Windows 7 Networking disconnects periodically (Is the issue Windows 7, router, or media player?)

JTOUPS1214

New Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
I’ve been having networking issues, and I’m hoping someone can help.

Here is what I have: Gateway FX System with Windows 7, Cradle Point MBR-1000 Router (3G usb router), and Venice V38 media player (for music, movies, pics, vids, etc…)

I have a strong internet signal and I can access the internet with no issues at all. The problem is my networking going in and out while I transfer data from my computer to my media player, via the network. Network transfer is either very slow at times, or it will disconnect in the middle of a transfer of data. My media player is connected to my router using Ethernet cable, instead of the wireless dongle option that I have) – I did this to make sure I had a good connection. I do not think it’s my media player that has the issues. I had concerns about my router, but I did contact the support desk for my router. They had me make one change that may help (something called “Traffic Shaping”, which basically prioritizes applications) This did not seem to work though. Keep in mind my computer, router, and media player are all within 15ft of each other...

So my final thought is that something within the windows 7 settings have to be changed. Please let me know your thoughts . Thank you in advance!
 
You may check the website for your media player and see if there is a firmware update for it. Also make sure your NIC drivers are up to date. And see if there is a firmware update for your router...... Just a few things to check.
 
Thank you for the response!

My firware is up to date on both the router and media player, but I will definitely check the NIC to see if the driver is current.

Thank you for your time.
 
is your computer connected to the 3g router via ethernet or USB?

If its USB you may want to check for updates to your usb drivers.
 
My media player is connected to my router via ethernet, but my computer is wirelessly connected to my 3G router.

My air card is plugged into the 3G router's USB port.
 
No promises here but I ran into problems with large files (.avi and .iso, over 500mb). The network would disconnect or the
transfer would mysteriously stall half way through.

There is a registry fix you might try...
Start -> Run -> Regedit

Path in to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Set the "Size" parameter in the right pane to 3.
If it's not there create it as a DWORD value and set it to 3.

This solved the problem for me... I hope it works for you.
 
Commontater,
This is a new one to me.....I will DEFINITELY give this a try!! Keeping my fingers crossed. Appreciate the tip!

I will keep you posted after I try tonight.
 
No promises here but I ran into problems with large files (.avi and .iso, over 500mb). The network would disconnect or the
transfer would mysteriously stall half way through.

There is a registry fix you might try...
Start -> Run -> Regedit

Path in to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Set the "Size" parameter in the right pane to 3.
If it's not there create it as a DWORD value and set it to 3.

This solved the problem for me... I hope it works for you.


I did try this last night. Like you said, it tends to be with larger AVI files that I have this problem.

After changing these settings, I transferred a 4.67GB movie from my media player to my desktop in about 15min. (Successfully) - I did this transfer to get a movie over to my hard drive. But when I tried to transfer the movie back to my media player (like I will do in most cases) it failed after transferring for a few minutes.

I do have a friend with an identical setup. (windows 7, same router, and same media player) His speed is a little slower, but he transfers as much data as he wants with no problem.

The only difference is that I upgraded my Vista, to windows 7....so there may be a setting that is different (or some sort of driver issue)

Any more thoughts????
 
Hmmm... There might be driver issues or any number of other bits of strangeness because of the differences between "update install" and "clean install"... but there could be other reasons as well...

I think the first thing I'd do is get everything hooked up on known-good network cables. No wireless.
If things suddenly start working as they should you are one step closer to a solution... it's probably the wireless.
If they don't get better, at least you've got a spare network cable or 2 floating around.
 
Hmmm... There might be driver issues or any number of other bits of strangeness because of the differences between "update install" and "clean install"... but there could be other reasons as well...

I think the first thing I'd do is get everything hooked up on known-good network cables. No wireless.
If things suddenly start working as they should you are one step closer to a solution... it's probably the wireless.
If they don't get better, at least you've got a spare network cable or 2 floating around.


I will try that tonight! At least it might narrow down the issue a little further!
Thanks for the tip....
 
Excellent... Process of elimination...
Let me know how it goes...

Actually, an afterhought (I'm bad for this)... If things don't get better, you will know you still have the problem connected to your network which is also good information.
 
Excellent... Process of elimination...
Let me know how it goes...

Actually, an afterhought (I'm bad for this)... If things don't get better, you will know you still have the problem connected to your network which is also good information.


Well......Good news, and bad news!!

Good news: I connected directly to the router, and I was able to transfer 6GB worth of video back and forth with no problem!

Bad news: I still have a problem wirelessly. And I've already updated my wireless driver. Any solutions to a fix, because updating didn't work?

