Best Hubris

After a TON of consternation and A LOT of crappy information out on the Internet, I think I have finally solved a wireless networking issue that has been the bane of my home network for too long.

Help My Wireless Network Keeps Disconnecting

You’ll see those words or some just like them on message boards and forums all over the Internet as the home based network administrator struggles to find a solution to a seemingly bizarre. Wireless network issue.  Often they will blame Windows or Windows XP or Vista too.  They are kind-of-sort-of right, but not really.

If you read the answers, you’ll find a wide assortment of pseudo-experts throwing out impressive sounding, but utterly useless answers.  The typical exchange starts out with the “network pro” suggesting something mind numbingly simple that all but the most naive computer user has probably already tried.  Change the channel, or make sure you have the same WEP passwords on all your computers, or the most common of all, update your drivers.  Folks, update your drivers is a throw away answer that does not come close to troubleshooting the issue.  This is what people at help desks tell people who call in because they hope that it will somehow solve the problem without having to do any actual work.  Yes, you should update your drivers, but this should never be any serious person’s full answer.

It’s The Windows XP Browser

No, really…Well, sort of.  I know a lot about the answers to people who ask about intermittent wireless network dropping because it was the exact same problem I was having.  After looking for an answer long enough I found out that it happens to all kinds of wireless network cards whether Intel, Linksys, Netgear, D-link, Trendnet, you name it.  Depending on where you looked though, that was one of the places the blame was pointed.  “Oh, Netgear sucks, get a real router.”  Some people even insisted matching up hardware, “Oh, you can’t use a Netgear card with a Linksys router.”  And some people even insisted that you can’t use USB wireless adapters.  No, no, no.

Here is the deal.  I have one desktop PC running Windows XP Pro.  It’s a sweet machine.  Then, I have two laptops that are a few years old, but perfectly good for what we use them for.  They are Dell Inspiron 600m with Intel 2200/BG wireless built into them.  The desktop has a D-link USB adapter and the wireless router is a Trendnet.  Ironically, the reason I bought the Trendnet was a seemed to be having some problems with my Netgear one.

All the computers connected just fine to the wireless network, so it isn’t some dumb thing like mismatched passwords.  The problem is they would sometimes drop off the network.  It seemed like it was random.  Sometimes, I would go hours with no issue, other times it seemed like I was getting disconnected every few minutes.  I tried everything.  I updated the drivers.  I updated the router firmware.  I changed from WEP to WPA to WPA2.  I tried Windows Zero Configuration Wireless utility.  I tried the Intel Wireless manager.  I tried the D-link wireless manager, and every combination of the three.  Nothing seemed to work.

Then, one day, I got what would turn out to be my big break.  One evening, I had been working on my desktop computer when my wife joined me and turned on her laptop computer.  Bam!  I was off the network.  I didn’t think anything of it.  I reset my connection.  Then, I heard a big sigh from my wife.  When I asked, she had just been kicked off the network.  Shortly thereafter I caught a bigger break when my Event Viewer logged a network disconnect and a browser election event at the exact same time.  Yes!  The problem is the computer browser. 

Unfortunately, as I searched the Internet with my new keywords, I found out that it didn’t make a difference.  The same half-helpful ding dongs answering the wireless connection drops questions were the ones answering the computer browser makes the wireless connection drop questions.  The answer was always, “What kind of router/card,” followed by “More details/Log files” followed by “Maybe it’s your cordless phone” and ultimately either “Buy a new router/card” or nothing, the thread would just end.  Truth is, the person sounding like the expert probably never had a clue what could possibly be the issue.

Broadcasts and Networks

The answer finally came in, of all places, a Facebook forum.  Turns out the real administrators from Facebook actually help out their users by really trying to understand their problems.  After all, people might just decide to stop using Facebook before they decide to buy a new router.

I don’t remember the question or the exact answer, and I can’t seem to find it anymore, but it came down to this.  If you are running Windows (any kind of Windows) in a small home wireless network you might have this connection dropping issue.  Why?

