Noticed an odd issue last night. Let me preface this by saying I'm kinda green at setting up wireless- but learning fast. :D

My wife's Dell laptop would connect to my wireless SMC router and, though showing a solid connection, would not get access out to the 'net. During this time, we got a Wii for my son. First time I connected, it found the router, did it's first update, no problems.

Since that time, the weather channel intermittently doesn't get a connection, and the internet channel never EVER works (is that operational yet?). I tried channels 6,1, and 11 for broadcast.

I'm using MAC filtering, when the Wii works, it works with it on or off. WPA/TKIP, b+g.

The laptop hanging was resolved by defeating the MS 'wireless zero' configuration in the services menu, installing the Intel software to run the connection, and using that to control the wireless connection. Problem with intermittent 'hangs' was resolved. In addition, the bandwidth was improved.

OK, so last night she said that she couldn't connect. I fired the laptop up and sure enough, it wasn't connecting. As I watched the 'connecting' window on the laptop, I unplugged the Wii. The laptop connected immediately. I cannot leave the Wii plugged in while using the laptop.

Should this be happening?

No that should not be happening.

Just off the top of my head it sounds like an issue where the laptop is looking for a specific IP address (from your router) and the router has already given that address to the Wii. One way to test is to connect the laptop, then the Wii. If that works, then that might be the issue.

If that is the issue, you need to set your laptop to 'discover' it's IP address automatically using DHCP. I don't know how to do this on the intel software you are using but the gist is that no IP address or DNS server should be configured and it set to discover automatically.

Here are instructions for Windows XP:
http://www.more.net/technical/win/dhcp.html#xp

If that's not it, it could be anything.

Bluetooth can interfere with wireless, and shared wireless connections would result in a lower speed. But it should still work, you might want to try a different 'channel' on your router/access point.

I can't think of anyway for Nintendo to fix this, but you could call them for the hell of it.

I had a somewhat similar issue. My laptops (3 of them) all connected fine wirelessly as they have been for years. When I got the wii, it connected, did an update, then proceeded to be VERY unreliable for the next month. In fact, the internet portion of it has been nearly unusable, working for a few minutes, then stopping.

Last night my friend came by and mentioned that some people were having similar issues and that changing their wifi router to channel 1 or 11 (instead of 6) fixed the problem. I made the change and sure enough, it started working perfectly.

Give it a shot. Supposedly 1 and 11 are the only "real" channels for 802.11 and the rest of the channels in between are just spread across the two. Maybe having a "stronger" signal on one channel overcomes interference from the wii's bluetooth? I don't know, just wildly speculating.

-zb

Actually 802.11 has three "real" channels, they are 1, 6, and 11. The numbers are only representative of the center frequencies. They're "fat" so they occupy several "channel numbers". Two channel numbers with a difference of less than 5 will overlap each other.

I have this same issue... i thought it was the WPA encryption (as my pc kept asking for me to reenter it) but if its the channel.. i will have to test that..

Thanks for all the pointers. DHCP or no, I can't get this thing to coexist w/the laptop.

Changing the channel didn't help. On a random connection, I got the web browser to actually work but the transfer rate was horrifically slow for a 350KBPS DSL. The laptop is much quicker, if that matters.

Still no luck- I've tried everything. Manual configurations, etc. It always causes the laptop to drop.

It seems though, one thing might be something I can't fix.

The Wii manual says that the IP assigned to the Wii needs to be 'ten' apart from anything else. I cannot set increments to IP addresses on my router (SMC 2804WBRPG) so I don't know if something as stupid as this '10' increment is the cause. The router simply adds one to the IP for the next incoming connection.

The frustrating thing is knowing the hardware works and it's simple configuration.

Any last thoughts? To be honest, I'd rather waste the money on an ethernet USB for the Wii than another f'ing router.

There are so many things that could be wrong, it's like shooting rabbits with your eyes closed...

Anyway, have you tried checking to make sure that you don't have a limit set on the number of connecting devices to be 1? If you were ultra-secureanoid when you set up your wireless router, you might have thought "I only want my wife's laptop to use this"...

I didn't find the "ten apart" advice, so I can't comment on it other than it seems awfully weird--sorta like the advice we expect to get from a sys admin that's worried about job security (so he keeps everything broken!).

