I'm forced to connect to our router using a WLAN USB Stick.
Router: Belkin Wireless G Plus MIMO Router, Model: F5D9230-4
WLAN Stick: TP-Link TL-WN321G

The connection was fine for months, except some occasional random disconnects that weren't long or often enough that I actually cared. However I did notice that establishing the connection on power on always has been somewhat shaky. Sometimes it took several minutes (2-10) until it would finally log on.
During these incidents I checked the driver applet for the WLAN stick and noticed that when it fails to connect immediately it's receiving packets like crazy but all of them are bad. However I can't tell if they are decoded or sent improperly, but sending packets to the router apparently works.

Now I'm on Windows 7 and use the built-in driver, not the applet anymore but still everything went as usual for several weeks.
Though during the last 2 weeks the random disconnects have become longer and much more frequent and apparently it's getting worse. The biggest issue is that I can't tell what's the source of these errors and I don't know how to find out. And that's where I need your help, SEN.

Some random information that may or may not be useful and I don't know how to organize: (roughly sorted by significance)
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• Signal strength is 5/5 or 4/5 most of the time. When the connection is breaking down the tray symbol loses 1-2 bars.
  
• When the connection is lost and I recheck for available APs the router's signal is back at full power.
  
• From that point on 2 things can happen: It tries to connect, which fails because the APs signal vanished again until I rescan (sometimes I need to rescan for 2-5 times) - OR - it does actually connect and it's working fine for a while.
  
• The router doesn't broadcast the SSID. Regardless Windows 7 recognizes it most of the time (Win XP didn't). Sometimes it just picks up the signal without the SSID though.
  
• When it's particularly bad and I don't get a connection for hours it helps for about 12-18 hours to reset the router (did it twice)
  
• Resetting the connection / replugging the USB stick seems to improve the chance of successful connection somewhat (or maybe it's just random)
  
• Sometimes I do get a connection, but I've got a default IP and no Internet access (DHCP is properly set up, static IP settings not helping at all)
  
• My computer is running for extended periods of time, often with constant traffic from downloads (I've heard something about USB sticks aren't made for continuous use, but I'm not sure what would happen if I do it regardless. Is that where my problems are coming from?)
  
• My router is the only WLAN access point in the vicinity, except sometimes I can barely pick up someone else, but it doesn't seem to interfere

_
That's all I can remember for now. Might add more in a later post (and add it to the list).

The problem with testing with other computers / routers is that the malfunction often only shows after hours or days of use.
I'm wondering if buying a WLAN card would solve my problems.

Tricky one. It really could be either the USB stick or the Wifi router, or simply the combination of them both (eg they're just incompatible with each other, but each on individually would still work with a different peer).

The only way you're really going to narrow it down is by swapping pieces in an out. Ideally this would be with a whole separate computer that is using some other way of connecting to the Wifi as that would quickly indicate whether it's the router or the USB stick.

Note that wifi routers, especially home ones are notorious for being unstable. My own wifi router is a pretty expensive top-of-the-line one from Linksys (Cisco) and it flakes out every now and then. Simply refuses to accept packets, even if I add in a static ARP entry on my PC, and I have to reboot it. They've recently replaced that particular model with a new one that has all the same bells and whistles, but unfortunately that came too late for me.

I'd suggest your best bet is to try and borrow either a different wifi USB stick/card or wifi router from someone else to narrow the problem down, before you spend money on one or the other and end up with something you don't need.

Have you tried to do a firmware update for your router? Tried googling the model number and see if anyone else reports flakiness?

Problem with trying out different hardware is that it's so inconsistent. As I've said current hardware worked fine for months, but I'll see what I can do.
Haven't googled yet as I prefer discussing such tricky problems in person, but I'll do that of course.

With my wifi router, we had one of the same model for a few months that was fine, then it got flakey for a couple of days. Then it was fine until a few weeks later when it became completely unresponsive. Took it back and got a new one, which has been mostly fine for 3-4 months until recently, where it's be a little flakey.

I'm kind of hoping it will just up and die too so we can get it replaced with the new model. So far the recent bouts of flakiness have been resolved by rebooting the router, except for one time when it was the connection to the ISP that broke but that was fixed by morning.

Oh, I forgot to ask the question I had: How risky is updating the firmware? It's my family's router and I'd rather not mess it up.

Well for one, I think you already know it's permanent (read: resetting the router won't revert it). You can usually read online reviews/discussions about firmware updates. I was about to update my old dlink with one until I found out some complaints about new bugs introduced. Fortunately a later update fixed those, though.

Updating the firmware is safe unless something bad happens, like power loss. Make sure you get the right firmware too, of course, from the official manufacturers website.

Actually depending on how the device reads it firmware, it may not matter even then. The switches/routers we make have flash memory in them, and you just upload the software release using TFTP or SSH or whatever, if it gets interrupted half way through you just end up with a half-completed file in the flash (which the switch then automatically deletes).