Every so often, your Windows computer will for whatever reason want a browse list.  The browse list is nothing more than a way to find computers on a network by name.  It is woefully outdated and nobody with a serious network uses it (quite frankly, they probably block it at every router).  But, it works great for the small home network because it takes no setup.

The way it works is that whenever you turn on a computer, once it gets on the network it sends a broadcast out onto the network asking for the browse list.  Normal network traffic has a destination.  But in order to have a destination, you need to know where the other computers are.  A broadcast solves this Catch-22 by being sent to everybody.  Think of a five-year old in a crowded room looking for their mother, “Mom?  Mom?  Mom?”  Everyone in the room can hear him calling out for his mother even though the message is not meant for them.  A broadcast works the same way.

Now, in order for this to work, there has to be just one list that gets updated, otherwise there might be discrepancies between the lists.  To achieve this goal, the computers hold a Browser Election.  Basically, if a computer want to have the master list, it has to be the master browser.  There is an algorithm on how this election gets one, but the important thing is that it all happens by broadcasts.

Ok, here comes the glitch.  If you have a small area wireless network, then it is possible that all of the computers will receive the broadcast at the same time, and they will all respond at the same time.  This has a technical term, I don’t know it.  When this happens, the wireless router won’t hear everyone properly.  (Think about five kids shouting for mom).  The router will either respond incorrectly, or not at all to one or more of the computers.  This computer will wait for the proper response before it sends any more network traffic.  This is why the connection does not show up in the icon as disconnected.  It isn’t really.  It is just that it will wait literally forever before it sends any other traffic for that proper response.  Since the router thinks it already responded (or didn’t know it needed to respond), no signal will ever be sent, and BOOM, your connection is dropped.

If you have a big house, the difference in signal between your master bedroom and the kitchen is probably enough to keep this from happening.  But, I live in a bungalow style house and my wife and I often share the same room, so the distance from router to computer isn’t far and the computers are even closer together than that.  I’m sure there is a ratio of some sort here where if you are too close or too far you’ll never have a problem which is why no one ever believes the people who do have the issue.

Advanced Router Settings

There is a fix!  First off, if you do have Intel 2200BG wireless adapters you do need to get new drivers if you still have the original ones.  The way you can tell if you need new drivers is if they allow you to chose WPA-2 with AES or not.  If they only allow you to choose WEP or WPA with TKIP, they are too old.  Otherwise, if all your equipment allows for WPA-2 with AES, then you should be ready.

Log into your wireless router and look for the advanced settings.  It might be called something different, but basically you are looking for where you get to put numbers into certain parameters, not where you get to put your password or SSID or anything like that.

You may not have all these settings.  That might be a problem, and it might not.  Change what you can and see if it helps. 

Most wireless routers come pre-configured by default with their ideal settings for a perfect environment.  And why not?  Always hope for the best.  If your wireless network keeps dropping then you are looking to tweak some of these settings.  Yes, they will technically slow down your wireless network, but I will bet you that you only rarely consume your full bandwidth anyway, especially if you mainly use your wireless to share an Internet connection and a printer or two.  (Your Internet connection is way slower than your wireless.  My Comcast Internet with one step upgrade is something like 7 Mb/sec.  The wireless goes at 54 Mb/sec so even if I lost 3 Mb/sec off the wireless I’d still be fine.)  Besides, what is worse, a connection that keeps dropping or one that is a teeny tiny bit slower?

The settings you want to tweak are the fragmentation threshold and the RTS number (they might be called something slightly different, but you should be able to tell them.)  The fragmentation usually comes set at 2346.  Drop it to 2306.  The RTS usually comes at 2347.  Drop it to 2304.  If it works, then here is your virtual high-five.

If not, then lower the Beacon (usually set at 100) to 50.