Finally, you could always check for firmware updates for your router (they don't always get it right the first time either...).

There are so many things that could be wrong, it's like shooting rabbits with your eyes closed...

Anyway, have you tried checking to make sure that you don't have a limit set on the number of connecting devices to be 1? If you were ultra-secureanoid when you set up your wireless router, you might have thought "I only want my wife's laptop to use this"...

I didn't find the "ten apart" advice, so I can't comment on it other than it seems awfully weird--sorta like the advice we expect to get from a sys admin that's worried about job security (so he keeps everything broken!).

Finally, you could always check for firmware updates for your router (they don't always get it right the first time either...).

I hear ya...this is a PIA!

Firmware was updated before I got the Wii. No limits on number of connecting devices; and turning off MAC filtering doesn't make a difference either.

Thanks again for all the help.

Are you useing ICS?That can cause a problem.Switch to another Port on your lap top.Sounds like the Wii and your laptop are on the same port.Most of the time its 80 or 8080.Or you might have to give the laptop another ip.I bet its just needs to switch to a differnt port.Use you internet browser to change settings in your router.You can try typeing in the gateway+port address in File\Inernet Options\Connections\Lan settings with IE.Do you have your internet connected to your router?What router do you have?If you are useing a proxie it 1080 for socks.

Couple of questions/ideas:

Can you go into the router management software and confirm that your Laptop and Wii have different IP addresses assigned?

Can other wireless devices simultaneously connect with no problem?

In the LAN IP Setup (or whatever it's called on your router) make sure you have "Use Router as DHCP Server" turned on and have set a sufficient IP address range (mine is 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.51).

As far as the "ten-apart" issue, for me, the Wii is using 192.168.0.8 which was the next available IP address assigned by the router.

Couple of questions/ideas:

Can you go into the router management software and confirm that your Laptop and Wii have different IP addresses assigned?

Can other wireless devices simultaneously connect with no problem?

In the LAN IP Setup (or whatever it's called on your router) make sure you have "Use Router as DHCP Server" turned on and have set a sufficient IP address range (mine is 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.51).

As far as the "ten-apart" issue, for me, the Wii is using 192.168.0.8 which was the next available IP address assigned by the router.

Yeah, different IPs. Not certain about other wireless; all I've got is my wife's laptop and the Wii. I'll look into that. DHCP is on. The range of available IPs is 192.168.2.100 to 192.168.2.220.

My lease time is 'forever'- maybe I oughta change that?

How about...
- Changing to to broadcast only in b, not b+g. The wii only does b. Things should work in mixed mode, but who knows?
- Change the network range to 192.168.1.xxx, not 2.xxx. I know, it's like the "ten apart" thing, but all the examples I've seen for the 192.168 private network use 1.xxx.
- Randomly change things until it works :)
- Put the question here on
http://forums.nintendo.com/nintendo/board?board.id=internet
or on one of the other related forums...

My lease time is 'forever'- maybe I oughta change that?

You can try to release and renew your lease for your laptop.

1. Make sure that the Wii is connected and running. Go to a command prompt in Windows on your laptop:
Click Start > Run then type in "cmd" (no quotes) and click "OK"

2. Type "ipconfig /release" (no quotes - leave a space between the "g" and the "/")

3. Type "ipconfig /renew" (no quotes - leave a space between the "g" and the "/")

How about...
- Changing to to broadcast only in b, not b+g. The wii only does b. Things should work in mixed mode, but who knows?

I thought the Wii needed mixed mode.

I'll run the router in mixed, the laptop on 'g', and the Wii will stay on 'b'.

I'll let ya know how that works.

No luck.

Before I call Nintendo, I'll try one last thing. An 18dBi panel antenna. :D

If I've still got connection issues then, it'll be something else to blame.

The laptop is set to 'g', the Wii uses 'b', the router is set to 'b+g'

OK, getting a very solid signal by the Wii with the 18dBi antenna...the Wii is not staying connected.

It'll get connected to the router when first doing the test (setting up Wireless connection) and it disconnects shortly thereafter.

Sounds to me like the problem is the Wii itself.

Anybody else observe this happening?