Wireless Problem

[Rickem]

After several months of problems and many many failed "fixes" I've decided I need help with my wireless problem.

The wireless network is set up like this: the phone line goes into the modem/wireless router (previously into a modem then from the modem to the wireless router). The wireless router is connected via LAN cable to a XP Home desktop. There are also several laptops which connect to the router wirelessly. 2 dell laptops, both with xp, connect to the router without any problems.

But my Compaq Presario laptop will connect to the modem, and not always work. The network status says that the laptop is connected to the router and that it has internet access, whether the internet is actually working or not. Once connected to the router, the internet will work (either downloading a file or surfing) for about 75-90 seconds, then it stops (the Vista sidebar wireless monitor register ZERO bytes being received) for about 10-20 seconds before the page continues to load/download continues. Eventually the connection stops working altogether, even though the wireless card says that it's still connected to the router and the internet. On the laptop I've tried disabling the wireless and reconnecting, restarting the computer, used the diagnose and repair feature, but nothing short of restarting the router will restore my internet access, and even then it still disconnects and reconnects every 90 seconds.

Various fixes I've tried for the laptop include updating the wireless driver, rolling back to older drivers, installing all the windows vista updates, wiping the hard drive and restoring it to factory settings, disabling power saving, enabling broader computability features, disabling IPv6, disabling the firewalls and a few others I can't remember. I even tried creating a dual-boot system with XP/Vista but I couldn't find any XP drivers for most of the hardware on my laptop and the wireless wouldn't work.

Some of the fixes I've tried on the router are updating the firmware, using older firmware, I've even replaced the router (replaced a belkin wireless router connected to a netcomm modem with a NetGear router/modem combination) and still can't seem to fix the problem.

The strange thing is that when I use my Three Wireless Broadband modem, the internet works flawlessly and I seem to have no problems.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I might be able to fix this, then your help would be greatly appreciated.