Weird packet loss problem?

Hi, i know im posting alot, but im extremely BUSY...LEARNING! (hope you done mind)

I am having trouble at home, i have a win2008 server running DNS for a domain name, and IIS for webserver, and thats it installed on the server.

I have just bought a new wireless access point, as everyone in the house is having problems with wifi on the router.

a router with my WAN connection (Wireless disabled and DHCP disabled), ethernet to my access point (wireless and DHCP enabled), then via ethernet to a switch and to my SERVER, printer, VoIP adapter etc.

Whats happenning is the wireless still appears to be dropping out all the time! In the middle of a remote desktop connection, it will die for maybe 2 minutes, not replying to any pings, then 2 minutes later i can ping and connect again!

I am being blamed for this (running a server) but i am sure its not my server as i have no DHCP running on the server, the DHCP is giving out DNS of 192.168.2.1 (router/WAN conncetion) and gateway of 192.168.2.1, DHCP of 192.168.2.254(wireless access point)

Also, i get major packet loss, without being kicked off the wifi. Sometimes it doesnt kick me off, but i cannot access any shared folders, and ping response times and hugs (200 - 300 MS).

I have tried changing the wireless channel on the access point (possible things on the same frequency), all i cant think now is the the router is faulty!

Any ideas? How can i monitor exactly where these packets are being dropped!

Im really getting stick here!!

Thanks!!

Start with the easy stuff first. Do the wired devices all work fine? If so you know it's a problem with wireless; this could be coverage area, signal strength due to coverage area or interference. It could also be a faulty driver. Let us know if the wired devices work, and what the signal strength is of the computers that are having problems. If you can also download a program onto one of the wireless PCs called "inSSIDer" (no that's not misspelled). Use that to scan for other wifi networks on the same channel as yours that may be causing issues.

Thanks for the reply.

Last night i unplugged all my stuff. There was absolutely nothing connected to the router except the wireless access point.

It all worked straight away, litterally instantly, however later on in the night, same thing keeps happenning with nothing plugged into the router. Keeps kicking you off wifi every 5 minutes.

Changed both the wireless channel and broadcast frequency to 40mhz.
Last thing i can think of is to try selecting b, g or n broadcast only. (im sure most adapters will support all 3)

Could it be a faulty router, the router was wireless but we were having problems with the wifi om the router, hence the reason we got the access point. But from day one i beleived it was the router!


Thanks!!

So i just replaced the router, and sure enough everything has been stable now for about 3 hours (touch wood)...

I have 1 question however regarding DNS (not sure if i can post here or if to start a new tread, i think ill be banned if i start a new thread LOL)

If i am deploying DNS for propogation for my domain, and the internal network is using the DNS server directly to the server, do i need to configure split brain DNS?

Im guessing not!

Thanks guys once again!

You should not have to. Posting another thread won't get you banned, if anything they'll just start charging you per hour.

Ok so this problem appears to be back. Last night i was pinging google, the router, the access poit and a few other things.

Pings times were from 500ms to 3000ms. Google was 3000+- and the local netwok was around 500ms and this is with the new router?

This happened about 3 or 4 hours after i plugged my server back in. So i really dont think thats what it is. Im not sure what to do now.

Maybe unplug 1 thing at a time until normal speeds return?

Ive never really trusted SMC gear....

Any ideas?? Thanks again!

What are people doing when this happens? Does it happen around the same time frame every day/night? I'm wondering if someone at your house isn't overwhelming the network; or perhaps an annoying neighbor has a wireless router that isn't playing nice with yours.

I think it happens quite late at night. But ill check it out again tonight..

I have quite a bit of stuff connected to the network.

I have a switch connected via the wireless access point, on that switch is have

my server

Then i have another switch connected via the other swtich with, an apple tv, A/C Ryan (a media player type thing), a DVD player. I use the the A/C Ryan to play movies via the server (my HDD external drive) and it says the network speed is about 8000kbs.

Next time it happens i will try unplug 1 thing at a time and see if it comes right...