crap wireless on xp pc but excellent on vista laptop?!

[johnnyg_vts]

as above really, xp pc has a new netgear 'g' pci card which works ok on next doors unsecured but i want it to work on MY sky router.
i can put the vista laptop next to the pc and i get an excellent connection with 8mbps but the xp pc struggles to even find my sky router let alone connect to it.
the router is downstairs in the hall on the other side of the 3 bed house.
xbox 360 and wii connect fine to the router in the front room but the upstairs back room pc doesnt.
why is this?
thanks:hug:

[MarkyG]

How far is it from the router itself, roughly? Could be signal problems, does it find it in the available wireless networks list?

If it is there but wont connect it is more than likely the signal strength, I used to get the same problem.

Where are the XBox and Wii located?

What class is the Sky router? G or N? (N being the best, 300mbps and further range)

[Noddy]

The PC is either out of range or in a signal blackspot. More than likely the aerial is behind the pc as well and the huge lump of metal in front of it wouldn't be doing it many favours.

Options, move pc / move aerial (goto maplin and get an extension for it) / move router to a more centralised location in the house / adjust aerials on the router

Also you stated that the router and pc are both on opposite sides of the house, the walls and floors will be part of the reason why you cannot get a good signal if any.

[johnnyg_vts]

i physically plugged the router into the pc via ethernet, would connect to the internet but is painfully slow. used normal sites like sky and bbc, vista laptop next to the pc showing 8mbps+ wtf??
the pc should be lightning fast with the ethernet connection shouldnt it?
scanned the pc with avg free, adaware and spybot - no issues at all.
im really stumped with this...

[Penn]

What speed is the network card and how old is it etc? Could try installing the latest drivers for it to see if that helps at all.

Have you got the wireless connection disabled whilst plugging it into the ethernet, could be trying to connect to next doors wireless at the same time as being connected via ethernet to yours.

[bald24]

Run spybot on it, sometimes fixes strange things like this :)

[johnnyg_vts]

its a netgear 'g' wireless pci card and its new.
spybot, adaware and avg free anti virus all used and cleaned pc up.

[baker556]

Make sure the drivers have installed correctly and your using either windows or netgears own software to configure the device for the wireless.

Some wireless pci cards did have a fault which couldn't be resolved as their was a bad batch, try googling your exact model number.

[johnnyg_vts]

thanks mate, i replaced the netgear pci card with an ebay 'g' special and it works great now!
must have been a dodgy card - i will take that piece of crap back, ebay ftw lol