Internet Connection Being Dropped

Question

Hello everyone   Inspiron 8600 XP SP2 fully patched Dell True Mobile   My daughter (from UK) is in Australia on holiday and is having a problem with her internet connection. She is using a chatroom to speak to us here in the UK   When she first boots up using the wireless connection in the chatroom the machine detects 2 wireless networks, a private network and the chatroom. She can connect to the chatroom, signal is very good. The internet is incredibly slow and will not open a second tab in IE7.  It struggles to send a plain text email and an attachment is out of the question. She has noticed that others around her do not seem to have this problem.   After 30mins or so the machine starts dropping the connection.  Occasionally a reboot will allow her to connect again but it does not last any time at all.  Very often the only network discovered is the private one (it is always there) and a refresh does not discover the chatroom. The next day when she goes back she can connect again and it will work for the same amount of time before dropping the connection.   It is not easy to troubleshoot this by phone. I have checked that Network Adapter/Power Management 'Allow the computer to turn off the device' is not checked   I am wondering about Wireless Zero Configuration Service.  It is set to 'Automatic' Could this be causing the problem?  I think it is needed to discover wireless networks.  Is this correct?   XP itself is running as fast as usual, it is just the internet which is struggling to open a page at all. Wireless was working fine here before she left.   Any suggestions will be most gratefully received.  Please bear in mind that I will have to do this by phone and my daughter does not know her way around XP very well.   Thank you all very much

MRF4700 · Answer

Have you looked into the possibility that the wireless channel used in Australia may be out of the range of your daughter's internal wireless card for her laptop?

dunedin · Answer

Thanks for your reply MRF4700   I did consider that, but dismissed it since it does actually work for a while every time she accesses the network.    I`m still leaning towards the Wireless Zero Configuration Service as being the culprit.  Do you think it could be it?

MRF4700 · Answer

Which wireless utility is managing her wireless connection?(Dell or WZC)

dunedin · Answer

That`s a very good question and I wish I knew the answer.   I have wondered myself, but I did not think to check that before she left.

MRF4700 · Answer

You can have one, or the other running but, not both. It creates conflicts which may manifest themselves into the symptoms she's experiencing...

dunedin · Answer

I see how that could be the case.  Can you remind me how to check both of them please.  This area is not my strong point.   Thanks

MRF4700 · Answer

Follow guidelines here?

MRF4700 · Answer

Ohhhhhhhh, probably about as difficult as doing it via e-mail...wouldn't you agree?

MRF4700 · Answer

Also, does your daughter have any third party software firewalls installed on her laptop?(Norton Internet Security, McAfee Security Suite, Trend Micro PC-cillin, etc.)

dunedin · Answer

She has Zone Alarm free

dunedin · Answer

Oh yes :smileyhappy:

MRF4700 · Answer

I'm not that familiar with Zone Alarm. Is it an internet security program or anti-virus? If it's Internet security, she may need to configure it for internet access with each new network she accesses while on holiday...

dunedin · Answer

It is solely a firewall.   I`ll try to check if it is blocking the network.  It is not easy doing these things by phone especially if you are not running the software yourself.   Thanks again for your help

dunedin · Answer

Thanks very much MRF4700   I`ll do that with her first chance I get

MRF4700 · Answer

Your welcome, glad it helped!

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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