Wireless connection loss

This sounds mad - but when ever I log into SL I lose my wireless connection after about 4 - 5 minutes. When I am not logged on - no problems..

Does anyone have any suggestions -

Computer is Core2 Duo - running vista home premium - 2mg ram...Nvidia geoforce card...

Desperate for some help -- thanks

From the system requirements for SL:

"Second Life is not compatible with dial-up internet, satellite internet, and some wireless internet services."

The later could be your problem.... maybe...

Morwen.

Morwen speaks truth

The strange thing is that I didnt have any problems before the latest update........weird or what??

It's also possible that your wireless does have intermittent drop-outs even when not running SL, but you just don't notice. If you're reading a web page and your wireless drops for a few seconds after the page loads, you wouldn't see it. If it drops while you're trying to move your avatar across the room, you will see it.

Or do you mean it drops and stays dropped until you reboot the router? In that case, I have no idea. I don't really see any way SL could cause that though, unless the data load is just too much for your router to handle, in which case it's a hardware problem.

I seriously doubt it's due to a flaw in the SL client, although anyone who knows the technology better than I do will no doubt correct me.

Every wifi enabled PC has wireless drivers installed, so that is really the only thing the client could be interfering with. But that kind of software incompatibility seems incredibly unlikely. Far more likely to be connection issues between the PC and WAP (wireless access point) -- and even though nothing might have changed with regards to the configuration or positioning of these devices, the range can certainly be affected by atmospheric conditions, electrical devices (have the neighbours bought a new microwave), etc.?

SL is listed as incompatible with wifi mainly due to the high latency attributed to it, but things have changed a lot since the introduction of draft-N devices. My draft-n Wi-Fi PCMCIA card has faster throughput than the wired ethernet adapter in my main PC, and the latency is identical on both. That wasn't the case with my previous Wi-Fi setup. The moral: If any SL user is thinking of going wireless - make sure the hardware is draft-N compliant.

There is a problem with SL & WiFi.

EVERY time i go to the sim of "Abbotts Aerodrome" my WiFi is disconnected in his shop (top floor) after a few minits. I have to reset my WiFi Router to restore the connection.

I have also contacted Cubey Terra (of Abbotts) about this and he said to me that i'm not the only one.

What is your model of WiFi router? What does he have up there? Anything causing sudden bandwidth surges?

Thought I was crazy as this is happening to me too. I have a DSL line and just since the last update I find myself unable to move..freezes up after 10-30 minutes. I know it's not my end because nothing else is affected.


Only since the last update means there's a problem with SL?

Just to add- I have been using SL with wireless ever since February, wiithout any trouble-even from the garden with my laptop. It might have something to do with the router, I have heard that with some firmwares, some routers have these intermittent failures- something to do with using the superfast g++ settings.

Jannae goes into her computer lab. (This will take a few minutes)

Note: Your actual statistics will vary insanely.

Comcast Cable, direct connection - 250-350 kps. 16-22fps

Wireless G router 9signal srtrength excellent) 220-280 kps. 13-16 fps.

I never have had problems running SL through the wireleess, but obviously I get slightly better stats with a direct connection.

This reminds me, I really need to write a wireless troubleshooter because I have several SL friends with similar problems, but I'd like to note two things:

1) The number one reason for wireless network instability is this- and although I'm talking specifically about Windows here, it can apply to other operating systems as well: A lot of people take their notebooks with them on vacation or business trips and connect to any free or pay hotspot they find. Many hotspots (especially free ones) have generic names like 'Guest' or the dreaded 'linksys.' Each time you connect to a network with a new name, Windows creates a wireless 'profile' that remembers the network name and security settings so it can automatically connect the next time it "sees" the wireless network. Windows automatically gives priority to the most recently added network. So imagine this: You have a home network named "MyNetwork" and then you go on a trip and connect to a network called "Linksys." When you come back home, your computer will look for available networks, and since it doesn't see "Linksys" around, it will silently connect to "MyNetwork" again. But the next day your neighbor buys a new Linksys wireless router and sets it up, leaving it at the default settings. The next time your computer checks the air it will go, "Hey! There's Linksys! I'd better connect to it, since that's my preferred network!"

This happens ALL THE TIME and if your neighbor's house is close and their connection is fast you might not notice. But often your neighbor's router is JUST far enough away that the connection isn't that reliable. Even though your own router is physicially closer, your computer keeps trying to hold onto its preferred network. What ends up happening is you'll keep losing and re-establishing your connection over and over, sometimes even switching between your neighbor's network and your own, which will instantly kill your SL session. People who just web surf and check their email often never realize this is happening, because those things don't usually require persistent connections to a secure server. Video games are ALWAYS sending data back and forth over a secure connection, and are much more sensitive to network instability.

Suggestion: Make sure you don't have any unnecessary networks listed in your wireless network preference order (this is buried in the advanced wireless settings in Windows), and make sure your home network has top priority.

2) When World of Warcraft first came out there was this crazy problem where people on wireless connections would get disconnected from the game whenever they turned in a quest. It took WEEKS for anyone to figure the problem out, but it was eventually discovered that all people with this problem actually had the same model and firmware revision of the cable modem. Apparently, there was something about the packets that WoW sent when a player turned in a quest that triggered this bug in the router that ended up temporarily breaking communication between the cable modem and their wireless routers. Everyone was trying to upgrade or replace their wireless routers, and only after a lot of research and hairpulling did people figure out the cable modem was the real culprit.

Suggestion: Take a look at the whole connection path, from the plug in your wall to your wireless computer. Firmware updates fixed the WoW problem, they might help you too.

There are two possible causes; either or both may be contributing.

First, the latency of the wireless connection is higher. That is, it takes more time for data to get from you to SL, and back from SL to you.

Second is that the CPU overhead of the wireless NIC and its protocol stack may be higher than the wired NIC, so the wireless connection is using some of your computer's resources. This is especially likely if you have security (WAP or WPA) enabled on the access point. Many inexpensive wireless cards have no hardware assistance for the data encryption; it's done in software in the network driver.

I have never had any problems running SL over an 801.11b or 801.11g connection, so long as the wireless signal is strong. Nor does using wireless seem to have a noticeable affect on frame rate. But I don't have encryption enabled on my AP, nor do the ones at my university.

I had done this before with WIFI. I Stopped using it when changed connection from a 25 Mbps ADSL to 100 Mbps Fiber Optical Line. I had no problems withthe 25 Mbps conection. The stronger the signal the better. But it does matter if locations of the relays or other physical objects stopping the signal........

Yes. the wireless signal is security enabled. Still, I can't complain about performance. It isn't that much below a direct connection, and switching back and forth is tiresome, when I generally want to be network connected to use my printer, file share between comps , etc...

I do use the g++ connection without any problems though-but I also clean out any unwanted networks as soon as I find them (I have SEVERAL neighbours that even use unencrypted connections....)

Thank you all for your replies ....

I am using a "801.11g" Netgear router..

BUT this is the strange and annoying thing for the past two months I havent had any problems - now (since the last update) - after I log onto SL after a few minutes i get the yellow triangle over the wifi symbol (using Vista) and i lose all connectivity - I get the "limitied connection" -- If i then click on networks available and bring up mine -- i can disconnect and reconnect and all is ok....for 5 minutes..then we go through it all again...so it appears that it is SL that is making me lose my connection....

That is what I think is weird....

Maybe with the last update the information that is exchanged between SL and the client is increased and that pushed you over a certain critical point?

Just a guess... I am not that good with computers .

Morwen.