constant disconnection/reconnection between Netgear MA401 AP and SMC2632W V.2 client

[Mike Bohan]

Hello there,

	I recently setup a Toshiba Satellite as a WAP/router for my home
network.  The setup uses a Netgear MA401 PrismII based card in the
laptop, which is binded to the HostAP driver. The configuration was very
strait forward (no special firmware needed), and it works well for the
most part. 
	A problem did emerge when I tried using a SMC2632W V.2 (Amtel chipset)
based client on the network.  The SMC client becomes associated on the
network without a problem, and even had a very strong signal. However,
every minute or so the SMC client laptop (running Windows XP) displays a
network disconnection of the wireless NIC, and then reconnects. These
disconnect/reconnect intervals seem to be equal, though I have not
proved this assumption. The simple and most obvious answer is that the
client is too far away from the WAP. However, the signal on the SMC xp
client is categorized as very "very good".  In fact, it's much better
than any of the Prism II clients have ever been (I have several machines
that access this WAP. All the rest are PrismII based). The transfer
rates (when actually connected) are indicative of this too, as they are
excellent. Most importantly, the other PrismII clients perform without
disconnection at equal distance from the WAP with a lower signal. I have
also tried using both SMC's windows utility and Windows XP's integrated
"zero" configuration system.  Both yield equal results.
	I should also mention two factors..

1. This is the first non-prismII client I've used with this WAP system,
and it's the first with problems.
2. I upgraded the firmware on the MA401 to the most recent version
(standard firmware, not AP firmware) in hopes this would solve the
problem. It did not.

 Are there known incompatabilities with non-PrismII chipsets acting as
clients to the hostap driver?

	I'm wondering if anyone has any insights to the cause of this
troublesum problem. Perhaps there is a way to tweak either the hostap
driver or the smc client settings?

-- 
Mike Bohan <bogin at shortcircut.org>