T42 and wireless problem

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rbyham · #1 Post by **rbyham** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:18 pm

I have a wireless network in my house. Connected to that wireless network is a desktop computer and on occasion, I bring my IBM T42 laptop home from the office to work in the House as well. The wireless network works flawlessly as long as it is just working with the desktop computer. But as soon as I try to add my laptop to the wireless connection, it works for about 10 or 15 minutes and then something happens to kick the laptop off of the network and also make the wireless network inaccessible to the desktop computer.

I don't know if I'm being clear. But I am very much a newbie when it comes to wireless networks. I called IBM technical support today and spent an hour there. And in the process, they updated my hot key software, and also the driver for my wireless network card, but none of that seems to make a difference. I would appreciate any suggestions as to what I could try next.

Thanks

dr. zoidberg · #2 Post by **dr. zoidberg** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:29 pm

What model of router and what model of wireless card do you have?

rbyham · #3 Post by **rbyham** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:36 am

Doc... thanks for responding. My router is a Linksys BEFW 11S4 and my card is the Intel Pro 2200BG. My T42 type is 2378... sorry I did not provide with orignal post. I have also searched here and found some help but not yet a solution. One more thing... the wireless "tower" lcd on my T42 appears to sort of flash rather than present as a solid light. Is that normal? Thanks...

christopher_wolf · #4 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:34 am

rbyham wrote:Doc... thanks for responding. My router is a Linksys BEFW 11S4 and my card is the Intel Pro 2200BG. My T42 type is 2378... sorry I did not provide with orignal post. I have also searched here and found some help but not yet a solution. One more thing... the wireless "tower" lcd on my T42 appears to sort of flash rather than present as a solid light. Is that normal? Thanks...

It depends; sounds normal to me as the light indicates packet transmission and reception events. What is the frequency of the flashing? Strobe-like or is it more of an intermittent thing?

rbyham · #5 Post by **rbyham** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:08 am

Pretty intermittent. I can see no regular pattern... just blinks on and off every few secodns. It could be registering packet transmission. Can others verify that the thing is supposed to blink? Any other laptop I have had or used, the WiFis is either on (lit) or off (unlit)... oh well.

christopher_wolf · #6 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:07 pm

Normal Operating Behaviour in that case; although I would be a tad concerned if it was blinking 5 times a second constantly as I saw a T4X Series Thinkpad that did that....it needed a driver reinstall plus the router was buggy.

What you are describing sounds perfectly normal for a Thinkpad; my friend's X40 and T42 do the same thing.

dr. zoidberg · #7 Post by **dr. zoidberg** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:43 am

As far as the disconnects go, it could be the router. Does the connection come back on its own or do you have to do something to get it to come back?

rbyham · #8 Post by **rbyham** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:37 am

Sorry about disappearing guys... had to hit the road for a week... anyway, I am back home and getting same problem with my wifi. Thing works fine for about 15 minutes and then just goes down. It does require a reset of the router to come back up. I have checked router and have latest firmware... not sure what to do next. No error messages or anything makes this a challenging troubleshoot.

kidziti · #9 Post by **kidziti** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:48 am

I think the issue is likely entirely the router. I have the BEFW11S4 as well. The most recent firmware upgrade helped decrease the frequency it dropped my laptop offline, but still wasn't perfect. A huge issue with the Linksys B router firmware is its inability to handle streaming media; it might be interesting if you can correlate the crash of the router with the invocation of a software media device such as media player, real player, quicktime, etc. This is a known bug for some time with this router, and from the date of the latest firmware, I wouldn't hold your breath for a fix anytime soon.

I have been a fan of Linksys hardware, but their firmware has always been an issue - I recently returned a new MIMO-based (pre-N) Linksys router because of buggy firmware. I now have the Belkin pre-N (great reviews, BTW), and it seems to work flawlessly so far. It's only issue was that it was incompatible with my built-in Atheros-based A/B WiFi card - so I also use a Belkin adapter while I wait for IBM/Lenovo to ship my new Atheros A/B/G WiFi card.

kam_ · #10 Post by **kam_** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:52 am

Right click My computer -> properties -> hardware -> device manager

Double click 'network adapters', Right click 'Intel PRO wireless...' -> properties

go to advanced. Change mixed mode protection to RTS/CTS enabled.

Try that, it seems to drive some AP's nuts if its left as CTS to self.

#11 Post by **bill bolton** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 5:11 pm

kidziti wrote:Belkin pre-N (great reviews, BTW)

It actually has quite indifferent performance reports from real world users.

Cheers,

Bill

T42 and wireless problem

T42 and wireless problem

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