T43 Sluggish Wireless Performance?

[Jim Olson]

I've been using a new T43 2687DDU for about a month in a wireless environment with a half-dozen open-access routers within WiFi range. Some of the routers are cable-modem driven, some are DSL-driven.

On all of the routers this T43 has excruciatingly slow WiFi access while net surfing. The speed is acceptable when the computer is first booted up, but it begins to slow after about ten minutes of net surfing. By 15 minutes the data rate is down to sub-dialup speeds--half minute per web page is not unusual.

We have other Thinkpads in the house, including a recent T42. They don't have this WiFi problem. The problem is not tied to any specific webpage, time of day, software application, etc. The problem has consistently occured during the past month.

The problem fixes itself (at least for 15 minutes) if the computer is rebooted.

I bounced this problem off IBM tech support this morning. They drew a blank on it and offered to send me a new Intel Pro2200 wireless module to install in the computer.

Any thoughts on this amongst you?

[c333]

First, what card is in your laptop now? Most T43s, including mine, ship with the Intel 2915 card that supports a/b/g wifi. The 2200 card is the older model which supports b/g only. Some have had problems with the 2915 and linksys routers. From what I've read, the older 2200 had even more problems than the new 2915. Most T43Ps ship with the IBM card, which i believe is an Atheros chip. I think this is also an option on regular T43s. No matter what you have, you probably won't want the 2200 replacement, ask/demand for an IBM Atheros a/b/g model. Many would consider it superior to the intel chip. (after this, it technically wouldn't be a centrino laptop)

Also, I have noticed there are three layers of wifi control. I haven't figured it all out yet, but it seems there is wifi connection control through windows XP, Intel has their own software with the card, and IBM puts on Access Connections. So maybe these are conflicting? Again, i haven't figured mine out yet, but it seems redundant and complicated to me.

[projectx]

Very funny reading this. I used a ThinkPad T43 for a few weeks. Guess what.. I experienced the same problem. Really really slow Wi-Fi performance.

If you check the driver settings of your wireless card, you will find a setting for powersaving. When this is set to Low your card works extremely slow as it's set to use the least amount of energy. Set it back to high and your problems are over.

One thing that did frustrate me was the fact that it kept going back to the 'Low' setting. I didn't have the laptop long enough to find out why it would do this. I figured it was related to my power savings profile.

Hope this helps.

I've been using a new T43 2687DDU for about a month in a wireless environment with a half-dozen open-access routers within WiFi range. Some of the routers are cable-modem driven, some are DSL-driven.

On all of the routers this T43 has excruciatingly slow WiFi access while net surfing. The speed is acceptable when the computer is first booted up, but it begins to slow after about ten minutes of net surfing. By 15 minutes the data rate is down to sub-dialup speeds--half minute per web page is not unusual.

We have other Thinkpads in the house, including a recent T42. They don't have this WiFi problem. The problem is not tied to any specific webpage, time of day, software application, etc. The problem has consistently occured during the past month.

The problem fixes itself (at least for 15 minutes) if the computer is rebooted.

I bounced this problem off IBM tech support this morning. They drew a blank on it and offered to send me a new Intel Pro2200 wireless module to install in the computer.

Any thoughts on this amongst you?

[abvc]

Very funny reading this. I used a ThinkPad T43 for a few weeks. Guess what.. I experienced the same problem. Really really slow Wi-Fi performance.

If you check the driver settings of your wireless card, you will find a setting for powersaving. When this is set to Low your card works extremely slow as it's set to use the least amount of energy. Set it back to high and your problems are over.

One thing that did frustrate me was the fact that it kept going back to the 'Low' setting. I didn't have the laptop long enough to find out why it would do this. I figured it was related to my power savings profile.

Hope this helps.

can u tell me where the setting is? i found it last time but i forgot where it is now

edit: found it nvm