Questions tagged [wireless-networking]
Also known as WiFi. This tag should be used when asking home WiFi networking questions or connecting your personal computer to a public network. Questions about enterprise or corporate wireless networks are off topic.
1,000
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How can I get the same SSID for multiple access points?
I need to upgrade my existing wireless infrastructure and this time I want 2 access points to cover my house, since I get blind spots no matter what with a single AP. I have physical cabling to my ...
51
votes
7
answers
171k
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Merging two incoming broadband lines for faster Internet
We have a broadband line coming into our building which delivers around 8-10Mbps, which is okay but not great. Fiber is available in our area (30-100Mbps) but it's not available where we are just yet. ...
12
votes
4
answers
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Unable to access outside service from inside LAN
I have a weird port forwarding problem. I tried to open my port 22 to the outside network. I was able to access it as long as I am not inside the LAN. I can access it from my office for example. But ...
66
votes
4
answers
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How to launch a command on network connection/disconnection?
I have a wifi connection that requires to authenticate using a web form once the wireless link is established.
I know how to automate the authentication with a script that uses curl/curlIE.
But how ...
20
votes
1
answer
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Network devices getting an IP address in the 169.254.x.x range?
I'm totally confused by what's happening to my wifi router, so seeking help here.
Configuration
I have a modem/wifi router (Netgear CG3000D—let's call it main) connected to cable and configured with ...
140
votes
4
answers
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How does Windows know whether it has internet access or if a Wi-Fi connection requires in-browser authentication?
In Windows 7, the notification area networking icon will show an error indicator if there is no internet access , and the error icon goes away once there is a successful connection to the internet . ...
31
votes
2
answers
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Difference between Ethernet splitter and switch
I have one Ethernet port that is wired directly to the router on another level. However, I want to run a desktop and a server both off this one Ethernet port. Can anyone tell me the difference ...
10
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8
answers
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Which methods help to improve wireless signal?
My router is in my family room, and there's not much I can do to move it, it's in the corner of the house. My room and computer is upstairs and I only get a signal strength of about 17 percent while ...
15
votes
6
answers
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A good solution to switch between different network settings?
I use my laptop (Windows Vista Ultimate) to connect to a wireless network in college, which assigns a dynamic IP address, and at home, with a static IP address and DNS server.
I'm looking for a good ...
130
votes
8
answers
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Is it better to use a crowded 2.4GHz Wi-Fi channel 1, 6, 11 or "unused" 3, 4, 8, or 9?
I understand that 2.4GHz Wi-Fi channels overlap, and that the most popular non-overlapping set of channels in the US is 1, 6, and 11. Generally, my signal strength on channels 1, 6, and 11 are much ...
119
votes
10
answers
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Make Windows 7 ignore WiFi when ethernet is available
When I dock my Windows 7 laptop, I want it to prefer the wired ethernet connection over WiFi.
This is a pretty straightforward thing to do on my Mac - I just reorder my network preferences, and it "...
26
votes
3
answers
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How to monitor bandwidth use of each device on wifi network
I have in my home a standard Comcast cable internet connection. I have it going from the wall to a cable modem, and from the modem to a late-series Linksys router, which provides wired and wireless ...
47
votes
6
answers
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How does Windows 7 decide which route to take if 2 connections to an internet source exist? (e.g. a Wireless and an Ethernet one to a router)
How does Windows 7 decide which route to take if 2 connections to the Internet exist? (e.g. wireless versus wired)
24
votes
4
answers
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Using two wireless NICs at the same time on Windows 10 desktop PC
I have read similar questions in the past (i.e. How do I use my dual band Wi-Fi card to connect to 5GHz and 2.4GHz simultaneously on Windows? and Connect multiple WiFi networks simultaneously), ...
273
votes
12
answers
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Why does my microwave kill the Wi-Fi?
Every time I start the microwave in the kitchen, our home Wi-Fi stops working and all devices lose connection with our router! The kitchen and the Wi-Fi router are in opposite ends of the apartment ...
43
votes
2
answers
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What's the maximum actual bit rate of an 802.11g connection?
Using a wired connection, I get a 38 Mbit/s download speed. When I switch to wireless one (Linksys WRT54GL router with Tomato firmware), the speed drops to 23 Mbit/s even if the distance between the ...