As of today my USB WLAN stick forces a blue screen after a few minutes of use.

I'm just going to get a PCI WLAN card. Any suggestions?

Yes, plenty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315041

Excellent card. Was using it before I got my USB adapter. It was great but I accidentally shorted it by exposing the antenna wire to another wire. I had it for months and never had an issue.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156054

This one from TRENDNet also has N functionality and triple antennas.

I'm planning to stay under 20€ so the TrendNet is out of the question. Also what's the advantage of 3 antennas?
And the Edimax is not Windows 7 compatible?

I used the EDIMAX on W7 x64 with no problems.
http://www.edimax.com/en/support_detail.php?pd_id=1&pl1_id=1&pl2_id=44
Lowest button on the chart.

The 3 antennas probably just give better signal strength/range and help with wireless N which is faster than g which is faster than b, ect.

Wireless G will suit you fine since that's what your router is made for. N is still only in 'draft' and is not a finalized standard as of yet but its been that way for years.

Wireless N typically uses 3 antennas to increase the throughput, and it requires 3 antennas at both the router and the host side to properly work. So any N-capable card should have 3 antennas. Looking at wikipedia it seems you could run wireless N using only 2 antennas (2x2:2 notation) but I'd expect that the throughput would be worse, hence the standard being 3 antennas.

You really should seriously consider getting something N-capable, as the next wifi router/access point you buy will most likely support N. Pretty much all laptops being sold these days support N.

Edit: N has been a finalised standard since October 2009.

Okay, appreciate the effort guys, but in this case I'm only going for reliablity and price. Not for performance or features.
Me using WLAN is only a temporary thing and I probably will get rid of it in about half a year. I'm only using it to connect to a 6 Mbit Internet connection so speed is really not an issue. Just like range since the devices are just about 5m apart.

So all I'm going for is a quick and cheap solution that works.

The Edimax seems to fulfill that fairly well, but I'm open to more suggestions with the above parameters.

Probably any of the cards with a chipset by Ralink would be fine if you are using it for Windows; from my experience they've been good. I'd recommend getting the driver directly from Ralink's site instead of from the card manufacturer's site. Look at the chip on the card before you install it to figure out which model you need the driver for. To find one of these cards, look at the pictures for a chip that says "Ralink" or has an "Ra" logo. You might be able to find a card that is basically exactly the same as the one Ex mentioned or newer for less money.

By the way, both of the cards Ex suggested have chipsets from Ralink. So far I have experience with the Ralink RT2561 (G), RT3060 (N single antenna), and RT3062 (N dual antenna) chipsets.

Post has been edited 5 time(s), last time on Mar 16 2011, 3:15 am by ShadowFlare.

Thanks SF. I knew that the only difference with a lot of those cards was who got to put their name on it. I just wasn't sure of the chipset and it's origin.

I can't find cards cheaper than the Edimax. Are the Ralinks generally more expensive?
Problem is I can't search by chipset, so how do I find them?

There probably isn't really any way to do a search on it; you will just need to look through the pictures. The Ralink-based cards do all have a fairly similar appearance, though; they generally share the same layout - usually a rectangular (or somewhat rectangular) covered section on the left side with the card maker's sticker on it and an exposed square black chip to the right of it. You can then look at the detailed picture to confirm whether it is a Ralink and which model it is.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 17 2011, 1:21 am by ShadowFlare.

If you are looking on Newegg, there are actually quite a few of the Ralink-based cards they sell on there, but it seems like a lot of them are currently out of stock, with some of the out of stock cards not even listed at the moment, like the single-antenna 802.11n products, which cost no more than the 802.11g cards.

Some of the cheaper cards currently in stock on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166020 - 802.11g card with tabletop antenna
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166021 - Same 802.11g card with antenna that mounts to the card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833130072 - 2T2R 802.11n card with two antennas

If you are looking at a different store, you may see some of the other cards in stock that Newegg doesn't currently have. There are also a couple I didn't list because they have permanently attached antennas, which I wouldn't recommend. Of the ones Newegg carries, Rosewill and Zonet are generally the cheapest. I've tried 3 different models of the Rosewill cards (all but one of my Ralink-based cards are Rosewill brand), but haven't tried the Zonet ones yet.

Thanks for these new recommendations. I could find the Zonet for just under 20€ (incl. shipping) on Amazon. I just ordered.
It's really cool that the cheapest I could find fulfilling my primary requirements (Ralink, <20€) even supports the N standard and has 2 antennas.

And thank you everyone posting. It's always good to have a little insight into a new piece of hardware other than "works for you".

Hopefully it was indeed your USB stick that was flaking out, and not the access point. I would suggest that it remains a very outside possibility that your AP was actually faulty and sending invalid signals to the USB stick, which had shitty drivers and caused a crash. Really that's a very very low likelihood but still worth noting.