Asking for technical advice (Vista+WPA encryption)

[nenena]

Do any of y'all have any advice as to how to make a laptop running Windows Vista stop throwing a temper tantrum every ten minutes when connected to a wireless router using WPA2 encryption?

I know, I know, the obvious solution is to upgrade to Windows 7. But due to a compatibility issue with a district-specific piece of DINOSAUR SOFTWARE that I need to use for my job, that's not going to be able to happen for a while. The other obvious solution is to change my wireless router over to WEP encryption, but again that's not an option because then my iPad won't connect to my wireless internet. iPad-chan is a prissy prissy little princess and she refuses to accept anything less than WPA2 encryption for her wireless connection.

So I'm stuck with my wireless router on WPA2 and my laptop still running Windows Vista. Which is frustrating because since February my computer has been doing this thing where every ten minutes it just sort of drops the wireless internet signal, and it can take up to three minutes to get it back. At first I thought that the problem was with my wireless router dropping the signal, but six phone calls and approximately 4.2 billion hours (rough estimate) on the phone with Belkin customer support later, we have most definitively concluded that the problem is not with the router dropping the signal, but rather with Vista just being a turd when it comes to WPA encryption, which a quick Google search shows me is apparently a common issue. Awesome.

I've upgraded my Vista so that it's current, tried installing the KB935222 Hotfix (which didn't work as it had already been included in one of my past Vista updates), and am now totally baffled as to what I can do next.

I know that my laptop can work just fine with WPA2 encryption because it did work just fine for several months. And then this trouble started. I'm not a computer person and I have no idea what I could have done to cause Vista to start pitching hissy-fits with my wireless connection, but the fact that this hasn't been a problem since the beginning is giving me hope that maybe there's something that I can do to fix it...?

So I'm just throwing this out here on the off-chance that maybe somebody reading this has had a similar problem and was able to find or come up with a solution.

Help?

Comments

[aiwatan.livejournal.com]

The last time Vista started trowing tamtruns with something I desactivated user control and it magically stopped.

It kept showing a bubble in the corner telling me my computer was gonna explode if I did not reactivate it, but nothing bad never happened.

[nenena.livejournal.com]

I've had user control turned off since the day I got this laptop. So that's probably not the problem.

I still appreciate the help, though. :)

[popcorn42.livejournal.com]

>> telling me my computer was gonna explode if I did not reactivate it,

I think if I ever got that, it'd scare me away from the computer for a good while.

[yamamoto-kou.livejournal.com]

I've got a Vista with WPA2 encrytion too, but I don't recall it doing that just because. The only suggestion I have is that you check Network and Sharing Center > View Status > Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) > Properties.

Either have it all set to obtain IP and DNS address automatically, or your service provider might be able to give you a specific IP address to use.

idk if this will help, or whether it's a TCP port problem, or something, but it's worth a shot?

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Definitely worth a shot. Thank you for the advice!

[allyson boeckman (from livejournal.com)]

Curious about the work program, if you did decide to upgrade you could set your computer to run it in compatibility mode or through a virtual machine...Maybe? I know I have a few programs that don't like updated operating systems and that's how I had to get around them, that and the companies that made them don't offer updated drivers...

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Ah-ha, I hadn't even thought of that. Thanks for the tip, that is something that I will look into.