Very slow wireless - Driver problem?

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technux · #1 Post by **technux** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:26 am

Hello all,

I just upgraded to a T60 (2007-63G) from a T40p. I have done a full format and reinstalled everything from scratch on a new harddrive.

Everything seems to be running smoothly except for my wireless network, which is extremely slow compared to both my old T40 and cabled network.

I suspect it's a driver issue as I get I get an error message when pressing Fn+F5: "Unable to change state for wireless, please update the driver".

Can anyone help me?

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:33 am

Where to start? This subject has been covered ad infinitum. The fix that works also seems to vary from user to user. It is my belief that the problem usually starts from upgrading the wireless driver software, without: first uninstalling Access Connections, and second uninstalling the previous wireless driver software. Then the wireless driver software update can be installed, followed by reinstalling Access Connections.

The following is probably the most comprehensive thread on the subject.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=29939

Ken Fox · #3 Post by **Ken Fox** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:24 am

GomJabbar wrote:Where to start? This subject has been covered ad infinitum. The fix that works also seems to vary from user to user. It is my belief that the problem usually starts from upgrading the wireless driver software, without: first uninstalling Access Connections, and second uninstalling the previous wireless driver software. Then the wireless driver software update can be installed, followed by reinstalling Access Connections.

The following is probably the most comprehensive thread on the subject.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=29939

You may find that if you uninstall AC, all your problems will go away. Unless you constantly change wireless connections, you will probably also find that you don't need AC and that the Windows wireless application works fine. When I say constantly change wireless connections, I mean like doing it everyday. If you don't change that often, the windows software is more than sufficient.

technux · #4 Post by **technux** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:52 pm

I see the issue can be quite complicated.

Ken Fox: I tried uninstalling it. I don't change wireless network so often, so it's worth a try - I uninstalled it now.

It seems to have helped a little, at least now I'm getting decent speeds from several sites, but it does slow down a lot once in a while. I'll keep it like this for a little while and try with some other drivers if it's not good enough for a permanent solution.

Merry Christmas!

Ken Fox · #5 Post by **Ken Fox** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:58 pm

technux wrote:I see the issue can be quite complicated.

Ken Fox: I tried uninstalling it. I don't change wireless network so often, so it's worth a try - I uninstalled it now.

It seems to have helped a little, at least now I'm getting decent speeds from several sites, but it does slow down a lot once in a while. I'll keep it like this for a little while and try with some other drivers if it's not good enough for a permanent solution.

Merry Christmas!

If this is going on in your house, or wherever you have control of the router, you should try changing the broadcast channel in your router through either its software or web address interface. In order to do this you will of course need to log in to your router

There are quite a few houses with wireless networks around mine. Most of the time I have great reception but occasionally it really stinks, with poor transmission speeds and difficulty logging on. Invariably at those times I have neighbors who are on the same channel as my router is one. In those instances I've found that by changing the broadcast channel I immediately correct the problem.

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are mostly "non-overlapping." You should choose one of those if you are having this sort of problem. I have found that I cannot trust my router to "automatically" select a channel; I have to do it manually.

arni · #6 Post by **arni** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:04 pm

What connection do you have. If it's a DSL or cable line connection you might try checking you TCP settings (MTU and RWIN) under windows.

The default settings in windows are not optimized for this type of connections. You might get tcpoptimizer from speedguide http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php and let it set your settings to a optimum value.

As is for my T60 i also had decent speed on wlan compared to cable networking. After applying the correct mtu values i'm now getting the correct speed of my 6mbit connection.

technux · #7 Post by **technux** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:21 pm

Thank you for all your replys.

I decided to remove all the currently installed drivers and start all over. I installed access connections as the last program and now everything seems to work fine.

Fn+F5 works and the speed seems to have greatly improved!

I havnt changed channels on my router yet, but I will try if the problem comes back. I'll also try the TCP tweaking, sounds interesting.

Nebzar · #8 Post by **Nebzar** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:15 pm

technux wrote:I'll also try the TCP tweaking, sounds interesting.

It really is!

At home I have a 4mbps Adsl, and wireless on my T60 is working flawlessly.

Nevertheless, I was wandering why, when connected to the ADSL gateway by ethernet the speed of my internet connection was around 3.7 - 3.8 mbps and, instead, when connected through wifi, it was only 1.5 mbps approx.

I thought it was because of the WEP cryptography, but after reading the above post I downloaded the TCP Optomizer and ran it, letting it decide every parameter.

Well: the speed over wifi is now identical to that over ethernet, i.e. around 3.7-3.8 mbps.

