USE Wireless?

[Ewan]

While at University, I use wireless to connect to the internet. Every now and again, it cuts me off for a couple of seconds which means I cannot play TWJD, TWDD and sometimes TWBD 50/50 whether I lagout). This happens in any online games and I !@#$%^&*umed it was just the way wireless is and grew to accept it.

 

While playing Counter-Strike yesterday I decided to time the interval between the spikes, and it turned out they happened every 60 seconds. A bit of googling led me to realise it's actually a Windows issue. Stupidly, Windows automatically searches for new wireless networks every 60 seconds, causing these lag spikes. I've disabled it on my computer, and I am at 0.1 0.1 ploss instead of the 1.5 0.1 I'd be at before. Also, playing Counter-Strike for a few hours yesterday I experienced one single lag spike, instead of one every minute.

 

How to disable in XP:

One way around it is to use the third party wireless management software that came with your card, this isn't that ideal though as they tend to be pretty crap.

If you want to stick with the windows software:

It's simply a case of disabling the Wireless Zero Configuration service while you're playing. To do this, start menu -> run type in services.msc, find Wireless Zero Configuration, right click and select "Stop".

Your wireless connection will remain connected while the service is stopped. If it disconnects (say you reboot your router w/e), you will not be able to reconnect until you restart the service.

 

How to disable in Vista

The WZC service is tacked in with the other wireless stuff in Vista, so you can't get around it by using the 3rd party software that came with your wireless card.

Instead, use this file. Use the "Auto Off.bat" to disable the wireless config. And the "Auto On.bat" to turn it back on again. REMEMBER to turn it back on before turning your computer off, otherwise it won't connect to a wireless network next time you boot until you turn it on. You will have to run both .bat files as Administrator. Also, if you want to see what's inside them, simply right click -> edit. This is for all you paranoid of malicious code ;P.

 

Anyway, hope this helps.

[Shock]

If your wireless card needs software and you disable WZC, it won't fix anything, unless you have the software on.

 

Anyways, I could have used this information a few months ago. Who knows, maybe it'll help someone else.

[rootbear75]

never had a problem when i had a third party card... but then again, i always used third party software to manage em... probably find out the problem when i get my new laptop :/