Hi Chris,

Try this one, maybe it helps.
http://dandar3.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-choose-best-wi-fi-channel.html

I got a better channel, "good" most of the time and no connection drops, even under high CPU load. Hope you have the same experience. I've gone back on the "official" 6.4.6.8 driver.

Dan

Hi Dan!

Thanks for the links. I've tried the version you've found and it also seems to work a little bit better than the original one shipped with the R2H. But even after spotting the best channel the wifi stability is really ridiculous.

Now I'm going to face the problem "from another side" and install Vista. Some people here said that the card performs much better in this OS.

Another idea would be to exchange the wifi module ... it sounds a bit tricky but according to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=676590&native_or_pdf=pdf it looks like the wifi module isn't hardwired. Perhaps one could try to find a better wifi stick and remove its case and connector. But that's definitely too much for me ;-)

chris

Hi Chris,

What do you mean, getting a channel with better signal didn't help at all?! Or you mean ridiculous in a good way?! :-)

The signal showed "good" in Vista from the beginning, although I've had a problem now and then where the wireless network didn't show at all, I found that disabling the adapter and/or reinstalling the drivers may bring it back. I have both XP (installed SP3 RC fine) and I also have Vista on a separate partition, but I use it only for testing, I boot it every now and then to see what's new, updates etc.

The FCC shots look nice, planning to open it up someday and have a peek inside (mine just expired in November) but I don't think I'l go that far and change the stick - most "electronics" I've done was to hack my Xbox and install a moded fan :-) Maybe trying with a SD wi-fi card would be easier (http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/socket-sdio-wifi.php)...

Dan

Hi Dan!

No, I've meant that channel changing didn't do the trick for me and therefore the link quality in XP was extremely bad, compared to the wifi link on my Dell Notebook (Intel Pro Wireless) which stood right next to the R2H (Dell: ~90% signal strength, R2H: <15% strength with connection drops).

I know what you mean when you say that your wireless network didn't show up in Vista from time to time. After installing all drivers and ASUS applications in Vista, this also happens to me but the when it works, the connection is extremely stable (regardless of the CPU load) and the link quality is nearly as good as on my Dell machine! Now I'm absolutely satisfied with the wifi performance.

I'm not really sure what exactly makes the wifi driver hang from time to time but it really looks like it has something to do with ASUS' wireless console utility. Most of the time it works if wifi has been switched off when booting Vista and enabling it after the boot and login process has finished.

Disabling and enabling the device in the device manager sometimes causes blue screens :-(

chris

Hi Chris,

You have to do the channel searching a few times, as neighbouring networks become active. When I first tried there was one only one network around on channel 6, I chose 4, I got the "good" signal. Then last night I noticed the "low" again, poped up NetStumbler and there was both the one on the 6 and another one on 11, chose the 9 channel, happy times again. Obvsiouly to any one reading, the numbers may not apply to you so you have to find your own channel. Make sure you don't se the router to channel 13 and above, as the R2H driver doesn't support that, even if you are in Europe (there's no country selection on the driver properties tab).

On the other laptop next to R2H I have an Intel 2200BG as well and that one gets "excellent" signal all the time (router is upstairs), but I guess that's because Intel has better default "transmit power" and all, I think the Zydas has been set to a lower transmit power to less drain the battery.

I haven't installed the Asus wireless console on Vista (don't care about the wireless light), I use the Vista connection manager, the signal showed "good" from the start, even when it was "low" in XP. I don't know if the driver is actually better or they just look at things differently :-) Haven't used it that much to notice if the connection was more stable in Vista, except for the network dissappearing I didn't have much issues. Oh yeah, forgot about those, disabling the adapter through device manager causes blue screens, sorry about that :-)

Dan

 

Dan Dar3:

I use the Vista connection manager, the signal showed "good" from the start, even when it was "low" in XP. I don't know if the driver is actually better or they just look at things differently :-)

Vista by default turns on full-power for the wireless, which might account for your signal difference with XP.

frblckstr:

Vista by default turns on full-power for the wireless, which might account for your signal difference with XP.

