Thinkpads Forum

I'm having a problem with my wifi that is a serious annoyance. Randomly, it will shut off. The light on the monitor (the row of lights with the battery symbol and all that) will shut off. Flipping the hardware switch does nothing (well, the pop up window does come up, but it doesn't actually do anything). Access Connections becomes very slow to respond, and while it can't pick up anything it thinks the wifi is on.

Restarting the computer will fix it, but whenever this happens on the shut down part of the restart the computer spends a lot of time doing nothing on the "Windows is shutting down..." screen.

Ray will say to uncheck power management in the software and to set it to Max Performance.

I know how to set it to max performance, but where do I uncheck power management?

BTW, hello from a Bethesda native.

marlinspike wrote:...but where do I uncheck power management?

Right click My computer -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager -> Network adapters -> choose your WLAN adapter and double click -> Power Management tab -> uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and click OK....Try with new drivers if that doesn't work...

I have this exact problem on a Z61m and a R61i

Ok, I've unchecked the box. Let's see if this works. It didn't always do this. The problem does pre-date the latest driver update, but I'm not sure if the driver update before that was the start of it, or if it started some time after that (I just know the latest driver update didn't fix it because I downloaded thinking it would fix my problem).

Well, I thought that fixed it, but it didn't.

I have the same problem on a T60. The wifi light goes out, and the wifi stops working. All the wifi programs such access connections, the associated tray icon etc. are not responsive and need to be terminated by windows. The only solution is to reboot.

If anyone knows of a solution, I'd really love to know.

I had a similar problem (WiFi woulod stay on but loose connectivity) and Vista SP1 seems to have fixed this - at leats a few days running now

I have the exact same problem on an x60 Tablet. On Vista with all available patches installed. Seems to happen only when laptop has been idle for a while.

Power management set on Maximum Performance.

I've also tried disabling and then enabling Wireless Area Connection under Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections. That has no effect.

Function-F5 takes many seconds to respond when wifi shuts off. Hardware wireless on/off switch has no effect. Can still switch Bluetooth on and off just fine.

It's as if some power management feature is shutting down wifi and leaving driver or HW in an inconsistent state.

Device Manager -> Network adapters -> your wifi card -> uncheck "allow the computer to turn off this devivice". If one uses some of the default profiles in Power Manager, this setting will probably reappear again after a reboot because Lenovo Power Manager and windows built-in power management tend to overwrite each other. Hence the best thing one can do is creating a new power profile in Lenovo Power Manager.

Hope this helps

Marin


PS: Such discussions appear at least twice a week. Forum Search hasn´t hurt anyone

Marin85 wrote:PS: Such discussions appear at least twice a week. Forum Search hasn´t hurt anyone

Thanks. I searched three times and only found this thread. Maybe wifi isn't the best search term for this issue?

Proof of concept:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 01#p412801
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 72#p492772
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 05#p490205
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 21#p421021
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 62#p488862
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 28#p461028
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 17#p488317
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 73#p487573
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 33#p484433
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 70#p446670

Maybe, you are right, wifi is not the best search word, but then there are other options like wireless + power management or wireless + turn off to try

Cheers,

Marin

I too have been through this issue numerous times and have come to find the problem is caused by ACCESS CONNECTIONS. When I uninstall it and use the Windows Wireless software I never have an issue. Then, as we all tend to do I try to install and use Access Connections again and the same issue comes up. Sometimes not right away, but all of a sudden I begin to have to same problem.

Anyhow, a couple of months ago I got rid of Access Connections once and for all and have not had the problem since. No mater what version you use, you will wind up with problems.

Hope this helps.....

That´s because AC enforces its power profile In fact, if I remember correctly, there was a power-saving-related setting somewhere in AC. (Other than that I have never had any problems with AC, yet I have to admit I don´t use it anymore because I simply don´t need it.)

Cheers,

Marin

Yep, A.C. does utilize power saving features, but I have turned it off, and after a few days of use Access Conections starts playing its same games, turning off the Wi-Fi connection.

I have really come to believe this issue has to do with other software which may be installed on one T60 Vs. another. There is certainly an issue that needs looking into by Lenovo. Moreover, A.C. really needs to be updated as I feel it's outdated an fails far to often.

Cheers
Steve

I was always thinking that AC power settings, Lenovo PM settings and windows power settings overwrite each other in some way after rebooting. The only solution I found was to create an individual power profile in Power Manager. Even after uninstalling AC, both PM and windows power settings kept overwriting each other´settings (in some wide sense) after rebooting, the individual power profile seems to have solved the problem. I use an older version of PM though.

Cheers,

Marin

I am having a tremendous problem with this. My wifi card likes to shut off after about 10-30 minutes of use and then locks up the computer if you attempt to adjust any network devices. I have tried all the easy fixes listed on this website. I created my own power management scheme. I adjusted the device settings to not allow the power manager to turn off the device. I followed all the directions in the guide by Mr. Hyams St. Agnes Academy I found in a previous thread. I installed new wireless card drivers from Lenovo.

I am beginning to think my card has gone bad? Is it possible that the card is overheating or there is a hardware issue with this? If it is broken, can I replace the PCI wireless card or is my best option to just buy a wireless card for the PC card slot?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, I am starting to get pretty frustrated.

What model is your wifi card? From your post there seems to be indeed some chance that your card has gone or is going bad. Also, you could try reseating it, it could be just some lose contact. I would also scan for malware. You could also try putting another wifi card in that is known to work. If is doesn´t work, then there is either some problem with the mini pci slot or, what would be more likely, a software problem of some sort. If your laptop is still under warranty, I think that would be a good moment to call Lenovo.

Well,

I ordered a Hitachi 7K320 which is showing up tomorrow. I will be doing a fresh install of XP on the new hard drive so I am hoping this will eliminate any possibility of malware or bad drivers. I'll let you know if the problem persists after the new install.

Best of luck with your new HD. I have the 250gig version of this drive and really enjoy it....

Hopefully your fresh install will take care of the Wi-Fi issue. Only time will tell. I gave up on using Acess Connections and just utilize Windows to control my Wi-Fi and it works great. No more loss of power / losing my wi-fi. It became too much of a pain in the $#^........

Enjoy your new drive,

Steve

Ive never used AC, never liked that found no point in having extra software to do what Windows do very basically but fine without problems.

Marin85 wrote: Also, you could try reseating it, it could be just some lose contact.

I just reloaded last night and I am still having this same issue. Can you please explain how to check the wifi card connection and reseat it?

rschauby wrote:I just reloaded last night and I am still having this same issue. Can you please explain how to check the wifi card connection and reseat it?

You have to remove a few screws on the bottom of the ThinkPad and remove the keyboard. Then you should be able to see the wifi card -> Lenovo T60p hardware removal videos.

Ok,

Well I am pretty sure it is a hardware issue at this point. I replaced my HD with a new Hitachi 7K320 , and did a fresh windows XP install (not an image or a recovery from recovery disks). I also went through all the power and wireless settings to make sure nothing was turning off the wifi for any reason.

Marin, I did as you said and checked on my wireless card. I can't see anything wrong with it, and I reseated it.

My question now would be: Can I order a wifi card from Lenovo and replace it? Also, can I be 100% sure it is this wifi card and there isn't some other issue on the MB that is causing/telling the wifi card to turn off.

I'm terribly confused because my symptoms are identical to those people who just needed to turn off power managing and Access Connections.

Hah!

Just checked and apparently my 3 year warranty doesn't expire until 4/23/2009.

I'll call Lenovo and let them take care of this.

You should be able to get Lenovo to send you a replacement wireless card, since you have already figured out how to replace it yourself.