HomeBlogWindows XP and multiple wireless access points.

Windows XP and multiple wireless access points.

Published September 1, 2004
I ran into a problem the other day. I was asked to help set up a wireless network for a friend of mine and said sure and set aside an hour to help him out. Man, was my time estimation out!!! I thought it would be straight forward, but it turned out to be a major headache. The issue turned out to be as follows. He is in a building that has MULTIPLE wireless access points. Now, this in itself isn't an issue, but there was another network that had broadcast turned on. (I couldn't hard code his network card to only use the network at his home, as he needed access in the office, and he isn't computer literate enough to change the settings as he moved between locations. So he wanted the ability to read "broadcasting" networks) So we went with broadcast. The technical issue turned out as follows. Every 2 or 3 minutes, the laptop would log off his local network and read the other network in the building. After a few seconds, Windows would realize the second network connection wasn't as strong as the first one, and it would log off the second network and relogon to his real network. Now, if you're surfing, it isn't a major hassle, as it happens quite quickly, but tries transferring files across a network that drops its connection every couple of minutes. With win 2K this want an issue either as I could tell the OS what network I wanted it to use and that was that, but with XP, even though I specified a "preferred network", it didn't stop the issue. Any ideas or other solution out there??? I came up with the solution of setting the Wireless Zero Configuration to manual, and this worked as long as you didn't move the laptop. As soon as the laptop was moved, the network connection as lost. So it isnt a great solution. No better idea as how to handle this. Does anyone out there have any suggestions?
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posted by hunter on: Sep 14, 2007 09:22am

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