Broadband Password Spontaneously resets...

[misterblue]

I have been using the BT home hub 2.0 router for a few months with no problems.

Over the past 10 days, the computer has been disconnected from the wireless network roughly every 2 days. The reason being that the password it is using has changed and is shorter than the password supplied with the home hub.

I have seen the PC disconnect while I am using it, with no input from myself. Changing the password back to that supplied reconnects to the network, as does using a cable direct from the PC to the home hub.

iPhones which connect to the wireless network are unaffected.

Any ideas what is happening with my PC?

I am running Windows XP.


Thanks,

CJ

[mixture]

The reason being that the password it is using has changed and is shorter than the password supplied with the home hub.

Just trying to put the pieces of your question together....how are you determining the password is being changed to a shorter one ?

[Tonka777]

If you are going by the number of *'s in the password box as a sign that the password is being changed, then you may well be worrying about nothing. I am 90% sure that the number of *'s is not representative of the amount of characters in the password.

If the iphone's still connect properly, then i would guess that all is well.

[misterblue]

Thanks so far...

What happens is that the PC becomes disconnected from the wireless network, and broadband becomes unavailable. Trying to repair the wireless network using the windows facility does not work, so there is some intermittent problem. It is at the PC/wireless end that the problem arises, because,

1.- the iphones are unaffected, so the router is fine
2. -when I use a cable from the PC it connects to broadband OK.

I can only reconnect wirelessly by re-entering the password. Once this has been done the connection remains stable for a day or two.

I am counting the '*' s where the password is, which is how I am guessing it has changed, coupled with the fact that when I re-enter it, the connection establishes quickly.

I do not think that it is someone outside breaking into the network and changing stuff, as I live in a remote area and would notice them.

Thanks so far,

CJ

[Tonka777]

I have not owned a BT Home Hub, but with one of my Netgear routers, I had a similar problem. It was with an older laptop using win XP, and similar to yourself, I had to re-enter the password which judging by the number of asterisks looked to have changed.

I believe that altering the channel used for wireless on the router improved the situation, and altering the security encryption type improved it further. I cannot remember the exact details, and I am not sure if I ever completely fixed the problem.

I assume it is a fault within Windows XP, perhaps with older hardware. Do you know if your wireless device has a manufacturer program to manage the wireless connection, instead of the Windows wireless connection manager?

[green granite]

If it's still the same BT uses the serial number of the router as the encryption password (WEP).

You need to get into the router as admin then first of all change the default admin password to something secure then change the wireless encryption password to a WPA one of say 25 random upper and lower case letters and numbers. That way at least you're reasonably secure. It will at least eliminate external interference.

[mixture]

25 random upper and lower case letters and numbers

Set of 10 20 Characters strings from Random.org

Or

63 chars that you an pick 25 (or more, or less from)
https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

[Avtrician]

The wireless password isnt actually changing, it remains the same but you computer is dropping the connection and not remembering the password.

Try deleting the connection and rediscovering the connection. This will resave all the information.

[jimtherev]

... and had you considered / remembered that cordless phones can also interfere? I happen to have two cordless phone bases and two wireless routers all on the same table close to the master sockets. Took a bit of channel shifting to get everything working reliably, but now solid as a rock. But for the first few days (before I twigged what was happening) twas decidedly iffy.

[marketaero]

consider changing your router to a latest generation wireless router.
- make sure your security is set to WPA
- try changing the wireless channel.

if you find out, your password changed to something else. I am sure someone is guessing your password and is hacking your router, or your router is just junk. Get a new router and change the security settings.

[EGTE]

Lots of home equipment which use radio can affect a wireless router connection. These can include cordless phones, baby alarms or even door bells. Proximity of the router or PC to TVs, stereos, speakers or even microwave ovens can degrade the connection. Often changing the wireless channel on the homehub will resolve the problem. May take a bit of experimentation with different chanels though.

To access the BT Homehub manager just open a web browser on the PC and enter 192.168.1.254 into the address bar and press enter. As there are 3 different versions of the homehub the method of changing channels varies. Info available on bt.com/help. Look in the broadband section. Or check out the BT custhelp YouTube videos at YouTube - BTCare's Channel which show you how.