Should I use IBM Access Connections or XP's Wireless conecti

[fefrie]

I just restored my t42 hard drive to the factory image and am starting from scratch again.

Should I use IBM or XP?

XP has always been mostly fine, except for on one desktop, it didn't like the generic USB Wireless connector. The USB connector ran better with it's stock firmware.

Pros, cons to either?

Thanks all

[ausmike]

I always find XP ( windows built-in) gives much better 'thru-put' & or SPEEDS....

I am never been a fan of ThinkVantage Software from IBM/Lenovo.... and hardly ever install any of them.....except 2 = Hot Keys & Power Manager. rest in my view are JUNK !!!

Hope this helps !

[twillis449]

I support the above comment. When I've used the ThinkVantage stuff to manage my
wireless connection the connection always seems to get dropped within 1/2 hour of startup.

[rustyh3]

Great Question -
Please expand on the answer a bit........
How do you get IBM Access Connections to not load?
I have been unable to get this to not load. May be my short fuse with this process.
I have left it alone and have radio turned off in settings. Use Wireless Network Connections instead.
Does this make sense?
Thanks,
Rusty

[sarbin]

How do you get IBM Access Connections to not load?

on all of my machines with an ibm/lenovo preload, access connections is one of the first things i uninstall via add/remove. that surely gets it to "not load"!

[NorrisCell]

I always find XP ( windows built-in) gives much better 'thru-put' & or SPEEDS....

I am never been a fan of ThinkVantage Software from IBM/Lenovo.... and hardly ever install any of them.....except 2 = Hot Keys & Power Manager. rest in my view are JUNK !!!

Hope this helps !

I don't care for IBM's manager either. If it has already been installed as part of a restore, I usually open XP's wireless settings and it gives me the option to use Windows' Zero Configuration Utility, which transfers control back to Windows.

[craigmontHunter]

I agree. I have used Access connections when I broke the WZC in windows. The only time I could see it being truly usefull is if you work in multiple locations, with multiple printers, proxy settings and other features.

Otherwise use WZC

[Neil]

Even when working in multiple locations, as I do daily, I prefer WZC. I suppose if one needed multiple profiles, such as craigmontHunter describes, Access Connections might have some advantages. But not for me.

[darkdragoon]

I use Access Connection on my X40 for work due to multiple locations with VPN, proxy... but I stick with WZC on my T43 at home.

[fefrie]

I used autoruns to disable IBM on startup. It's still in system, but doesn't load.

[burns334]

Is there an easy way to stop access connections from loading, I would hate to do an add/delete program and then have a problem getting on line? I am not familiar with autoruns.

[sarbin]

autoruns is a good program. it's part of the sysinternals group of utilities published by micro$oft.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... fault.aspx
lots of nifty, free tools there.

just unzip it and run the exe. find what you want to stop from loading, "uncheck" it and reboot. if you end up with a connection problem, just reverse the process.

hth.

[atanasoff]

What's the problem with Access Connections? It does seem to be unpopular, but I haven't had any aggravation with it - yet. I find it helpful - power on the machine & it finds the best available connection. I can set up profiles with different settings for wired/wireless public/private sites. Easy to set a particular radio channel per location, it provides a map of signal strength of access point type etc. Perhaps my experience isn't typical.

How could AC slow the data transmission? Is that not handled at a completely different layer than the connection manager?

[burns334]

autoruns is a good program. it's part of the sysinternals group of utilities published by micro$oft.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysi ... fault.aspx
lots of nifty, free tools there.

just unzip it and run the exe. find what you want to stop from loading, "uncheck" it and reboot. if you end up with a connection problem, just reverse the process.

hth.

No problem with autoruns, downloaded and unzipped and unchecked 2 items for access connections and rebooted and went on line without problems, all good. Now when I click on "Wireless Network Connection" in the system tray ( the little computer that is radiating) it opens and shows me online and stats but when I click on "view wireless networks" I don't see any networks and in the middle of the popup it says windows cannot configure this wireless connection. Can someone explain this to me?

Edit: I got it now, follow the directions in the popup window, click advanced settings and tell it to go in that way, no problemo!!

[atanasoff]

Not to be contrary, but have you tried a later version of AC? So far I haven't had trouble, though many people dislike it. I'm sorta curious what problems are lurking there.

The only issue I have with mine is that there's a list of old connection profiles which I can't clear through the GUI. Pretty minor, and that can probably be fixed by editing a file/registry key somewhere.

[burns334]

Not to be contrary, but have you tried a later version of AC? So far I haven't had trouble, though many people dislike it. I'm sorta curious what problems are lurking there.

The only issue I have with mine is that there's a list of old connection profiles which I can't clear through the GUI. Pretty minor, and that can probably be fixed by editing a file/registry key somewhere.

Well I actually have never had a problem with AC but I was going to go with the WZC because of recommendations in this thread. My office IT guys set up our machines using Access Connections a few years ago and I always thought it worked GREAT.

[Ralf Hutter]

I'd also like to know what the issues are with Access Connections. I'm currently running various iterations of it on 4 T42's and an x31 with no issues that I can see.