Thanks arni!

bigbear2007 · #9 Post by **bigbear2007** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:55 pm

I only running only the driver and I found that wireless is quite a bit slower than wired. I have 2 T60 (1 for my wife & 1 for myself) and the laptops are within 10 feet of the wireless router and the signal strenght is 100%.

twister · #10 Post by **twister** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:07 am

Having problem with my Thinkpad internal wireless card as well (Atheros a/b/g/n). Got Belkin N1 router, a huge improvement over the range coverage from Linksys. My wife's T42 with built-in a/b/g card has no problem. I'm getting an extreme slow internet connection. Belkin N1 has the latest firmware. I also have the latest Thinkpad wi-fi drivers. Used uninstall and re-install from a clean start, with and without Access Connection. Also, run TCP optimizer, still no help. What is interesting, I'm getting a lighting fast download speed (1Mbps), but web browsing is so way slow

I even disable XP firewall. I'm running McAfee and Spyware doctor. Don't know maybe there is seting in there that slows down browsing?

pinesol · #11 Post by **pinesol** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:03 pm

arni wrote:....
The default settings in windows are not optimized for this type of connections. You might get tcpoptimizer from speedguide http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php and let it set your settings to a optimum value....

I removed Access Control and ran the speedguide program causing my comp to crash with the blue memory dump screen. So I had to re-install Access Contol by clicking the Thinkvantage Upgrade program.

I don't know which caused program, removing AC or running speedguide?

pinesol · #12 Post by **pinesol** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:19 pm

twister wrote:Having problem with my Thinkpad internal wireless card as well (Atheros a/b/g/n). Got Belkin N1 router, a huge improvement over the range coverage from Linksys. My wife's T42 with built-in a/b/g card has no problem. I'm getting an extreme slow internet connection. Belkin N1 has the latest firmware. I also have the latest Thinkpad wi-fi drivers. Used uninstall and re-install from a clean start, with and without Access Connection. Also, run TCP optimizer, still no help. What is interesting, I'm getting a lighting fast download speed (1Mbps), but web browsing is so way slow I even disable XP firewall. I'm running McAfee and Spyware doctor. Don't know maybe there is seting in there that slows down browsing?

I alao have Atheros a/b/g/n card, so I will have to get an N router. OOps, that does not help web brwsing speed to improve. So there is no soluttion for the time being, is there?

pinesol · #13 Post by **pinesol** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:47 pm

When I download headers and articles from the newsgroups NNTP servers, I get almost the same throughputs with the wireless as with the wired, at about 158 KB/s.

Yet the web browsing speeds are very slow with the wireless compared with the wired. That was with MS Internet Explorer 7.

Then I got a dramatic increase in the web browsing speed with FireFox 2.0. So my feeling is that IE 7 is a bulky piece of software, causing such slow web browing.

#14 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:29 pm

pinesol wrote:Then I got a dramatic increase in the web browsing speed with FireFox 2.0. So my feeling is that IE 7 is a bulky piece of software, causing such slow web browing.

Here are a couple of things to check.

Microsoft (in first link below) wrote:Turn On Automatic Checking: Click here if you want to automatically check each and every site that you visit. The upside? You are less likely to get phished. The downside? Because the address of each Web site you visit is sent to Microsoft for verification against a list of known phishers, it'll slow up your browsing.

Internet Explorer 7: Security gets an upgrade

Why is my Internet connection so slow?

twister · #15 Post by **twister** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:14 pm

Hmm, but I'm still using IE6 with an up to date SP2 (I intentionally skipped IE7 installation). Haven't tried FireFox 2. Is there any setting in IE6 to speed up browsing?

Also, I did talk to Lenovo tech support, and it seems they are still waiting for new Atheros a/b/g/n updated drivers.

BTW, I also had that blue screen crash after AC removal. I would keep it for now, makes it more stable, at least in my case.

Another weird thinkg, when I click on Wireless Connection Status icon in the bar, I see "MIMO power save mode ON". I wonder if something goes to "sleep" and slows down browsing? I haven't found anywhere a place to disable that power save mode...

arni · #16 Post by **arni** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:02 am

pinesol wrote:Yet the web browsing speeds are very slow with the wireless compared with the wired. That was with MS Internet Explorer 7.

There was an issue with IE7 and it's phishing filter, slowing down computers which was described in KB928089.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928089/en-us

Maybe installing this update helps. Didn't try it myself, cause i can't reproduce this issues on my install.

pinesol · #17 Post by **pinesol** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:46 pm

I am not sure if I have found the answer, but I may have.

My wireless connection had been so slow with Netgear WGR614 v6 wireless router. Since I had also had problem with having my web server access (this router blocked access.), I switched back to my old Linksys wired router BEFSR41.

Now I can browse web sites with the wireless connection as fast as with the wired one, even with IE 7. The Netgear wireless router is used only as an access point and the Linksys wired router as the gateway.

twister · #18 Post by **twister** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:12 pm

pinesol wrote:I am not sure if I have found the answer, but I may have.

