From: Peggy on
I hope this is in the right forum. I'm having a problem with a laptop
staying connected over wireless to databases on 2 servers, one SBS, one
Windows 2003. In both cases, the user is running Access 2002 as the front end
to input data into the database (one SQL, one Access). Sometimes it works,
but sometimes there is a momentary loss of connection, and when trying to
save the record, the user gets an error message and all input from the last
save is lost. We've tested the wireless connection by streaming video while
walking throughout the facility, and not had a problem, but the connection to
these 2 databases keeps getting lost. The laptop is a Toshiba running Windows
XP Pro as a client on the SBS domain. Thanks for any suggestions.
From: Lem on
Peggy wrote:
> I hope this is in the right forum. I'm having a problem with a laptop
> staying connected over wireless to databases on 2 servers, one SBS, one
> Windows 2003. In both cases, the user is running Access 2002 as the front end
> to input data into the database (one SQL, one Access). Sometimes it works,
> but sometimes there is a momentary loss of connection, and when trying to
> save the record, the user gets an error message and all input from the last
> save is lost. We've tested the wireless connection by streaming video while
> walking throughout the facility, and not had a problem, but the connection to
> these 2 databases keeps getting lost. The laptop is a Toshiba running Windows
> XP Pro as a client on the SBS domain. Thanks for any suggestions.

Considering that streaming video is buffered, it isn't such a great tool
for finding momentary dropouts.

If the problem only occurs with one particular laptop, that suggests a
problem with that laptop, probably with its wifi adapter and/or wifi
antenna.

For a simple test, install an external wifi adapter on the problem
laptop, disable its on-board wifi adapter, and see if the problem is
repeatable.

For more definitive testing, you need a more professional wifi testing
tool, such as AirMagnet's wifi analyzer
http://www.airmagnet.com/products/wifi_analyzer/ or Fluke's AnalyzeAir
http://www.flukenetworks.com/fnet/en-us/products/AnalyzeAir/Overview.htm

Or, if you don't want to spend $$$, see if this search helps
any:http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=wifi+spectrum+analyzer+software&aq=1&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=wifi+spectrum+&gs_rfai=&fp=bcdf8cbbf06dc4f

--
Lem

Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/index.html
From: Peggy on
Thanks, I will follow up on these suggestions.

"Lem" wrote:

> Peggy wrote:
> > I hope this is in the right forum. I'm having a problem with a laptop
> > staying connected over wireless to databases on 2 servers, one SBS, one
> > Windows 2003. In both cases, the user is running Access 2002 as the front end
> > to input data into the database (one SQL, one Access). Sometimes it works,
> > but sometimes there is a momentary loss of connection, and when trying to
> > save the record, the user gets an error message and all input from the last
> > save is lost. We've tested the wireless connection by streaming video while
> > walking throughout the facility, and not had a problem, but the connection to
> > these 2 databases keeps getting lost. The laptop is a Toshiba running Windows
> > XP Pro as a client on the SBS domain. Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Considering that streaming video is buffered, it isn't such a great tool
> for finding momentary dropouts.
>
> If the problem only occurs with one particular laptop, that suggests a
> problem with that laptop, probably with its wifi adapter and/or wifi
> antenna.
>
> For a simple test, install an external wifi adapter on the problem
> laptop, disable its on-board wifi adapter, and see if the problem is
> repeatable.
>
> For more definitive testing, you need a more professional wifi testing
> tool, such as AirMagnet's wifi analyzer
> http://www.airmagnet.com/products/wifi_analyzer/ or Fluke's AnalyzeAir
> http://www.flukenetworks.com/fnet/en-us/products/AnalyzeAir/Overview.htm
>
> Or, if you don't want to spend $$$, see if this search helps
> any:http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=wifi+spectrum+analyzer+software&aq=1&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=wifi+spectrum+&gs_rfai=&fp=bcdf8cbbf06dc4f
>
> --
> Lem
>
> Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/index.html
> .
>