Alternative to Intel PROSet?

Correction:

"Incidently, she finds the Intel PROSet connection applet not that great to use" :-)

So don't use it. Install the latest Intel drivers and use the WinXP(*) WPA supplicant.

(*) I can only assume because you didn't tell us that she's running XP.

OK, but what is this? A free connection manager from MS?

Thx.

Vincent Delporte hath wroth:

Hardware version number of the WRT54GS router? It's on the serial number tag. If it's a WRT54GS version 5 hardware, make absolutely sure it's the latest firmware (which still doesn't work quite right).

I just went through a similar exercise on a Netgear WPN824 wireless router. They just couldn't get WPA2-PSK to work with 3 different laptops all using Netgear products and drivers. It was 3 versions of firmware behind. An update solved the problem. It also solved a really crappy thruput problem with high latency (Direcway) connections.

Good. Can she find the version of Proset she's using? 10.1.1.3 is the current version. It's well worth the monsterous 80Mbyte download. Much better control over everything and in my opinion, probably the best wireless client around.

Use WPA-PSK TKIP and not WPA2-PSK AES. Linksys calls this WPA Personal and WPA2 Personal. WPA2 has better encryption and authentication, but I keep running into bugs and glitches. WPA-PSK seems "good enough". Do not bother with WEP as it's not particularly secure.

No. Proset works just fine with everything I've ever tried. However, the Proset 9.x stuff was a bit glitchy. There were no connection problems that I know about, but it did have the nasty habit of dropping in speed in the presence of interference, and never recovering.

If you must look of an alternative, there's a check box somewhere that mumbles "Let Windoze manage the wirless network". That activates Wireless Zero Config, which might work. I much prefer Proset to WZC and suggest you continue trying to make it work before resorting to WZC.

Dunno. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. I suppose such a group would only about their certification efforts. There are also many different types of wireless connectivity discussed besides Wi-Fi. The world is not all Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g) based. However, the real reason is creating a new group under the comp.* newsgroups requires an ordeal process with discussions and votes. I was once involved in a reorganization of the SCO Unix newsgroups. It took about 2 years. Under the alt.*, you just newgroup it and convince your usenet news provider to add the group to its feed. Much easier and faster.

I'm using an Intel 2200BG w/ WRT54G v2 router. I currently use WPA2 Personal w/ TKIP+AES, without any issues. Check the Authentication Type in the router's admin area, and try AUTO as opposed to SHARED KEY.

-phil

It's the one that's built into WinDoze XP, though maybe only SP2 and better? Configure the PROset app to let WinDoze run the connection for you.

Is anyone else getting a broken link there and a "no longer available for download" when picking Wireless and 2200BG, or is it just because I'm out the "the" country?

Thx, I'll check it out, in addition to the firmware version on the Linksys and the PROSet applet.

William P.N. Smith hath wroth:

Works for me. I had to go through about 3 pages after the above URL, but it eventually started the download. I think the downloaded file is fully localized and should have all the regulatory areas. Maybe try one of the international Intel web piles? Nope. I just tried the UK site and the Proset downloads page ended up exactly the same. I'm in the Peoples Republic of Santa Cruz California. Is Homeland Security watching your downloads? Maybe they're causing the broken link?

Tried it again an hour or so later and it works. Gotta love those computers! 8*)

Thx for the tip. It's a WRT54GS (not G), version 4 (Linux, I gather). I'll see if upgrading to Intel PROSet and using WPA/WPA2 Personal works.