Ireless Wireless

As my first "real" post, I'd like to share some advice to anyone on Windows XP who might be having wierd problems with their wireless internet connection: disable the Wireless Zero Configuration service.

Anyone who's ever bought a new wireless adapter has undoubtedly noticed that they come with drivers, and when you install those drivers, they also install some sort of application that helps you manage the wireless connections. These programs always bothered me because Windows XP has a built-in wireless manager, so they seemed superfluous. However, it turns out that there is a strong case for using the manufacturer's software instead of Microsoft's (which is often the case).

The Wireless Zero Configuration service is the one that allows you to "View Avaialable Wireless Networks" and choose one to connect to. It also constantly checks to see if there's a better one than the one you chose. That seems like a nice feature (especially for mobile computers), but the act of checking can actually produce lag with some adapters. So, if you're experiencing 2-3 seconds of lag once a minute or so, you might see a big improvement by disabling the WZC service and using the manufacturer's software that came with your adapter instead.

Here are the steps I took to solve this problem when I experienced it this week:

1. Uninstall manufacture software, if it was previously installed.
2. Disable the Wireless Zero Configuration service by going to Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Services, find the Wireless Zero Configuration service and double-click it, and change the startup type to "Disabled".
3. Install the manufacturer software, and run it to configure your adapter.

Hope that helps somebody!