That seems to be correct, just found this link to support your statement:
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2006/12/04/how-windows-vista-rtm-build-addresses-wireless-connectivity-issues.aspx

I wonder if there is a way to do the same in XP...

Dan Dar3:

I haven't installed the Asus wireless console on Vista (don't care about the wireless light), I use the Vista connection manager, the signal showed "good" from the start, even when it was "low" in XP. I don't know if the driver is actually better or they just look at things differently :-)

I would be really surprised if XP would be able to adjust the TX power on this chipset (which doesn't even support XP's power management features) ;-) It really looks like the driver doesn't fill a structure right or something like that.

Yes, disabling and re-enabling the device in Vista is a bad idea :-( It also crashes when you disable the underlying USB Root-Hub.

I also don't really need the wireless console but I haven't been able to switch the bluetooth device on without the console.

Greetings,
chris

Too bad cause I don't think we'll see a new wireless driver for XP...

Obiously not a Bluetooth user, but wouldn't enabling Bluetooth Personal Area Network in Network Connections do the same as the console app? The leds may be controlled by the console app rather than connected to the device or BIOS as in other laptops.

Yes, I'm also afraid there won't be any driver releases for Windows XP anymore. It's a pity because WinXP is quite useable on the R2H.

Switching the BT PAN interface on/off simply controls the virtual network interface but the underlying transmitter stays disabled. But I've figured out that the wireless button on top of the R2H can also be used to switch BT on. Just push it several times ;-)

I agree, I even like the UI layout better in XP than Vista on R2H, things are smaller in standard layout XP, Vista was designed with higher resolutions in mind. Imagine we couldn't build up enough pressure before Vista release, now is probably a bit too late. Anyway, you should try the channels again, mine seems to work fine on higher channels (I use 11 now, max) and it goes through two plaster walls.

You mean the wireless button does the job anyway in Vista? :-) May be the ATK drivers? Can't confirm, just broke my Vista after resizing partitions (0xc0000225 error).

Sorry to hear that...

Well, after doing some "intensive" tests with the wifi drivers under Vista I must admit that these drivers are also far from being stable :-(

I've encountered many BSODs and system hang-ups with the current .130 driver. They all seem to be related to either the wifi driver itself (athrusb.sys) or the underlying usb stack (usbd.sys).

It can't be *that difficult* to release a working driver for at least one Windows OS, can it?!

chris

hey chris,

thanks, I think I found a fix for the resize-boot issue, in case someone is interested, haven't tried it yet though. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-gparted-to-resize-your-windows-vista-partition/

Press on Asus Tech support, I know I will when I start using Vista. Have you tried Vista SP1 RC yet?

Dan

Hi Dan!

Glad to hear you've fixed that partition problem. I'm also going to repartition my drive soon in order to put Linux on the R2H ... so I'll bookmark your link.

No I haven't tried the SP1 RC yet but I'll try that next weekend. For now I'm just trying to discover the problem with those BSODs in conjunction with the wifi driver. As far as I can tell for now it has definitely (again) something to do with the link quality/strength. If I'm a few meters away from my AP and start transferring some data, Vista crashes after a minute or so. If I'm sitting next to the AP I haven't had a single bluescreen yet!

So I guess the wifi module just takes more electrical power when the signal strength is weak and perhaps the USB controller can't (is not told to) deliver more energy. Sounds strange, doesn't it?

Greetings,
chris

Hi Chris,

No, I haven't fixed my Vista yet, but the link was one of the few that looked like proper solutions. Planning to get a USB DVD-Writer soon (I've installed Vista directly from HDD) and I'll probably stick with Vista for a while unti RC1. I was planning to install Ubuntu as well, I have a friend that tried it and he claims the unit is lot cooler and the battery last longer and I must say Ubuntu doesn't look that bad, I'll give it a shot anyways.

Get your error code and submit it to the Tech Support I know I will next time I get it.

Dan