Zero Configuration

I greatly enjoyed reading this Wired article about Windows’s zero configuration in its Windows Zero Configuration. It confirms something I’ve been struggling with. For almost a year I’ve had my computers set up in a wireless network: two Windows XP computers and one Apple PowerBook laptop. One XP computer is plugged directly into my Linksys WRT54G router, the other two computers connect wirelessly. And I have had nothing but trouble keeping the other XP computer online. Just like the article, the XP computer keeps losing its place and disconnecting itself from the network. Every couple minutes I would have to bring up the connection window and manually enter the network key to get back online.
    My newsgroup research suggested that Zero Configuration would poll the network every forty seconds or so, looking for any changes. And for some reason it would stupidly discover its own network as a new network; it would alert me a network was available, even though it was already on a network. And by doing do, it would take itself offline until I decided if I wanted to join this new network — even though it was the same network it was already on. I tried changing every setting possible but I could not get away from this damnable logic loop. If I decativated Windows Zero Configuration, Windows would gray out all my Linksys settings so I was prevented from manually setting anything up. I was stuck with Zero or zero. And I finally got so fed up with it that a couple months back I went to Best Buy, bought a 50-foot networking cable, and hardwired the frigging thing straight to the router.
    Since then I haven’t had any Zero Configuration problems.
    So I greatly enjoyed reading that article, learning that I’m not the only one suffering under another badly thought-out and ineptly executed Microsoft program. And that talk of microwave oven or TV interference is a load of BS. All through this time I was able to connect wirelessly with my Mac laptop without a problem. Just choose the SSID, paste in the network key, and instant access. Now that‘s zero configuration. So if my Mac can do it and my Windows computer can’t — gee — it’s seems to me it’s not a problem with my microwave. It’s a problem with Microsoft.