Still doesn’t work.   Go to your computers and look at the card’s configuration.  If it lets you choose between RTS and CTS, choose RTS.  Otherwise, the RTS changes at the router will just be ignored.

If you still don’t have it, make sure that you actually have the same issue.  Here is a summary of the symptoms:

• All computers can and do connect to the wireless when first started.
• When the connection drops it is seemingly random, that is it doesn’t always drop when you do a specific thing.
• It isn’t just the one computer that drops.  If you have this problem, then all of your computers should be just as likely to drop as another one.
• You don’t have other errors in Event Viewer (except for browser, live update, automatic update, etc…)

If so, then try adjusting the settings down a little bit at a time.  These numbers make big changes for small values, so start with something like 10 less for the fragmentation and the RTS and something like 2 or 3 less for the beacon.  Also, always keep the RTS exactly two lower than the fragmentation.  If you get down to 1800 or something, you are barking up the wrong tree.  Sorry.

Good luck.  I hope this helps.

I keep reading that people with bigger monitors are more productive than those without.  Recently, I went from a 15″ LCD to a 22″ Widescreen LCD.  I have to admit, when I first put it up on my desk it seemed HUGE.  I mean, ridiculous, as in, “What did I just waste my money on?”  But, I’ve learned how to work with it, and I can say that it definitely provides a huge productivity boost.

Take Full Advantage of Bigger Monitor

The only way a bigger monitor is going to increase your productivity is if you use it differently than you used your old smaller monitor.  It takes a few days to get used to all the real estate and what you can do with it, but once you do, there is no stopping you.

To help cut down on how long it takes you to start maximizing your usage, here are some tips.

Re-visit Your Application Settings

When you first started running your applications, you combed through the settings and moved the toolbars and windows around to suit your old monitor.  It’s time to do that again.  The file folder view that you squished to make more room for the main window can now be widened to actually be useful.  This will be especially useful for those development, imaging, and desktop publishing apps that come with so many features that they can’t all be displayed at once.  They probably still can’t, but you can display a lot more of them.

Double Your Windows

Ok, with a small monitor, you got used to working in a full screen window and then switching to another window when you needed to.  With a 22″ widescreen monitor, a full screen window almost never makes sense unless you are in one of those feature heavy apps above.  In fact, you’ll notice yourself moving your head around in a cartoon like way as you end a line on the right side of the screen and go all the way back to the left edge of the screen.  At 22″ a half-half isn’t usually optimal, but I find that setting  two windows at 2/3 (more like 5/8) of the width means that I can switch back and forth super fast.  Sometimes I don’t even need to switch because I can get enough of the picture from the rest of the window I can see behind my main window.  This is awesome for when I am referencing information in one window and typing or coding based on that info in another.  If I need to see it all a lot, then I go to 1/2 and 1/2 and it is awesome.

So, it’s the first week of May, and I have jury duty. Yeah! Actually, other than having to make changes in my usual Wednesday, it isn’t that big of deal. Sitting in a quiet room with a hundred plus strangers is a little odd, but otherwise, nothing too exciting.

The “orientation” is an 18 minute video with a local news anchor providing the narration. After spending way too much time studying and analyzing various training techniques, I can’t help but notice them in the video. Although there are no explicit directions as to what you have to do as a jury or juror (there can’t be, by law), the “examples” from former jurors are carefully structured to “suggest” some rules. No less than four people come on the screen to metion how they “were impressed with their fellow jurors” and came to realize that each of them “deserved their respect.” Translation: You are getting sleepy…You should respect the other jurors even if they look like scumbags or seem stupid.

Then, there are the seemingly unrelated yet repeated by each person on the screen topics of “everyone has their say”, “we made sure everyone said something”, and “we went around the table by juror number and everyone said at least one thing about each point,” and my personal favorite: “I think it is important to speak up and at least say something even if you are introverted like I am.” Translation: You are getting sleepy…You will go around the room and make sure everyone says something. You will say something even if you are shy.