Thanks for helping me narrow down the problem!
 
Ok, I'm about to step in it... but it's for your own good :p

The FX is a desktop machine, ya?
If you have all this stuff within 15 feet, just leave it hard wired. It's 100X more secure, it's 10X more reliable ANNNND... it works. :)

I use Wireless for mobile devices only... my netbook, my kid's laptops (when they visit), one "smart phone" which doesn't impress me and the occasional guest in the house.

Everything else is hardwired. My machine, the HTPC, my smarter half, my son and the "family" machine in the basement all use CAT5. My internet connection is via DSL again through a hardware modem and CAT5...

I've done 300gb backup transfers between the HTPC and my WD Sleeve Drive with 0 errors, many times.

Seriously... wireless should be only for those situations where a wired connection is simply not available.

You probably should do more testing but I'm thinking you're likely getting some interference between the Air Dongle and the Router's Wifi signals.
 
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This is not a desktop I have....I'm have a laptop. And the way my set-up is, it's not possible to hard-wire my laptop to the router. I've attached a picture to show you. My media player is located at the bottom right, and the router is on top of it. My dishnetwork receiver and media player are hardwired to my router. I just sat my laptop on the floor last night and connected it in to do the testing....

IMG00411-20100806-0631.jpg[
 
Ahhh, I see... so you're on wireless internet and wireless networking... Makes me think about that "interference" problem I speculated on.

I think it's clear you have a WiFi connectivity issue... so lets see what we can do about that....

Is there anyone you can impose upon for a temporary connection to their wireless from your laptop?
Ideally you would want a situation where you could bounce a few gigs of files back and forth between your machine and theirs, multiple times, for testing... If that goes well then we suspect your router...

A couple of things to check in the mean time...

In the router setup ... is there a "CTS" or "Flow Control" option on the wireless setup? This should be on.
In your laptop ... in the adaptor settings "Flow Control" should be enabled for both RX and TX.
In your security settings on both ends you should be in WPA with AES encryption whenever possible.
(In my experience this is the most reliable setup)

And one last point... I noticed you have your router very close to your receiver...
It may help you to move it over into one of the doors on either side, as far from the receiver as possible.

But the real test will be to connect to someone else's lan and see if the reliability problems move with you.
 
Ahhh, I see... so you're on wireless internet and wireless networking... Makes me think about that "interference" problem I speculated on.

I think it's clear you have a WiFi connectivity issue... so lets see what we can do about that....

Is there anyone you can impose upon for a temporary connection to their wireless from your laptop?
Ideally you would want a situation where you could bounce a few gigs of files back and forth between your machine and theirs, multiple times, for testing... If that goes well then we suspect your router...

A couple of things to check in the mean time...

In the router setup ... is there a "CTS" or "Flow Control" option on the wireless setup? This should be on.
In your laptop ... in the adaptor settings "Flow Control" should be enabled for both RX and TX.
In your security settings on both ends you should be in WPA with AES encryption whenever possible.
(In my experience this is the most reliable setup)

And one last point... I noticed you have your router very close to your receiver...
It may help you to move it over into one of the doors on either side, as far from the receiver as possible.

But the real test will be to connect to someone else's lan and see if the reliability problems move with you.


The CTS or Flow control option sounds familiar, but I can't find it in the user manual:
Link Removed due to 404 Error

Also, if you look on page 67, would any of these settings cause the problem I am having?
(threshold, beacon period, etc...)

The friend of mine with the exact same setup as me, will come over this weekend. I will have him connect to my network and see if he can transfer back and forth from his laptop. That may narrow it down a little more....
 
Ok... to be fair... I'm not going to read your router manual and go through it page by page on a BBS... So please consider this a one-time event (Thanks).

That said, no I don't think there's anything on that page you need to worry about.
You may want to enable "Wireless Isolation" and "WMM" from the next page, however.

A couple of suggestions...

Your network name (SSID) and pass phrase (PSK) shold be as complex as you can bear. Do tricky stuff like using big words backwards... the harder it is to guess the less chance of someone interfering or breaking in. Avoid network names that invite curiosity... eg. "Private Network" is an open invitation to hackers... (Don't underestimate a neighbor's determination at trying to get free intenet access, especially near the end of the month when they've used up the quotas on their own.)

You should try turning down your beacon power. Find the lowest level you can comfortably use in your home. (Mine's at 25% on a D-Link router) This limits the number of people who can "see" your router.

