Wireless Upgrade to Lenovo's driver slows performance..(?)

[malachont]

Hi,

(Thinkpad A31p 2GHZ 512MB WinXP/Win2k on separate partitions,
but sharing the same /Drivers directory).
forgetting the timeless rule "if it ain't broke" and so on, I downloaded
Lenovo's software installer and most irresponsibly told it that it has "carte blanche" to upgrade everything in the Win2k partition. Well it also upgraded my wireless drivers and Access connections software from version 2 to 4.01 (I don't know what version the driver was since it doesn't say on the software installer screen)

and after that it stopped connecting from the low reception areas of my house, where before it used to work with no problems (albeit slower of course). I have a 3COM router and L2TP cable connection, with DHCP (PC's working with automatic IP/DNS settings). Now it only connects when the reception is high. Elsewhere, it says:

ThinkVantage Access connections Toolbar Icon: "data frame errors"

The "Access connections" manager screen says "waiting for ip configuration"

I tried to do a renew ip/release IP in diagnostic tools, which fails for any of the lan adapters (unless in a good reception area).


tried ipconfig /flushdns it succeded but didn't solve the problem.


ipconfig /renew results in:
The following error occurred when renewing adapter Local Area Connection: DHCP Server unreachable


In Windows XP on same notebook (where I wisely didn't upgrade the drivers) everything works fine in the poor reception areas of the house where the newer drivers fail.
When I went back to the older drivers on Win2k it worked ok. but is it worth it trying to make the newer lenovo drivers working?

One other thing: I also installed the wirefirm.exe miniPCI Wireless card firmware upgrade, and now it seems to me that web page lookups (i.e. the time spent on DNS lookup) take longer. Is it possible to go back to the older firmware?

secondly, this experience suggests it is inadvisable to upgrade wireless firmware unless its to fix problems.. (well duh..!)

P.S. I have a 128 bit WEP encription and Router security only allowing certain MAC addresses.

P.S. 2 I want to keep the Thinkpad on automatic IP and DNS settings because so other users can go to public Wifi hotspots with it and get automatic connections without reconfiguring.


Thanks for reading.

[ramcelroy]

I upgraded the wireless firmware without problems quite a while ago. I had previously installed the 4.0 version of access connections (AC) and CPU utilization went to 100% so when the 4.01 version came out I stayed away. Currently using AC 3.81 with 64bit WEP and it seems to zip along just fine.

[massica]

I found the connection improved when I stopped using Access Connections and let Windows control the wireless connection.

Greetings from Switzerland

[a31pguy]

agreed. But if you have bluetooth - it's one of the only ways to get the service running from boot. That is unless i can figure out the registry hack or microcode that it runs.

I'm using the intel drivers on mine. Works fast and reliably with LEAP.