I’m yet to see an OS get wireless networking right. I’ve now worked pretty extensively with configuring and fixing wireless network configurations on XP (SP2) and Linux (Ubuntu). And frankly, both are disappointing. A few comments…
- (Linux) I can see three wireless networks. Why am I connected to none of them, even after clicking on one of them?
- (Both) I have a good connection, and all of a sudden, I have no network connection. I spent fifteen minutes fiddling and it still won’t come back. Windows includes a “Repair” function, and I’ve seen lots of people use it. I have never had it do anything, nor have I have ever seen it work for someone. I’m fairly certain it’s an inside joke at Microsoft or something.
- (Both) You reboot and the wireless usually comes back up just fine. What the heck is going on? Why, with all the amazing developers working on both platforms, has no one ever figured a way to just bring the network down and back up? (Actually, you could argue that both OSs provide this — Linux lets you disable it and re-enable it, and Windows lets you “Repair” it. And yet neither of them works.)
- (Windows) Why, when you can’t connect, do you give me a fake IP? There’s some bizarre netblock that Windows users get put on when they don’t actually have a network connection. What gives?
You’d think that WiFi was some technology that had only been out for a few months… But there have been years to get it right. Why has no one ever made it work right?
I have very few problems with wireless networking in XP or (X)ubuntu. In fact, at this point I don’t have a single machine connected via Ethernet. Occasionally I’ll have a connection drop out (more prevalent on our laptops), but generally running the repair will fix that. Guess I’m just lucky? Once or twice now I’ve had the wireless card in my laptop go completely “missing” (no tray icon and it’s not visible in network properties or device manager), but a reboot fixes it.
Yeah, I don’t want to give the impression that it NEVER works. 95% of the time it’s flawless. But 5% error rate is still pretty abysmal.
I just feel like:
– If the connection drops, it should be smart enough to fix it. This repair / fix / restart stuff shouldn’t be required.
– Hardware devices shouldn’t “disappear.” I’ve had the same thing happen numerous times. It’s laughably pathetic in a way?
I’ve had repair work for me a number of times. I connect to lots of different wi-fi networks on a regular basis and have shared your frustration. But to be fair I think a lot of the problems are with the signals and the access points. Wi-fi does not penetrate objects as well as anyone would like for one thing. Access points get overloaded as well. It’s just somehow more complicated than one might think.