I see your router supports "Hidden Wireless"... (page 28) and you should select "Invisible" mode. This reverses the handshaking so that unless you know the router is there, you won't see it on the networks list. This will require some changes in your Win7 wireless setup... I believe the checkbox is "Connect even if this node is not broadcasting" (or similar).

You should also enable Auto channel scan. This will allow the router and computer to automatically pick a channel with no other signals present which will greatly reduce interference from other routers in your area.

Aside from that, it's all about testing....
Let me know how you make out on a different router....
 
Ok... to be fair... I'm not going to read your router manual and go through it page by page on a BBS... So please consider this a one-time event (Thanks).

That said, no I don't think there's anything on that page you need to worry about.
You may want to enable "Wireless Isolation" and "WMM" from the next page, however.

A couple of suggestions...

Your network name (SSID) and pass phrase (PSK) shold be as complex as you can bear. Do tricky stuff like using big words backwards... the harder it is to guess the less chance of someone interfering or breaking in. Avoid network names that invite curiosity... eg. "Private Network" is an open invitation to hackers... (Don't underestimate a neighbor's determination at trying to get free intenet access, especially near the end of the month when they've used up the quotas on their own.)

You should try turning down your beacon power. Find the lowest level you can comfortably use in your home. (Mine's at 25% on a D-Link router) This limits the number of people who can "see" your router.

I see your router supports "Hidden Wireless"... (page 28) and you should select "Invisible" mode. This reverses the handshaking so that unless you know the router is there, you won't see it on the networks list. This will require some changes in your Win7 wireless setup... I believe the checkbox is "Connect even if this node is not broadcasting" (or similar).

You should also enable Auto channel scan. This will allow the router and computer to automatically pick a channel with no other signals present which will greatly reduce interference from other routers in your area.

Aside from that, it's all about testing....
Let me know how you make out on a different router....

Thank you for taking the time to look into the manual!!

I see most if these suggestions are security issues. Would any of this be a cause of my networking problem? I'm just asking because I have my security disabled on my router. I live on private land with only family nearby. The closest neighbors are over a mile away.
 
Yes this could be a security or interference issue... It's hard to tell which.

People actually do drive around looking for wireless signals to probe. When they find an unsecured one, well, all kinds of stuff goes on.

Check this out... http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html Some guys are saying they get better than a mile range out of it.

One of the latest tricks on wholly unsecured systems (No passwords, group shares, etc.) is called "Planting"... Essentially what they do is create hidden folders on your system, install a mini-ftp server, fill them up with porn or other illegal stuff, then tell all their friends where to find it. You end up running a server... one that's about to land you in jail.

My wirless "crashes" from time to time. I live near an apartment building where it seems every other tenant has a wireless setup (40 at last count) and every so often we get collisions. Somebody sets theirs on the channel I'm using (because they can't see my router) and down it goes... Of course their's goes for a crap too, they can't figure out why, and they do a reset, letting me get back to business.

Interference wise, all kinds of stuff can mess up a wireless signal... My son gave us a microwave that ended up in storage because every time we turned it on the wireless would shut down. Ham radio operators, CBers, TV/Radio broadcasters... passing cop cars... anything generating an RF signal can do it... Including your dishnet receiver!

Anyhow... let me know how your testing goes.... Then we'll decide what to try next.
 
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Yes this could be a security or interference issue... It's hard to tell which.

People actually do drive around looking for wireless signals to probe. When they find an unsecured one, well, all kinds of stuff goes on.

Check this out... How to build a tin can waveguide antenna Some guys are saying they get better than a mile range out of it.

One of the latest tricks on wholly unsecured systems (No passwords, group shares, etc.) is called "Planting"... Essentially what they do is create hidden folders on your system, install a mini-ftp server, fill them up with porn or other illegal stuff, then tell all their friends where to find it. You end up running a server... one that's about to land you in jail.

My wirless "crashes" from time to time. I live near an apartment building where it seems every other tenant has a wireless setup (40 at last count) and every so often we get collisions. Somebody sets theirs on the channel I'm using (because they can't see my router) and down it goes... Of course their's goes for a crap too, they can't figure out why, and they do a reset, letting me get back to business.

Interference wise, all kinds of stuff can mess up a wireless signal... My son gave us a microwave that ended up in storage because every time we turned it on the wireless would shut down. Ham radio operators, CBers, TV/Radio broadcasters... passing cop cars... anything generating an RF signal can do it... Including your dishnet receiver!

Anyhow... let me know how your testing goes.... Then we'll decide what to try next.

Oh ok, I see what you are saying!!

Another thing I can try is to unplug my dishnetwork receiver completely. I know there is an IR antenna on it that transmitts signal to my second remote.
 
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