I can’t decide whether to mess with the system by pointing out in the juror room that none of those ideas are things we actually have to do, and maybe we would be better off by only listening to the people who feel strongly enough about something to speak up themselves without being called on.

I would post live from here, but I can’t get Internet access despite having connect to a strong signal from wireless network named: “Free Internet Access”. I’m not getting a default gateway and I think that is the problem, so I don’t get name resolution and can’t seem to ping or tracert to anything. I don’t see any signs or handouts regarding access and the people working the window don’t strike me as the kind who’s forte is wireless hotspots. When we get a break I’ll pop down to the cafe. I bet the access is from there and they may have instructions. For now, I’ll type into Blog Desk and mass post when I get access.

As I posted recently I don’t get social networking. I never really have. The one that people keep bugging me about is Twitter, and I REALLY don’t get it. Turns out I was over thinking it and that’s why I didn’t get it. But, James over at Men With Pens (which technically doesn’t rhyme, but we’re not going there right now) has written an Ultimate Guide to Twitter. Honestly, I clicked my Read It Later button and moved on because I didn’t want to dig into THAT right now. Turns out I didn’t need to worry. Twitter is apparently very simple, and apparently only understandable once you’ve tried it.

All Twitter is, is a web site where you create an account (easy) and then type in 140 characters or less, presumably in answer to the question “What are you doing?” Of course, the point of this is to hook up with friends. Now, some people out there have the kind of friends who would Alt-Tab over from Second Life to join Twitter, but my friends think Second Life is a more expensive version of games they stopped playing when they were 15 and figured out what it was you were supposed to do with girls if you actually got one. Which caused my first problem with Twitter.

If you spend most of your time IRL (In Real Life) it’s time for a vocabulary adjustment. IFL (In Fake Life) the word friend means everything from the guy who spent three nights in the county lockup without ever mentioning your name to someone you’ve never heard of before but you think their username is funny. Once you have this down, your first battle with understanding Twitter is over. Add anyone, and everyone, nobody cares.

The second thing you have to understand about Twitter is that what you type does not actually have to answer the question “What are you doing?” and it in no way has to be fascinating, funny, or clever. Non-sequiters, bad jokes, worthless puns, and down right prattle are all equally welcome on Twitter.

The third thing you have to understand is that despite it’s frequent mention you do not have to send Twitter stuff to your phone. This was a huge deal for me. I’m not in the back of Algebra class, I’m in front of the Executive Vice President of Operations for a Fortune 500 company (some days, not all the time). There is no way my phone is getting a text that says “Using the can” during the workday. Turns out you can just route it to a chat program. Hold on, you only think you don’t have a chat program. You do, you just don’t know it. If you have a Yahoo or Google login you have a chat program. Click the button and just open the window. Send your Twitter stuff there.

That’s it. Nothing to it. Is it fun? Well, the jury is still out on that for me, but everything I’ve read about it starts out “I didn’t get it, and now I love it.” So I guess you got to try it.

Go ahead and follow me. I’ll be your first “friend”. I’m BrianLlama.

Indeed, the BlogDesk program has three nice little tabs across the top of the area you type in your post to make your “more” and “excerpt”. I will have to say I very much prefer the MORE button in Live Writer. I allows you to come back after the fact and pick your more spot without any cutting and pasting. But, the Excerpt piece is there. On the other hand it looks like I have to go into the Wordpress admin interface anyway to set the “custom” value that lets my feature post image show up. I wonder if any of the offline tools have that functionality in them?

I’ve been using Windows Live Writer for my blogging.  Never did a big assessment or anything, I just kind of ended up with it. Now, I’m wondering if there is something better. This theme uses the “excerpt” field otherwise it just keeps the first x number of characters as the excerpt. I don’t see where to do the excerpt in Live Writer. I’ll check the help files, but I seem to remember being able to do something like that with BlogDesk.

Keep plugging away.