My wireless connection had been so slow with Netgear WGR614 v6 wireless router. Since I had also had problem with having my web server access (this router blocked access.), I switched back to my old Linksys wired router BEFSR41.

Now I can browse web sites with the wireless connection as fast as with the wired one, even with IE 7. The Netgear wireless router is used only as an access point and the Linksys wired router as the gateway.

I don't quiet follow your setup. You have Netgear wireless and Linksys wired. Than, you say that you switched back to Linksys therefore you are no longer using Netgear wireless? So, did you have your laptop connected from ethernet card to Linksys?!?

I tried every possible combination you guys suggested in here, installing/re-installing/un-installing my a/b/g/n wifi card drivers, AC program, etc. I'm getting slow internet connection, actually intermittent but most of the time web browsing is painfully slow

My wife's T42 with b/g card having a similar problem. I'm thinking could be due to a new Belkin N1 router? We had Linksys before, but its operating range is way too short. Switched to Belkin in hope it will be better. Can anybody else recommend another reliable router, hopefully with N support? Thanks!!!

pinesol · #19 Post by **pinesol** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:33 pm

twister wrote:I don't quiet follow your setup. You have Netgear wireless and Linksys wired. Than, you say that you switched back to Linksys therefore you are no longer using Netgear wireless? So, did you have your laptop connected from ethernet card to Linksys?!?

I tried every possible combination you guys suggested in here, installing/re-installing/un-installing my a/b/g/n wifi card drivers, AC program, etc. I'm getting slow internet connection, actually intermittent but most of the time web browsing is painfully slow My wife's T42 with b/g card having a similar problem. I'm thinking could be due to a new Belkin N1 router? We had Linksys before, but its operating range is way too short. Switched to Belkin in hope it will be better. Can anybody else recommend another reliable router, hopefully with N support? Thanks!!!

My setup is as follows:

DSL modem -->WAN port of Linksys wired router --> Netgear wireless router as an access point (one port is connected to a port of Linksys by a crossover ethernet cable).

It seems that Netgear's WAN port has some sort of firewall. I happened to discover this by accident. My home network has a web server running under Linux. After so many days' troubleshooting, I discovered that the Netgear router was blocking acess to my web server.

That is why I went back to my trusted Linksys router and everything is normal now. As an addes bonus, I also discovered my web browsing is as fast as it is expected to be.

deeastman · #20 Post by **deeastman** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:00 am

My wife's T42 with b/g card having a similar problem. I'm thinking could be due to a new Belkin N1 router?

You mentioned back on 12/26 that your wifes T42 was working as it should on the network. It appears something has now changed. I would suspect the router if both computers are now acting the same way (or the DSL line quality to your home). Is it possible to put your Linksys router back in place of the Belkin to check your Internet speed and function? If you no longer have the Linksys maybe you could go to a local Hot Spot with free WiFi (like a coffee shop) and see how your computers perform on their system. Just a thought since you appear to have covered the driver and configuration issues and your problem now appears on multiple computers.

twister · #21 Post by **twister** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:33 am

I actually just found out that my wife was tapping off the neighbors wifi and left it setup connected in there, since "she had enough of my constant playing with wireless router" LOL!!! So, disregard my last statement about her having problems with T42.

Here is my bizarre update. Once again, I uninstalled AC and wifi card driver, and just re-installed wifi card driver only. Than, I went into Belkin N1 setup and did router restart through its internal utility (vs me just unplugging power cord). Afterwards, I release/renew IP address on a home PC and my Thinkpad (rebooted T60 again) and.... knock on wood my internet connection started to fly!!! I will keep my eyes open for the next couple of days to see how consistent this is going to be.

In a meantime, I want you guys to know that I spoke with Lenovo support today regarding Thinkpad a/b/g/n wireless card driver update, and they told me to expect new drivers from Atheros around late January/early February time when Vista going to be released. That is when we can possible get N connection...

pinesol · #22 Post by **pinesol** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:07 am

twister, whatever you did with your Belkin router, that did the trick. I am not sure if I can blame my Netgear router for my slow wireless connection, but changing my network configuration solved the problem.

The lesson of the day is the routers can slow down web browsing however they do it.

SpawnyWhippet · #23 Post by **SpawnyWhippet** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:13 am

I suffered the same problem - web browsing with LAN cable was very fast, but connecting to the same router via wireless caused the browsing to drop to below dialup speeds. The T60 seemed to be OK at other locations, but other computers seemed to be OK using the wireless at my house. I tried driver upgrades, IE7 reinstalls and finally did a clean XP reinstall, none of which helped.

In the end, the fix was to flash the latest V24 DD-WRT firmware onto my Linksys WRT54G, then reset the router to defaults and then set my configuration again. Wireless browsing is now the same speed as with LAN cable.

Very slow wireless - Driver problem?

Very slow wireless - Driver problem?

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