It's completely updated, avast finds no viruses, windows defender finds no malware. Firewall is on, netstat -b only shows connections when they are opened by firefox/ie. I've uninstalled/reinstalled/rolled back to older driver versions for the Atheros 5007 wireless card...none of this works.

So the dilemma: whenever browsing/doing anything that requires data transfer through her wireless connection, the network slows to a crawl. Here's a snippet of my ping output from my wired gentoo computer (pinging my CMTS):

PHP:

64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7655 ttl=253 time=5.89 ms                                                                                                                                                                                  
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7656 ttl=253 time=581 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7657 ttl=253 time=474 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7658 ttl=253 time=723 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7659 ttl=253 time=1699 ms                                                                                                                                                                                  
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7660 ttl=253 time=701 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7661 ttl=253 time=6.94 ms                                                                                                                                                                                  
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=7662 ttl=253 time=7.36 ms       

You can see the lag spikes there, and those are occuring when data transfer is taking place. But this is ONLY if her laptop is connected wirelessly. When I hooked it up to the router, the connection was FLAWLESS on both of computers.

There are no priorities set in my router. I've tried changing different channels, changing the authentication mode around (TKIP, AES, etc). Tried running on Mixed modes, G only...I simply can NOT figure out what to do here. Linksys WRT54GS2 is the router. Updating the firmware on that did not do anything...I am simply at a loss.

 

Bad wireless card? Its not uncommon for a network card to go bad and bring a network to its knees.

 

Try and turn off wireless card in the laptop and connect it via the RJ45 and see if there is any issue with the network. IMO, Adrynalyne is spot on with his assumptions.

 

Already did the wired hookup (I wasn't descriptive enough about that D:, that's what I meant by it worked flawlessly when I hooked it up to the router). Sadly I don't have a card laying around to try. She says it works just fine at her college, so I don't know...any other suggestions? Thanks.

 

Well, I understand what she is saying, but the college network has far more bandwidth, and there is nobody to tell her that her network card is sending a broadcast storm and messing crap up.

Of course, I could be totally wrong.

 

This article is a bit above me, but should help.

http://support.novell.com/techcenter/articles/nc2000_10c.html

 

Thanks for the article. I did something I should've done before: try another wireless device. In this case, I set up my PS3. Got it connected, opened it's internal browser, and...

Code:

64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=197 ttl=253 time=7.46 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=198 ttl=253 time=11.4 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=199 ttl=253 time=27.5 ms                                                                                                                                                                                   
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=200 ttl=253 time=26.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=201 ttl=253 time=95.6 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=202 ttl=253 time=16.9 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=203 ttl=253 time=22.9 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=204 ttl=253 time=6.93 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=205 ttl=253 time=8.49 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=206 ttl=253 time=20.9 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=207 ttl=253 time=8.96 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=208 ttl=253 time=55.0 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=209 ttl=253 time=288 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=210 ttl=253 time=115 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=211 ttl=253 time=375 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=212 ttl=253 time=8.80 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=213 ttl=253 time=17.7 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=214 ttl=253 time=7.40 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=215 ttl=253 time=164 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=216 ttl=253 time=127 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=217 ttl=253 time=476 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=218 ttl=253 time=258 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=219 ttl=253 time=74.9 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=220 ttl=253 time=216 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=221 ttl=253 time=628 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=222 ttl=253 time=982 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=224 ttl=253 time=480 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=225 ttl=253 time=318 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=226 ttl=253 time=259 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=227 ttl=253 time=914 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=228 ttl=253 time=83.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=229 ttl=253 time=242 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=230 ttl=253 time=650 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=231 ttl=253 time=383 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=232 ttl=253 time=342 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=233 ttl=253 time=876 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=234 ttl=253 time=535 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=235 ttl=253 time=460 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=236 ttl=253 time=501 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=237 ttl=253 time=295 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=238 ttl=253 time=563 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=239 ttl=253 time=128 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=240 ttl=253 time=687 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=241 ttl=253 time=42.6 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=242 ttl=253 time=943 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=243 ttl=253 time=8.34 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=244 ttl=253 time=7.98 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=245 ttl=253 time=5.97 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=246 ttl=253 time=7.94 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=247 ttl=253 time=8.42 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=248 ttl=253 time=10.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=249 ttl=253 time=8.94 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=250 ttl=253 time=9.99 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=251 ttl=253 time=7.44 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=252 ttl=253 time=9.43 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=253 ttl=253 time=9.96 ms

Not cool, now I can't blame it on the laptop anymore

 

Wow that stinks.

So, router hard reset perhaps?

 

Alright, I don't even want to know what happened to this router. The router would completely freeze when I even tried to backup the config...so I'm guessing the config was corrupt. Anyways, I had to manually backup/restore after a factory reset. These are the ping times I get now while the PS3 is streaming off of youtube:

Code:

64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=138 ttl=253 time=9.57 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=139 ttl=253 time=7.99 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=140 ttl=253 time=9.49 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=141 ttl=253 time=7.64 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=142 ttl=253 time=15.9 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=143 ttl=253 time=11.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=144 ttl=253 time=7.65 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=145 ttl=253 time=8.97 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=146 ttl=253 time=10.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=147 ttl=253 time=10.6 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=148 ttl=253 time=12.4 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=149 ttl=253 time=8.42 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=150 ttl=253 time=14.6 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=151 ttl=253 time=28.1 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=152 ttl=253 time=9.52 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=153 ttl=253 time=7.62 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=154 ttl=253 time=5.97 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=155 ttl=253 time=8.97 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=156 ttl=253 time=7.58 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=157 ttl=253 time=7.45 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=158 ttl=253 time=8.50 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=159 ttl=253 time=20.6 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=160 ttl=253 time=9.38 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=161 ttl=253 time=8.48 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=162 ttl=253 time=7.40 ms
64 bytes from 24.89.0.2: icmp_seq=163 ttl=253 time=7.43 ms

MUCH more tolerable! Thanks for your help!

 

Hey, you figured it out, no need to thank me

Glad too, I hate networking issues