Intel a/b/g wireless adapter problem

[Joker]

I have a strange problem with my wireless connections on my T41p,
on some Accesspoints (Netgear, but also Cisco) I have the problem,
that after connecting to it, so after 5 mins. the connection is lost.
Other WLAN Clients have no problem at this time, so disable an enable
the WLAN doesn't fix the problem, also restarting the notebook has no effekt. BUT when I completly turn off the notebook, or enter the suspend mode, then the wireless connection comes up again and stays connected!!
This problem occours every time I use it, so I can reproduce it.
Updateing to the latest drivers and AccessConnections do not fix this Problem.

Any Ideas ???

Thanks,
Joker

[sktn77a]

Make sure the "802.11x authentication" box is unchecked in XP network setup. Also many wireless routers (DLINK, Linsys) with older firmware have had this problem. Firmware upgrades can fix this, but you may not be in a position to accomplish this.

[Joker]

Sorry for the delay on my reply....

I've already updated the firmware on the accesspoint, and the windows
xp network settings to configure the wireless lan are dieabled,
because I am using the ibm access connections for the settings.

I already have tried several things, like disable mac filtering on ap,
or disable wep encryption, but it is still the same.

any other ideas ???

thanks,
Joker

[G-Man]

Have you tried the following (if you have IBM a/b/g):

"If you currently use IEEE 802.1x authentication on Windows XP Service Pack 1 and do not use WPA encryption, IBM recommends to uninstall Q826942 (WPA Supplicant update in Windows XP ) and Q815485 (WPA Wireless Security Update in Windows XP)."

Just an idea.

Regards,
G-Man

[Joker]

Yes, I have IBM a/b/g, but it seems that both updates are not installed.

In Add/Remove Programs there are a lot of Fixes shown, but not
with these numbers.

First I thought it coud only be software or driver problem, but the strange thing is, that if the connection is lost and I reboot the notebook, the problem still exists. A shutdown or suspend solves the problem, so it is necessary that there is no power at the wireless module.
It is also possible that a software or driver writes something strange to the wireless module or changes any settings in it, that it have to shutdown completly to loose these settings.

On the other hand, if it is a hardware problem, the connection should be lost everytime, not only the first time a switch in the notebook. After the first time and after I power off and on, the wireless connection is ok, no problems. The next time I use the notebook the situation is the same, after a short period the connection is lost, -> poweroff - on...

A very strange thing

bg,
Joker

[Joker]

The neverending wireless story seems to be solved !!

After the try to use not the IBM AcessConnections Software,
and many other hints that I have tried with no success,
I called the IBM hardware support this week, and they sent me
a spare wireless card to replace mine.

After the replacement I never lost the wlan connection again!

The replacement card has the production date 05-2004,
and the original one 03-2004, maybe this charge has a problem.

So if you still have connection lost problems with your wireless
network, give it a try and call for a replacement.

bg,
Joker.

[sktn77a]

I have an IBM a/b/g card from late 2003 and it seems to work fine. So hopefully, yours was just a one-off bad card.

Keith

[WilsonF]

I have a new T42p 2373-HVU with the a/b/g card and have been experiencing dropped connections and failure to detect both a and g bands on a dual-band access point. Help Center is shipping me another a/b/g card.

IBM must have gotten a bad batch.

Oh well -- it's better than a bad batch of hard drives, which has happened twice in my history as a serial ThinkPad user.