802.11b networking, Orinoco and the Linksys BEFW11S4 router

Hey guys (and ladies ). Just (yet another) piece of interesting CE 2.0 info for you via the pleasures of real-life experience.

I just brought my HP 660LX, running CE 2.0 / SP1 / NPC to work today for the first time while running the Lucent / Orinoco Gold .11b wireless card. The card is currently running v4.04 drivers.

The office has a Linksys BEFW11S4 v4 wireless B router.

And...

It don't work!

And here's the low-down dirty details:

- CE cannot find the network with the SSID hidden, at all. Now this is significantly different than a D-Link, for I have a DI-624 at home at the 660LX has absolutely no problem finding the network with the SSID broadcast turned off. The only way I could get the 660LX to receive the Linksys was to turn the SSID back on (and I tried this 3 times just to make sure it wasn't other settings).

- The BEFW11S4 does not read a proper NetBIOS name from the 660LX - this is normal, for the D-Link does not and the network redirector does not offer that level of compatibility for CE 2.0 machines. However while the D-Link left the NetBIOS name completely blank the Linksys fills in the name with control characters.

- most importantly the 660LX connects to the Linksys, does it's DHCP, and receives an IP address...but only works for approximately 20 seconds. After 20 seconds the 660LX seems to get completely booted off the Linksys, losing all connectivity, never to return until you restart the 660LX's DHCP request prodecure (via any of: reboot/shut down-power up/pull card-reinsert).

Turning off WEP didn't help. Turning off MAC filtering didn't help. Turning on SSID permanently didn't help. Reducing the SSID name length didn't help. Changing B advanced settings didn't help. Telling the BEFW11S4 to save registration of the MAC didn't help. Turning off power saving on the 660LX didn't help. Entering in a network ID in the 660LX didn't help. Entering in a WINS address (just for kicks) didn't help. Setting the CE to denser wireless didn't help.

I realize now that the only thing I didn't try is a static IP entered into the 660LX but otherwise I believe I was quite thorough in testing - throughout an entire work day, as a matter of fact.

I am now home on the D-Link created network - no connection problems at all, even with hidden SSID, 128bit WEP and MAC filtering.

Of course now I am very glad I bought a D-Link personally even though some people have a bit of trouble with them - I love D-Links with their Fort Knox firewall rules, and now the CE wireless helps in vindication.

So, if you are going wireless with your CE machine and seem to lose connection out of the blue...

Beware. It might not be the CE palmtop.

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If requested (I am home now) I can supply the Linksys BEFW11S4 v4's firmware level but it should 1.52.02 as I just happen to update it last week.

Edited by Snake 2006-02-15 9:59 PM

The woes of WiFi. So hard to believe that it causes so much grief for so many people - and yet they some how call it "standardised"

Keep on fiddling with it. I have no doubt that you'll manage to get it to connect one day (when you least expect it)

Well. More details!

I got the dialup activated by my DSL ISP and just tested it a moment ago.

And...

It works. Of course

nPOP transmits perfectly via PPP dialup. The problem is either in the NDIS network stack, the Orinoco drivers or nPOP. I guess I should be surprised...not. The unit was even locked up - again! - when I tried to start it up.

Anyone have a shotgun handy?

Hmmm. Maybe I will try the v4.06 drivers after a cold reset. Why not, it'll only be the 5th or 6th cold reset in as many days, if not more (maybe I cold reset twice or more on Sunday?? Too many to remember, oi)

I also need to pull my 660LX CD out of storage, this weekend, to try the HP supplied NDIS.

Between today's work network issues and an entire week of HPC issues I think my head is getting flat from all the banging. grrrrrr.

well...

the senao sl2511CF with either of the two CE2 MIPS prism drivers does tend to lose the connection. one of the prisms was so bad that i always had to soft reset to get itworking again (it wouldn't properly unload when i ejected the card to reinsert it and rebuild the connection), the other is acceptable and loses the connection after a longer time than the first one. and i don't have to soft reset..

so is this my router? i have hidden SSID, 128 wep, mac filtering. also i sometimes used static ip.


also Snake, i remember your question about it being worth it to upgrade to a j720. YES! wlan is much more stable with hpc2000 than with CE2!

Edited by cmonex 2006-02-16 9:22 PM

I'm drooling on some of the real purdy little HPC's you're getting from Japan. You do this just to make the rest of us jealous, don't you?

I am beginning to wonder if I do want to upgrade. If I was still in my old job, the travel agent, for sure I would. I used my HPC every day and from March to December I was on the motorcycle and therefore carrying a laptop was out.

Now my current job needs no portability and the 660LX collects mostly dust (if it could inside it's case). I am thinking about going cross-country on a motorcycle trip and having internet access would be a joy, and therefore "do I want to upgrade?" But even the HPC, inside a 2-pistol gun case, along with a Nikon digital 5700 camera takes up, pretty much, an entire saddlebag. Do I want to donate that much space to 2 tech gadgets?

So, the jury is still out on upgrades. That, and if I do upgrade I would like something really pretty But not needing a second mortgage

Yes, your CE2.0 WiFi issues just might be the router. Certainly was mine in the office - the Orinoco CE and the Linksys B router just didn't like one another much of anything. The 660 seems to like the D-Link at home though.

Who's router are you using? Even with SSID on. on the Linksys, the CE still go booted after 20 seconds or so. Absolutely nothing I tried, not any setting on the router or the CE, made a difference at all regarding that. The only things I didn't try is a static IP on the CE machine and setting up a background ping from the CE to the router to keep the connection fully active.

Otherwise the Linksys is a piece of garbage. I fought with it for 1 hour today regarding IP addresses. It locked up 3 times today.

I'm getting a D-Link instead. The Linksys' last days have finally arrived. *party mode*