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X220 wireless hotspot issues

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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dvallejo530
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Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:32 pm
Location: Redding, CA

X220 wireless hotspot issues

#1 Post by dvallejo530 » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:02 am

I recently bought a x220 Thinkpad notebook in great shape on eBay. I have no problem at home getting online with my Netgear wireless router. When I go to my local coffee house or other wifi hotspots in the area though, I can't connect to the internet. The laptop sees the networks and connects with them, but fails to complete an Internet connection.

The laptop was sent to me with the previous owner's software and settings, and I'm wondering if this is part of the problem. I would have simply restored the system using the recovery utility, but the previous owner did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit over the original Home Premium version, overwriting the drive and the Lenovo Recovery program in the process.

The laptop was manufactured in March of 2012, and is still under a 3-year extended warranty with a Windows 7 Pro COA sticker located inside the battery bay. It also has a few months left of accidental damage protection coverage (both the warranty and protection coverage have already been verified at the Lenovo site already). I intend to call Lenovo this week to see if I can get a replacement Recovery disk to restore the system. As I'm not the original owner, can this be a problem with Lenovo?

Lenovo x220 Configuration: Intel Core i5 2450M 2.5GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless LAN PCI Express Half Mini Card Adapter, IPS. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit OS, MS Office 2007 Enterprise Suite, Norton 360 Anti-virus.

GomJabbar
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Re: X220 wireless hotspot issues

#2 Post by GomJabbar » Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:44 pm

First try a reboot, if you haven't done that already.

You can have the existing "Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software" repair itself or else just reinstall it. When you choose to uninstall it from Control Panel > Programs and Features, that should bring you to an option to repair the existing installation.

Alternatively, download and install the latest version of the "Intel Wireless LAN (11abgn, abg, bg)" software or else download and install "ThinkVantage System Update 5" and have it pick up the latest version for you.

Drivers and software - ThinkPad X220 & X220i
DKB

precip9
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Re: X220 wireless hotspot issues

#3 Post by precip9 » Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:24 am

Sometimes Lenovo lags Intel. This has been the case for a while. Download from this page:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_ ... plications
W500x3 with T9900, , T400 highnit 1280x800 with P9600, X61sx3, X61Tx3.

daveboston
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Location: Boston, MA
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Re: X220 wireless hotspot issues

#4 Post by daveboston » Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:52 am

Ok, I have been having the same issue for over a year, though it is somewhat intermittent.

I was writing up a detailed request for help here and going through every setting. The one thing that seemed to do the trick, though it could have been random (since, again, it is intermittent) was to make sure that Internet Connection Sharing on the wifi card was turned off. Feel free to give it a try.

Also, I have been told by support people that this is also often fixed by
- having the latest Intel drivers (direct from intel - I am now on version 15.3.12 dated 9/30/2012)
- turning roaming aggressiveness up
- checking with the network administrator of the location you are at if your Mac address is being blocked (often happens if you have a virus)

Other things that have sometimes seemed to help in the past
- disabling all the network connections that you don't need
- using google's servers for DNS - 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4

Please let me know if any of this helps and if you have learned anything else. 50/50, I was just lucky with the ICS and the problem will pop back up, so I would love to know.

Dave
Dave of the http://freetravelgenius.com
Thinkpad X220 4286-CTO
4GB RAM, Intel Core i5-2410M @ 2.3Ghz
Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 64 bit

dvallejo530
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:32 pm
Location: Redding, CA

Re: X220 wireless hotspot issues

#5 Post by dvallejo530 » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:51 am

I decided to start from scratch, doing the following:

1. Downloaded Windows 7 64-bit .iso file and burned it to DVD
2. Did a fresh install of OS using my COA ID.
3. Installed the latest WLAN driver(1005.32.306.2012) and updated all critical Windows updates(no "optional" files).
4. Installed latest version of Lenovo System Update(5.01.0005), and made sure to install all needed drivers & utilities. To test each utility I didn't install ThinkVantage Access Connections, just using the Windows WLAN utility).
5. Ran Lenovo Hardware test(including wireless) and everything passed.

Same thing. I have no problem getting online when connecting at home. When I went to my favorite coffee shop with wireless, I was unable to even get to their logon page to enter in their guest password. Normally this page popped up, and after entering their guest key password I was on. Now I can't even reach this page.

I think my next step will be to install Access Connections and see if it helps. If not, I'll probably do a full Lenovo restore, run updates, and see if that solves the problem. I do like the laptop with a clean install, though.

daveboston: the Internet Connection Sharing box is not selected in the Wireless Network Connection properties section, and the newly installed software on the laptop is virus-free so it's not likely a Mac address issue. I'll give your other recommendations a try as well.

GomJabbar
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Re: X220 wireless hotspot issues

#6 Post by GomJabbar » Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:12 am

There are 2 versions of the Intel ProSET WiFi drivers. Version 14 and version 15. I am running version 15 which is required for WiDi. If you are on version 14, you might try version 15. You can find version 15 on the X230 driver page. Right now, the link below isn't pulling up for me, but it should work later.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... PAD-MATRIX

A couple of other things, did you set up the type of network in Network connections (i.e. public, home, etc.) for each network you are trying to connect to? Have you tried running a different browser than I.E.? What are your security settings for I.E. set at?
DKB

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