I've got a wireless network set up in my home - we're connecting via a
ghost AOL account that stays online 24/7 and I'm using a Netgear WG111
adapter. My connection is really finicky, even though I'm situated
very close to the mainframe. I've also noticed that every time the
phone rings, I get disconnected. Can anybody explain why I'm having
such connection issues or point me in the direction of some decent
troubleshooting research?

Muchas gracias.

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Request for Question Clarification by wengland-ga on 16 Aug 2005 10:16 PDT

Is the internet connection itself being disconnected?  Or just the
in-home wireless network?

Do you use cable, DSL or dialup?

Do you have a cordless telephone in the house?

I may not be an expert at this, but i got this problem sorted by
buying a ADSL Filter sold by DLink this one has a three way
connection, with 1 for incoming main line and then 1 for ADSL line and
one for Telephone line. (It is recommended that the mainline not be
connected to any telephones before terminating in this box, this box
should be set up right at the starting point)

There are two possible causes for your disconnections, as I see it. 
If you are using DSL, it is possible that one of the phones connected
to that line is not filtered.  Every device connected to the same
phone line as your DSL modem needs to have a DSL filter installed on
it.  The other cause could be interference in the wireless signal from
a cordless phone.  802.11b and 802.11g both use the same 2.4GHz
frequency range that many cordless phones use.  If you change the
channel that your connection is using in the router settings and
adapter settings, or you change the channel your cordless phone is
using, you might see your problems go away.  I would also recommend
doing a visual inspection of any cordless phones in your house to see
if the antennas are damaged.  I had a similar problem when my dog
chewed on the antenna to one of my cordless phones.  Replacing the
phone antenna solved the issue (I am no radio expert, but that is what
worked in my case, anyhow).

switch to a wired phone see if the problem goes away.

cleverly the 2.4ghz phones are in the same frequency range as the wireless.

if that solves your problem either pick up a wired phone, or a new 900
mhz phone or switch over to 802.11a which is at 5 ghz

As the above people commented, the problem is your phones. However,
I'd recommend against a 900mHz phone or switching your network to
802.11a.

Plenty of cordless phones now are sold as 5GHz and above. Get one of
these for better call quality. Stick with 802.11b/g, as speed will be
faster and you'll have better hardware compatibility with most
wireless networks.

Finally, a very important bit is security. Follow my tips here to set
up wireless security:

http://www.andybrain.com/extras/wireless_configuration_security_basics.htm