DSL Question

[Yellow Rose]

Earthlink is my new ISP, via DSL modem. I also have their wireless router and wireless adapter from Linksys, so my wife's PC can talk to the internet.

Both of our machines are Dell 4600 with Windows XP Home bundled software.

My PC works fine; however, hers does not recognize the driver software for the adapter. Interesting, the installation instructions for the adapter only mention W98, W2000 and WME with not mention at all of WXP.

What’s up?

 

[NSX-Racer]

Just a guess: Update the routers firmware. Sometimes they deliver these items with older software but you may find newer on the net. (please be aware that I have no clue of WinDOSe PCs as a Mac user )

 

[lemansnsx]

My PC works fine; however, hers does not recognize the driver software for the adapter. Interesting, the installation instructions for the adapter only mention W98, W2000 and WME with not mention at all of WXP.

What’s up?

Start here and select the model of your adapter to download the latest drivers. Post again if you need more help.

 

[D'Ecosse]

Which router & which card did you get Andy?
Lots of info on http://www.dslreports.com/forum/equip,16 - there are quite a few bugs with the Linky wireless units - especially the BEFW11S4 - it will disconnect frequently - there is a long-running thread on that one.
That is a great site in general - lots of info on different ISP's, hardware software etc - check around the various forums that take your interest; Great tools too, to measure your connection speed etc.
I just ditched DSL for Comcast cable - check this out .....

 

[Yellow Rose]

Wrong Adapter

Which router & which card did you get Andy?

The wireless router on my machine is Linksys BEFW11S4. I checked the threads in the above-mentioned forum, and mine does not exhibit any of the problems that are mentioned. In fact, no problems at all.

The error was that the adapter which EarthLink sent is not wireless - it is a type that hardwires into the router. For some reason, it also does not recognize Windows XP.

A wireless adapter Linksys WUSB11 has been ordered for my wife's machine. Hopefully, this will take care of everything and I will not have to pester you again.

Thanks all, for your suggestions.

 

[Yellow Rose]

It worked - got my wife's PC hooked up to the internet.

However, it loads URLs noticeably slower than mine, despite the adapter icon showing a signal strength of "Very Good" and a speed of 11.0 Mbps. Is the 11.0 Mbps the data transfer rate from the router to the adapter or is that internet connectivity speed of my wife's PC?

The PCs are on the same floor of the house, approximately 25' from each other, separated by two interior walls.

 

[D'Ecosse]

However, it loads URLs noticeably slower than mine, despite the adapter icon showing a signal strength of "Very Good" and a speed of 11.0 Mbps. Is the 11.0 Mbps the data transfer rate from the router to the adapter or is that internet connectivity speed of my wife's PC?

The 11 Mbps is between router & adapter - should be waaaay faster than your internet connection, regardless of its mode (dsl, cable, etc) You are probably at 1.0Mbps at best I would guess on dsl.
Do a "Speed Test" on each machine to get a true comparison using the utility on http://www.dslreports.com/tools - you may find you also have to "tweak" your wife's machine for best internet performance - there is also a "Tweak Test" at the tools section & guide for using/optimizing.
On my system the speeds are almost identical between the wired & wireless systems - ~3.35Mbps