41
votes
10
answers
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Ping works fine, but no Internet connection in browser
Without having changed any settings, I can't access the Internet anymore through my laptop running Windows 10. Every browser tells me the connection has timed out. I can connect to the router and ...
20
votes
3
answers
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How to give preference over one network connection over another?
Like most laptops, it has both ethernet and wireless networking options. Likewise, I have a wireless router with 10/100/1000 Mbs. 90% of the time, wireless speeds suffice. But once in a while, I ...
8
votes
2
answers
8k
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Hotel like Wifi manager
Does anyone knows which are these systems that manages paid wifi networks and some hotels and airports?
Even better, would anyone know a open/free project that would do or could be adapted to that ...
8
votes
1
answer
4k
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Automatically picking network settings based on the wifi network [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
A good solution to switch between different network settings?
Whenever I bring my laptop to office, to connect to the wireless network, I have to set the static IP address ...
1
vote
1
answer
3k
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Creating a custom domain on my Wi-Fi network with a Windows computer and Apache
I have a router and a laptop. On my laptop I have installed WAMP which includes Apache. I have configured Apache to grant access over intranet. Using IP address I can access the server from any other ...
64
votes
3
answers
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Does a wireless-N (802.11n) network have poor performance when in b/g "mixed" mode?
It seems to be an "old" wives tale that, when using a wireless-N router in "mixed mode" to support legacy 802.11b or 802.11g devices, the performance of 802.11n clients will suffer....
40
votes
14
answers
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Windows 10 Wi-Fi issue: "Can't connect to this network"
A little background - I have a Lenovo G50 which was running Windows 8.1 up until a few months back. Then came along the free upgrade to Windows 10. Microsoft updated the laptop OS to Windows&...
22
votes
9
answers
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Connect to Wi-Fi access point with specific MAC address
I can see several (5+) Wi-Fi access points with the same SSID, but different MAC addresses (using InSSIDer). However, my Windows 7 laptop always keeps connecting to one of the APs, and I suspect it's ...
22
votes
2
answers
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Windows 10: Phones appearing in Network
Yesterday, Network listing on Windows 10 file explorer showed me one external phone. Thus, I changed my router WiFi password just in case.
Nevertheless, I checked this today and I found 5 new phones ...
21
votes
4
answers
72k
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Tethering on Windows 7?
Is there an option in Windows 7 (or 3rd party) to offer Tethering (that is, act as a WiFi hotspot while being connected to a WiFi network?)
18
votes
5
answers
37k
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Wired to wireless bridge in Linux
I am attempting to set up my Raspberry Pi as a bridge, using Debian wheezy. I have a hostapd.conf: (some details changed for security, and yes, I know WEP is no good)...
interface=wlan0
bridge=br0
...
14
votes
3
answers
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Is the wifi password stored somewhere in windows-7? [duplicate]
One of my friend connected me to the wifi in our area . Now my computer automatically connects to that wifi. I don't need to enter the password. I wanted to browse internet using my android phone. ...
13
votes
5
answers
11k
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Automatically prefer Ethernet over WLAN
Is is possible to force IP connections over the wired ethernet if it is connected and over wireless LAN if the wired ethernet is unavailabe (e.g. cable disconnected). Both network connections would be ...
7
votes
2
answers
8k
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USB WiFi dongle device that can emulate a virtual mass storage device for a home video player
Is there a USB WiFi dongle device that can:
Emulate a virtual mass storage device for a home video player
But in fact shows the files from a network-shared folder?
2
votes
2
answers
2k
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How can I open different browsers' windows with different network adapters?
I am trying to test a Wi-Fi network and I need to have the possibility to open different windows of Chrome or Firefox with a specific network adapter (for example, I have two Wi-Fi network adapters – ...
2
votes
1
answer
834
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Sluggish smart-home wireless devices
I have a question.
I have been experiencing delays when controlling my smart-home devices when everyone is home and using the internet. The internet is not slow, (300Mbps) but I think the one router ...
165
votes
2
answers
95k
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What is a "Magic Packet" for waking a computer?
My wireless adapter (Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260) has two settings in Device Manager which I cannot explain.
Wake on Magic Packet
Wake on Pattern Match
After a bit of research, I found this ...
