Wireless performance issue

[thinker2]

Hello,

I have a Z61p running Win XP 32-bit.

I've been using the machine for 2 years without network issues. On March 7, I kicked off a System Update and since then the performance of my wireless connections have been inconsistent.

The anecdotal behavior is that it seemed to take longer to access websites and transfer files. Sometimes, there would be seconds where IE and FF just hung with no UI response to mouse clicks. One experiment I performed was to start a continuous ping to my local router. When using my wired connection, I would get a consistent low ping time (< 10 ms) with no packet loss. On other Thinkpad laptops (we don't have another Z61p, but we have a Z61m, W500, T500, and A31p), there are also low ping times with little to no packet loss. On my laptop, the ping time varies from 1ms to 4500ms (4.5 seconds!). I also typically have 1% to 3% packet loss over an hour.

After several discussions with Lenovo support, I have the following results:

1. The Lenovo toolbox reports no errors with the system board or wireless card

2. Uninstalling Access Connections, the wireless driver, power management, hotkeys, and then installing power manager, hotkeys, wireless driver, and access connections (with a reboot between each of the 8 steps) does not change the behavior.

3. Using Windows XP's system restore, I have found that restoring to a point prior to the System Update on March 7 (specifically right before "Installed Thinkpad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter" ) fixes the problem. If I update to "Installed Thinkpad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter" I am not able to use the adapter. If I update to the point immediately after ("Installed Productivity Center" ), then the wireless performance problem is reproducible.

4. Disconnecting and reconnecting the two wires on the wireless card (what a couple of the support folks referred to as "reseating the card" ) did not change the behavior.

Are there any other suggestions for diagnosing or addressing the problem?

Thanks

Sandeep

[Harryc]

I have found that restoring to a point prior to the System Update on March 7 (specifically right before "Installed Thinkpad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter" ) fixes the problem.

This reminds me of the old joke...I went to the Doctor and I said...'Doc it hurts when I do this'....then the Doc said, 'well don't do that'. . The next thing ya know you'll mention that you are shocked that Lenovo might release a bad driver...LOL.