Wireless problem, not for noobs :)

[rcrooks]

Hey all,

For the past year or so my wireless signal has been really weak. Most things others get 5 bars with I get 1 or no signal.

I am running XP with all latest drivers. I have taken apart the laptop and checked the modem daughter card connection with the mobo.

I have messed with all the wireless settings, both with access connections and without, I have also done a couple reformats.

I originally used the Notebook Hardware Controller program to undervolt my computer, which I thought was the initial cause of weak wireless, but have since done a couple reformats without reinstalling it, yet wireless is still weak.


What I HAVENT done:

Tried tracing the wireless antennae around the laptop, because I dont know where they go, and I dont know what Im looking for even if I trace them.

Buying a new MDC... obviously Id like to avoid this if possible, since I dont even know if that would fix it.


Any input or suggestions on what to check (software and hardware-wise) would be greatly appreciated.

[jdhurst]

1. In a T4x, the mini-PCI card is under the palmrest. Remove the palm rest (get your hardware manual online) and you will see the wireless card. Are both antenna wires firmly connected? The antenna are in the screen
2. If you are going to reimage anyway, install Cain (oxit.it) and Access Connections 4.42. In Cain, I see my own wireless at -57dBm, a dlink router at -93dBm and a unex router at 85dBm. In Access Connections, I show up at 100 percent, one other (probably the unex) shows up at 80 percent. The point of this is for you to measure your own and see if you get near the dBm values. Maybe you do have a weak signal.
3. Is your router shielded from your computer?
4. Let us know what kind of router you have. They are not all created equal.
... JDH

[rcrooks]

Will check the antenna connections shortly, thanks for that tip!

This is with any of a variety of routers/networks, my signal is always at least 3 bars weaker than what other laptops see.

[richk]

The antenna wires go around the LCD. Set the machine with the LCD going in a different direction. Also, try a different channel.

[rcrooks]

Alright after cracking open the computer and securing the wires at the mini PCI I have seen no improvement.

I have ruled out any software settings because even after a complete IBM rescue and recovery, wireless was still weak.



My next plan of attack is to remove the aux and main wires seprately and see if that has an effect on my reception... If removing one or the other has no effect, then the antenna wire can be faulted

Assuming I find nothing out by removing one/both wires... what part should be replaced?? The mini PCI or the modem daughter card?

[SHoTTa35]

the mini-pci of-course. The modem daughtercard is just that a modem. That will have no effect on your wifi. I guess you can try another mini-pci and see if that helps, if it doesn't then it must be the router or driver thing or something else i can't think of.

[coreman]

I had some serious wireless problems when I updated my drivers to the latest at the time (Aug 2006)...rolling back drive to circa 2005 driver fixed the problem. In April this year, I replaced the motherboard and ran smack dab into same problems again...including weak signal reception. I have T41/Win XP/Intel 2200 mini...rolled back drivers and have been humming along every since.

From the hardware side, power loss would likely result from antenna connection problem (not likely the actual antenna but rather an issue at the connection, perhaps corrosion has caused connection resistance to increase or joint has crack/broken wire) or the PA module on the daughtercard went south.

The PA controls the output power of the radio and the drivers tell Windows how to handle the wireless connection...

I would first try rolling back the driver to 2005 or earlier...

[rcrooks]

Bump...

Alright, when both wires are plugged in I can see 3 networks at around 1-2 bars each

When I remove the aux wire I can see 5 at 1-2 bars each (weird?)

When I remove main I can see only my own at 0-1 bar


I have looked everywhere to change the wireless settings that I can find, and have everything on max power. I uninstalled Access Connections a while ago, so unless Access Connections can change some power value in the computer registry, I have absolutely no idea what the problem could be, other than a busted mini PCI ethernet card.

Anything IBM or I did to the settings, even if it changed some registry value, would be erased and rewritten with a full rescue and recovery formatting, right?

Im gonna wait til tomorrow, and if I dont hear anything constructive from the forum, will go ahead and pull the trigger on a new mini pci I suppose.

Thanks for the help!

[coreman]

Your post doesn't mention if you tried older drivers...

As posted, I found serious conflicts with Win XP SP2 and July 2006 driver. All was corrected when I rolled back to 2005 for my Intel 2100 card, current driver is 1.2.4.41 dated 2/28/2005 and working perfectly.

The latest driver for my card is October 2006 and it too caused problems in March 2007 when motherboard was changed (Lenovo tech updated all of the hardware drivers at same time).

When I got notebook back, the wireless began working very sporadically so I rolled back to the 2005 driver a second time and it works perfectly now...nice strong signals and solid connections.

[Johan]

... the (internal) antenna locations may be seen if following the links given in the thread T41 internal WLAN antenna, location & possible enhancements.

If you check the signal strength in your ThinkPad against the signal strength of a similar laptop (preferably a ThinkPad of the same type and with the same SW), and placed at the same spot, and if the signal strengths differ substantially, one might start to believe that the LNA (low-noise amplifier, an important part of the receiver) on your WLAN card might be defective?

Note that orientation of your laptop may have quite some influence on the signal strength, as discussed in the thread T40 wireless (Cisco PCI) keeps shutting down Wifi router. Not an easy job you've got here, I am afraid. Good luck, in any case, with getting it to work again!

Best regards,

Johan