Wireless radio turns off automatically

[eirikur]

Hi.

My wireless radio keeps turning off automatically (Thinkpad T40). Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

Thanks.

[Harryc]

That would be normal if it is not being used and you are on battery, provided that you've selected one of the power saving modes in Thinkvantage, power manager. Is the WIFi card in use (active) when it goes offline? If so, define 'turns off automatically'. Does it (network adapter) still show up in device manager?

[Paul Unger]

eirikur,

Can you tell us what type of wireless card you have (go Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Network Adapters, click the '+' and you should see it listed there)? I was having lots of 'unexpected disconnect' problems with my Intel 2200 b/g card until yesterday when I updated the driver to version 11.1.1.0. It has been stable since then. Not long, I know, but believe me it is way better than before! My other machine with the Atheros card has always been stable. I have all powersaving options (that I'm aware of) either turned off or set to 'max performance' for both cards, but the Intel card would just disconnect on its own . . . So, having said all that, you might do well to look for a driver update or search around and see if others recommend a 'stable' driver version for the wireless card you have (sometimes newer is not always better . . . ). Good luck!

[eirikur]

I have Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter.
Driver Version: 1.2.4.41

Does it (network adapter) still show up in device manager? YES

Is the WIFi card in use (active) when it goes offline? If so, define 'turns off automatically'? YES

The computer is not running on battery when this happens.

Thanks for your replies

[ttalumets]

Try generic driver from intel.com
I had the same problem with this card in T40. That helped.
Also make sure you have latest bios. One older bios also made wlan unstable.

[sktn77a]

I've had miscellaneous problems like this with 3 T4x computers over the last 6 months (didn't used to do this). I think it's an updated software issue but I was too lazy to do the whole troubleshooting thing. I uninstalled Access Connextions and have had no problem on any of them since.

But the power saving option seems the most likely - you can still have low power options active when the computer is plugged in - check them all out.