HP CQ61-420US internet wireless connectivity

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If you said router, you'd be wrong.

Typically in a setup like this you have an edge router connecting the LAN to the rest of the world with perhaps some layer 3 switches in the buildings doing some basic inter-subnet routing on campus. You would have dedicated wireless controllers with attached AP's running a lightweight image, downloading their configuration and being managed directly from these controllers.

This doesn't sound like an issue with elderly equipment to me, it sounds like a bug. But if the campus IT aren't aware of the issue, they can't actively work to resolve it. Cisco gear doesn't usually get old and die either. It typically soldiers on well into obsolescence and this goes for their wireless gear as well.


Yup! And don't they (the people that run the school/network) try to make their equipment last as long as posisble, WITHOUT upgrading to save cost?

And I am thinking of what has come into many homes: The router, with the antennae on either side of it. There, wouldn't the signal go to any wireless devices - phones, laptops, any point that needs Internet, like a wireless card in a desktop computer like I am on now, etc - and sort of "merge" with the cabled connections (that is the difference between a "switch" and a "hub," the "switch" gets its address from the incoming cable.. yes, no?) - and then put the packets through that way?

it wounds like what you are describing is that the APs are sepatrate units, akin to but not the same as those antennae, and that they then go to the main broadband/bandwith trough along with all other connections, and that there could be issues with those units themselves, and their firmware.. ?
*Assume I am still in school. I just like to engage!
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Originally Posted By: rg200amp
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Originally Posted By: rg200amp


We gotta play on Macs. PC's internet cards are always dodgy.
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Oh, you.. Man, beer on me!
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How about a PS3?
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I have a Xbox 360. Haven't touched it in months though. No free time.

Even right now I have no free time. I'm supposed to be writing my Anthro mid term but instead BITOG has my attention. . .




.. Now I feel OLD! When I was in college, the PS2 (yes, 2, not 3..) was BRAND NEW!

I actually abandoned video games at that point, since I was supposed to be doing the whole "Adult" thing.. this is the result. Hmmm...
 
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
(that is the difference between a "switch" and a "hub," the "switch" gets its address from the incoming cable.. yes, no?)

No. An unmanaged switch does not have an IP address. Cable modem passes the cable signal to the router and allows the router to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server in the cable operator's infrastructure. The switch sits behind the router. Sometimes a switch is built into a router, but technically it still sits "behind the router" and does not get its address from incoming cable.

The only type of switch that has an IP address is a managed switch, but again, even in this case, its IP address does not come from a cable provider. It is either statically assigned by a network admin or is assigned by a DHCP within the customer's network.
 
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool

Yup! And don't they (the people that run the school/network) try to make their equipment last as long as posisble, WITHOUT upgrading to save cost?


Usually they have a SmartNET contract, which covers the firmware images, so the upgrades are free. SmartNET is pretty much essential for situations like this, as if an AP goes down, you get a new one for free. It actually decreases the cost of operating the network. The contracts are usually very reasonably priced too.

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And I am thinking of what has come into many homes: The router, with the antennae on either side of it.


But you can't apply that line of thinking to large networks like the ones in an EDU, as they use setups like the one I described. All of these devices are separate and have dedicated purposes. The "home" routers/gateways are a combination of these products into one housing. If you crack them open you'll find that they are usually a router/gateway chipset connected to a switch and they typically have a stand-alone daughterboard/wireless card that is bridged to the switch to provide wireless coverage. To the end user, it appears as "one unit", but in reality, it still consists of the three separate components, they are just stuffed into one case, with the switch and router/gateway coexisting on the same PCB.

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There, wouldn't the signal go to any wireless devices - phones, laptops, any point that needs Internet, like a wireless card in a desktop computer like I am on now, etc - and sort of "merge" with the cabled connections (that is the difference between a "switch" and a "hub," the "switch" gets its address from the incoming cable.. yes, no?) - and then put the packets through that way?


A switch is smart, a hub is stupid. That's the difference. A switch has a table of MAC addresses (the hardware address of your card) and so packets that are from and destined to that address only get pushed out that port. A hub is simply a repeater. Anything coming in, goes out all the ports. Any card that didn't request the data knows to drop it. Since hubs do this, it causes collisions. A hub is a collision domain. On a switch, each port is its own collision domain. Collisions cause a loss of performance, which is why a switch will always have much higher throughput than a hub. This is also why switches are far more secure than hubs.

Quote:
it wounds like what you are describing is that the APs are sepatrate units, akin to but not the same as those antennae, and that they then go to the main broadband/bandwith trough along with all other connections, and that there could be issues with those units themselves, and their firmware.. ?
*Assume I am still in school. I just like to engage!
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The antennas are literally just the antennas. Even on your home router, as I described above, there is a still an access point component to your home router. You just don't see it as a separate device. The antennas connect to this through their tiny little cables.

And yes, the software that runs on the access points and looks after speaking to the wireless devices that associate with them is what I think may have a bug in it. A quick perusal through the list of Cisco bugs I posted earlier and you'll see that bugs are a-plenty! I can't take credit for this statement, I heard it from a Cisco guru that I have a great deal of respect for:

"It isn't about selecting an IOS release with no bugs, it is about choosing what version has the least amount of bugs that affect YOU!"
 
Originally Posted By: oilboy123

Of course the Mac people don't have the same problems she tells me. She does not have the money right now for a Macbook. Any suggestions about a better wireless card, or external antennae that might work better? Thanks


Get her a Macbook. Then take over her used computer and sell it to recover some of the $$ or simply use it yourself. It is more money but your problem will be solved.
 
Originally Posted By: GearheadTool


Teach me, then. Sure, I don't know everything. Post a link?

And remember when Cable Broadband was like brand new? Like, when it was a big deal? .. I learned about it then.

Where's that link? ?


Another one I stumbled across that may be of interest:

Originally Posted By: Cisco
CSCsu90335—Intel 4965 cards might experience connectivity problems when another client connects to the same 1250 series access point in hybrid-REAP mode on a controller running software release 4.2.130.0. The loss of connectivity can last up to 1 minute.


http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/controller/release/notes/crn601820.html#wp480449
 
Boy this thing got a bit off track......

So it's possible the school does not have the best internet, or her wireless card is not that great?

Even if I knew the school was the problem it would be hard to convince them of that fact......
 
Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Boy this thing got a bit off track......

So it's possible the school does not have the best internet, or her wireless card is not that great?

Even if I knew the school was the problem it would be hard to convince them of that fact......


Yes, exactly.

You said in your first post that she said other PC's are having this problem. This being the case, having those students all send an e-mail to computer services about the issue would have them deal with it rather promptly. When it is one student they are of course going to assume that it is that student's computer and not their gear.

So, if she'd like the issue fixed, she can mention to the other students that they need to send computer services an e-mail about the problem. If she just wants a workaround, she could try buying a USB wireless stick like the one GHT linked to and see if its chipset is unaffected by the issue.
 
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