35
votes
3
answers
171k
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Laptop wireless networking options: 1x1 vs 2x2
I am currently customizing a Lenovo Thinkpad.
Under the section "Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters" there are two options.
Default: ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n
Upgraded: ThinkPad 2x2 a/b/g/n (+$10 AUD)
...
31
votes
3
answers
98k
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Use Windows 10 wifi hotspot with no internet connection
I'm trying to play a video game with my friends that requires a local wifi network that allows UDP broadcasts. The dorm wifi doesn't allow UDP broadcasts, so I'm trying to set up my laptop as a ...
27
votes
5
answers
71k
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How to take advantage of two Internet connections (WiFi / Wired)?
I have two separate internet connections, one through WiFi and other Wired.
However, generally I have observed that Windows try to use only one ( mostly faster one/ Or Wired by preference - I am not ...
24
votes
7
answers
14k
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How to extend Wi-Fi signal across rooms?
I moved into a new place and my old Wi-Fi router just doesn't have the range to get into all the rooms. I've been investigating a lot of options and I'm wondering what other folks have done here. ...
23
votes
3
answers
19k
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Should uploading a file on DSL kill the download speed?
I have the 20,127/893 Kbps service through CenturyLink DSL. I've ran speed test and it typically reports speeds close to that.
Except whenever I upload something substantial. Like a video file to ...
22
votes
8
answers
50k
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Force refresh (re-scan) wireless networks from command line?
How can I force Windows to re-scan for available wireless networks from the command line?
(i.e. I'm looking for the command-line equivalent of pressing F5 on the GUI.)
17
votes
4
answers
33k
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When concurrently connected to wired and wireless ensure Windows 7 uses wired connection
When I am at my desk and my laptop is in its docking station I want to ensure that it uses its wired connection and not my wireless network. I am hoping/guessing that the preference in connection is ...
16
votes
3
answers
20k
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Can a Linux machine act as both a wireless client and access point simultaneously using a single physical WLAN interface?
If I have only 1 physical WLAN interface, is there some hackery that can be done so that it can be a client of an existing access point and at the same time also act as an access point for other ...
15
votes
3
answers
70k
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How to get a stored WLAN "password" from Windows 7?
I'm trying to connect to my friends wireless network, but we don't know the password (ie. network/WEP/WPA key). The WLAN is secured by WPA2.
My friend's laptop with Windows 7 connects automatically ...
11
votes
4
answers
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How to get assigned IPs by hostednetwork?
I just started using Microsoft Virtual WiFi or hostednetwork from Command Prompt to share my internet connection through my WiFi adapter and it's good so far! The only issue I face however is that I ...
10
votes
4
answers
2k
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How to network two locations through 130m of trees
I want to network two locations. Their physical distance is around 130m (418 feet) and it is covered with trees. The target link speed should be at least 10Mbit.
I have considered using UTP but its ...
7
votes
2
answers
48k
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What are the best WiFi settings for my situation?
I am trying to tweak my WiFi settings on the router and on my laptop so I can enjoy using the WiFi at my attic. For now I only get headaches because I cannot move freely around with my laptop at the ...
7
votes
4
answers
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What's the best way to increase the range of my 802.11g router?
I have cable broadband, and as such the router has to be attached to a cable modem which also has to connect to the TV. That means the router is stuck in the corner of my house.
This is good when I'm ...
237
votes
15
answers
576k
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Does it make sense to keep different SSIDs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless networks?
My router can have different SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 GHz and I'm not sure if it's better to have the same SSID or not.
Initially I put the same network but I got confused when the MacBook Pro displayed ...
159
votes
10
answers
25k
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Is it really possible for most enthusiasts to crack people's Wi-Fi networks?
Can most enthusiastic users (even if they are not professionals) use well-known techniques to break through the average home router's security?
Some basic security options are:
strong network ...
21
votes
2
answers
21k
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How to run a program when connecting to a specific network in Windows 7
I want to have an executable run every time I connect to my wireless network at home. The purpose is to sync a folder on my laptop with my desktop machine.
Is there any way run a program or script ...
19
votes
2
answers
12k
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How to keep Windows 10 connected to wifi without internet?
I have a Wifi AP without internet access that allows me to access some devices at home. I want my Windows 10 to keep connected to that wifi network, but once Windows detects there is no internet, it ...