Weird problem with wireless speed, sometimes goes crazy slow

I’ve got a Dell laptop with XP and inbuilt wireless LAN capability.
Usually I get a steady 48 Mbps but occasionally everything goes nuts and the speed drops to 1, 2, 5 etc. Or at other times it varies wildly from 24 to 12 to 6 back to 24 all within a few seconds.
I’m upstairs from the router but 95% of the time there is no problem.
I’ve changed channel but it doesn’t help.
Sometimes a reboot of my laptop helps but other times not.
Rebooting the router doesn’t seem to really make any difference. I’ve even changed router.
I have a feeling it could be my OS and/or hardware. But why intermittent like this? Right now its stuck on 11Mbps. Weird. No doubt later it will be fine.
Anyone else had this kind of weird behaviour with their wirless LAN connection
Answer #1
Did you enable encryption on your router? This is essential to prevent leeching,You should use WPA2.
Might wanna try updating the driver of your wireless card.
Provide the models of your laptop & router.
Answer #2
Hi, yeah I’m using WPA2. This happened with the old router on WPA. I have a netgear from around 4 years ago. I have a feeling its to do with my PC and not the router. I might try updating the drivers but worried I could screw it up. Haven’t rebuilt my XP in 3 years so its pretty temperamental anyway (like it never remember the volume mute and does full blast on powering up lol!) and don’t wanna risk it. Oh well.
Answer #3
florflor replied: Hi, yeah I'm using WPA2. This happened with the old router on WPA. I have a netgear from around 4 years ago. I have a feeling its to do with my PC and not the router.
Your probably right,But it can be more than just a buggy driver,It could also be a strange problem with the OS or even the wireless
card itself,You should use a Live Linux OS like Parted Magic or Slacko to test it.
florflor replied: I might try updating the drivers but worried I could screw it up
You could make a new system restore point before you go ahead with it if your that concerned,But honestly,It’s
a very simple process and is unlikely to go wrong. And just so you know,Your suppose to get the updated
driver from DELL’s website for your laptop’s model,Don’t bother with any of those driver updating apps.
florflor replied: Haven't rebuilt my XP in 3 years
Shocking! You really should find the time to do a reinstall.