XP SP2 network switching requires reboot to switch networks

[JohnO]

Greetings,

I've got a T41 (2379) with Windows XP. This is my first ThinkPad. It was purchased new in April, and until mid-August network switching has been flawless. I have 11 network profiles, most wireless, some combo wired and wireless, and a couple wired configurations.

In mid-August I received a Norton Anti-virus software update. Since that update, wireless switching sometimes worked, and sometimes did not.

I've been updating my IBM drivers regularly.

Last week I updated to IBM Access Connection 3.30, the latest drivers for the Intel wireless 2100 driver, and Windows XP SP2.

Since that time, I can't switch networks without restarting the computer, whereas before I could easily Hibernate or Standby while using wireless at home, drive to work, plug or go wireless at the office, Wake up and be on the network.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

John

[jdhurst]

I have a T41 with SP2, Access Connections 3.30 and the IBM 11/a/b/g card. Network switching is normally automatic on startup, and I can switch manually whenever I want. I never have to restart.

Consider uninstall Access Connections completely, uninstalling your Wireless NIC, rebooting and reinstalling in the reverse order to see if that helps.
... JDHurst

[JohnO]

Thanks -- I'll give that a try.

One point I didn't add is that it appears to switch interfaces OK, but never pick up a DHCP address.

John

[Leon]

will it pick it up if you load the IP manually?

RUN>CMD

ipconfig -release
ipconfig -renew

[JohnO]

Nope - release/renew doesn't fix it. Which is weird.

I have taken the step of removing AC (AND all my profiles) and the network drivers. I've reinstalled the drivers, and set up one profile for home. When I try it wired and wireless at the two other networks I'll see today, I'll know if I've made a difference.

Thanks,

John

[JohnO]

It's all working now!

I think the key was to delete the profiles along with IBM Access Connection.

It'll be a bit of a hassle to re-enter them all, but that's OK.

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

John

[JohnO]

It stopped working after installing the software that came with the ThinkPad external keyboard.

Odd. I'll try the re-installation and see what happens next.

John

[JohnO]

It is somehow related to profiles.

Today I deleted all my profiles, but didn't deleted the AC software or drivers.

I added one profile, tested it, then added three more, and it continued to work.

I don't know if some combination of profiles might be causing a problem.

I have the following:

- One wired/wireless profile with 64bit static WEP key
- One wired/wireless profile with Cisco LEAP authentication
- One wired/wireless profile with PEAP authentication
- One wireless profile with 128bit static WEP key

Any way to debug where the problem might be if it crops up again?

Thanks,

John

[JohnO]

It stopped again a few days later. I think it stops everything I install software.

[Elhabash]

I have the same problem. It normally happens when I switch from a wired profile to a wireless one. Everything works fine until it comes to getting an IP.

Someone on this forum suggested turning off the Wireless Zero Configuration services. I did, and it seems to work fine now. At least once, today.

[JohnO]

Thanks for the reply. Turning off Wireless Zero Configuration, and setting it to manual had no change on the behavior on my system.

It's odd. It'll fail for days on end, then work for a couple of days.

John