Keep losing connection

[#1]

Here is a summary of my problem, which has been occurring since 22 November. I really hope someone on here can help me.
My first router was D-Link, I had no problems with it and  always had a connection
It died and Madasafish sent me a new router which is a Thomson TG585v7, and set up finstructions from Plusnet .
I managed to set it up and enter all the passwords, and the green lights on the router are all active.
The computer tells me I have a wireless connection and the signal strength is excellent.
I am having continual problems with browsing, this has been happening every day since I set it up. (over a month now)
The connection will last approx  5 –10 minutes, sometimes longer, then I get 'page not found'.  When I check I find the speed has dropped  to 1 mbps. I have discovered that I can usually get it working again by clicking on 'repair' where the router is disconnected, then reconnected and a new IP address is assigned. I ahve to do this MANY  times during a browsing session.
I will frequently get a message saying 'windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed - renewing your IP address' sometimes it can take up to 30 minutes to get connected again. As you can imagine this is VERY frustrating
I have followed the ISP advice about changing the channel, this has made no difference at all.
Consistently every 5-15 minutes I get disconnected with various error messages - including 'unable to find a certificate to log you on'
' limited or no connectivity' 'can't find an IP address' and then when I do manage to connect, it's pot luck how long it lasts for.
Nothing has changed in my set-up apart from the router.
So is it possible that there may be a fault with the router box itself? 
Please can anyone advise what the problem might be.

[#2]

Hi Annie,
Well your connection logs don't seem to show anything drastically wrong, there are one or two drops but this might be yourself rebooting the router.
Is there any way you could test the connection using a wire from the router to the PC, in order to eliminate the wireless as a possible cause? Whatever the result we'll be able to take it further once we know that.

[#3]

Thanks Matt, I'll give it a try when I get home.

[#4]

Sorry for the delay, I hunted high and low for my Ethernet cable but I don't know where I put it (Christmas tidy up ) so I had to go out and buy a new one.
That works perfectly, the speed is brilliant and I was connected for an hour with no dropped connections at  all. If it wasn't for the pain of having to be connected up with the lead I would be very happy to stay like that.
So it looks like a problem with the wirelss signal from the router. It's so frustrating when it can't find an IP address for ages.
Any ideas? Is it a faulty box?

[#5]

Have you got a DECT cordless phone? If so is the base station near the router?

[#6]

That's definitely the wireless, though as Jelv says a DECT (wireless) phone could well be interfering with the signal - if it does turn out to be that (move the phone base station away from the router to see if the connection improves) then there are things we could try to fix it though in the interests of not complicating things we'll look at that should it be the cause (and the base station absolutely has to sit near the router).
If it's not that, and the laptop wireless works fine on other routers, then let us know and we'll be able to get you a replacement out.

[#7]

Hello, thanks for your help.
No, I don't have a wireless phone, just a normal one.
And the wireless signal worked fine on my previous router.
Annie

[#8]

Quote

And the wireless signal worked fine on my previous router.

It could be that your old router was using a different wireless channel and that other people in your area are using the same channel that your new router is using and that is causing interference with yours. A simple approach would be to change the channel on your router, try channels 1,6 or 11 as they are the only non overlapping channels, and see if it improves the situation. The more complex approach is the use a wireless scanning utility like netstumbler or kismet on your pc to see what other wireless networks are in the vicinity and then choose an appropriate channel for yours.
If that doesn't improve matters then it could of course be a fault on the wireless part of the router.
 

[#9]

Quote from: AnnieD

I have followed the ISP advice about changing the channel, this has made no difference at all.

[#10]

Quote from: AnnieD

the wireless signal worked fine on my previous router.

I know it's a pain but that doesn't prove that the router is at fault I'm afraid, the wireless on the PC may have had something happen in the mean time (I dealt with a case yesterday where an update to an antivirus/firewall package had blocked the wireless connection) so if you could test it on a different wireless network to prove it's not the PC I'll get you a replacement router sent out.

[#11]

Quote

I have followed the ISP advice about changing the channel, this has made no difference at all.

Oops , missed that
Thanks Jelv

[#12]

Thanks Matt.
I may have a problem testing it on a different wireless network as I don't know anyone else who has one. It may have to wait until I go to a hotel. I've had the router a couple of months already and the time has just been eaten up with trying to resolve this problem. I must say I've had more sensible suggestions in a couple of weeks on here than I ever got from Madasafish support.

I don't think the wireless connection is being blocked, because it does connect, it just keeps dropping speed and losing the connection, or failing to find a certificate, or failing to assign an IP address. These are the 3 things for which error messages pop up frequently. Is there any way I can check if there is a problem with the PC? Any settings I should look at?
Meanwhile I'm doing fine with having the ethernet cable plugged in all the time, but I mustn't get complacenet and continue to run with that. I should try and get the wireless issue sorted before I've had it too long to be replaced.

[#13]

Annie,
To try and examine any possible problem with the PC.
What's the operating system on the PC and what make/model wireless card is it?
I assume your TG585 is using the default WPA security, can you remember whether the D-Link was using that or WEP ?

[#14]

Sorry for delay in replying
I'm operating on Windows XP SP2
I hope I've found the right information for wireless card:
Intel(R) PRO/WIRELESS  2200BG Network Connection    'This device is working properly.'  Ad-hoc channel    802.11bg
RealTek RTL 8139/810x  Family Fast Internet NIC  ' This device is working properly.'
Yes this box is using the default WPA security, I can't remember what the D-Link was using, I just set it up as instructed. I'm not sure if I still have the instructions. It is model DSL-2640B
Hope this helps.