OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

Message

Merlyn_3D · #1 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:02 am

For all you people wanting to use Wireless-G and wanna upgrade STAY AWAY FROM THE 2200BG. It's the most worthless piece of crap intel ever made. Don't believe me? Do a search for "2200BG and Wrt54g" on google, see just how many people are having problems with the 2200bg just dropping the connection and then picking it up again randomly. I replaced my b card with this because I wanted G, and turns out I can't have it because when I use G it's so inconsistent that I can't use it to transfer files (which is why I want G to begin with).

Funny thing is i tried the Atheros card, but that just wouldn't work at all with the T30. If you have the option though, get the non-Intel solution. This card just sucks.

syhead · #2 Post by **syhead** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:56 am

my 2200 is erratic too..

It got better after I disabled Zone Alarm (can't explain why)... but it stopped yesterday again... That's one failure in one week, which is much better than before...

When it stops I have to reboot to make it work again.

Kenn · #3 Post by **Kenn** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 4:28 am

When I first got my T42, I noticed that it dropped and instantly picked back up as well, very frequently. What made it even worse was IBM access connections being set up to pop up a tooltip every time that happened.

This is in contrast to my old HP notebook with some generic 802.11b (Actiontec Prism or something like that), which was rock solid for days of uptime.

For some reason, it's either stopped doing it or I stopped noticing. I've done quite a few large file transfers and it hasn't dropped yet.

It's weird how new machines and components always have strange bugs and behavior, which tend to settle down over time without any apparent user change.

#4 Post by **daeojkim** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:05 am

I am haveing no issues with 2200BG and linksys wireless router.
Have you updated to the latest firmware? May be that might help.

1885 · #5 Post by **1885** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:25 am

Me, too. I have absolutely no problems with the 2200BG in my T42 and a Lynksys access point. Flawless performance.

skuehne · #6 Post by **skuehne** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 10:31 am

Kenn wrote:When I first got my T42, I noticed that it dropped and instantly picked back up as well, very frequently.

Yep, same here on my T42. I somehow try to ignore it, and it hasn't really had any negative effects.

As a related question: I've noticed that the 'Intel Sebring API' takes up 4 GB of space, according to Windows' Control Panel. 4 friggin' *gigabytes* for the wireless card?! Is the 2200BG supported by the drivers that come standard with WinXP, so I can get rid of the Intel stuff?

Kenn wrote:It's weird how new machines and components always have strange bugs and behavior, which tend to settle down over time without any apparent user change.

Sometimes it's driver or OS updates, even if the fixes are not explicitly listed. But hey, as long as it works, it's OK with me ;-)

Sven

manixc · #7 Post by **manixc** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:24 am

skuehne wrote:
Kenn wrote:When I first got my T42, I noticed that it dropped and instantly picked back up as well, very frequently.
Yep, same here on my T42. I somehow try to ignore it, and it hasn't really had any negative effects.

As a related question: I've noticed that the 'Intel Sebring API' takes up 4 GB of space, according to Windows' Control Panel. 4 friggin' *gigabytes* for the wireless card?! Is the 2200BG supported by the drivers that come standard with WinXP, so I can get rid of the Intel stuff?

Kenn wrote:It's weird how new machines and components always have strange bugs and behavior, which tend to settle down over time without any apparent user change.
Sometimes it's driver or OS updates, even if the fixes are not explicitly listed. But hey, as long as it works, it's OK with me

Sven

my "Intel Sebring API" takes 4 gigs as well.

andypenguin · #8 Post by **andypenguin** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 3:25 pm

No problems here with the 2200BG. Lots of problems with the PRO/1000 MT though. So much for large file transfers...

dfumento · #9 Post by **dfumento** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 9:48 pm

Merlyn_3D wrote:For all you people wanting to use Wireless-G and wanna upgrade STAY AWAY FROM THE 2200BG. It's the most worthless piece of crap intel ever made.

Actually the two chips that make up the 2200 (and also the newer 2915) aren't made by Intel nor where they designed by Intel.

The are fabbed at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for Intel.

admsteiner · #10 Post by **admsteiner** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:21 pm

Merlyn_3D wrote:For all you people wanting to use Wireless-G and wanna upgrade STAY AWAY FROM THE 2200BG. It's the most worthless piece of crap intel ever made.

I've been using the 2200 since I got my TP in August. Many of my friends with IBMs (and assorted other companies) are using the 2200 as well with no problems.

dfumento wrote: Actually the two chips that make up the 2200 (and also the newer 2915) aren't made by Intel nor where they designed by Intel.
The are fabbed at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for Intel.

Are you sure Intel didn't design them? I was under the impression that they did. Didn't know that TSMC is fabbing them either, but I haven't really been keeping track on who is fabbing what where

--Adam

dfumento · #11 Post by **dfumento** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:56 pm

admsteiner wrote: Are you sure Intel didn't design them? I was under the impression that they did. Didn't know that TSMC is fabbing them either, but I haven't really been keeping track on who is fabbing what where

--Adam

Yes I am certain. I spoke with a person who writes multi-thousand dollar reports for industry and he told me.

darrenf · #12 Post by **darrenf** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:24 am

Merlyn_3D,

It's the drivers that are crap. And if you use WPA your problems will be magnified. The only drivers that I've gotten to work are the Intel generic v8.1.0.28 with PROset. This driver has low power use, holds a connection and doesn't crash the machine with a BSOD using WPA.

FYI: I had to use PROset to get the driver to work reliably. Using PROset with another version caused increased power consumption and hangups on shutdown, but things have been good with this version.

I wouldn't have tolerated it beyond a month if it wasn't for the incredible range/sensitivity of the 2200BG as compared with the IBM cards. Now I'm a happy camper (and not about to touch a THING!).

-darren

sjhwilkes · #13 Post by **sjhwilkes** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:16 pm

I'm using 8.1.0.25 driver with no problems at all.
I don't have the intel utilities or Access Connections loaded.

treker · #14 Post by **treker** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:19 pm

One month old T42 and I noticed intermittent drops with my Intel 2200b/g. About 1 or 2 completely unexplained drops per day lasting about a minute each.

After reading darrenf's post, I thought I would test the generic driver from Intel. Deleted Proset, Access Connections and the Intel 4gb driver. Then loaded just 8.1.028 driver from Intel site. It seems to be holding well. No drops in 12 hours so far... I must keep testing longer to see if this was just a coincidence. But maybe darrenf is onto something...? My control panel installed programs no longer show any 2200b/g software. I think a lot of hard disk space was cleared out.

Plinkerton · #15 Post by **Plinkerton** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:42 am

I love my 2200 bg. It works great with my linksys wrtg54 whatever it's called. It's solid all the time. I've updated two different T42's to SP2 thru the wifi signal with no problems whatsoever.

I like it...

-Plink-

Merlyn_3D · #16 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:58 am

If you post that your connection is really stable, please PLEASE put important info like the driver version and applications your using.

CChoi83 · #17 Post by **CChoi83** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 8:13 am

I used to have a 2200BG but I recently pulled it out and had the new IBM 802.11a/b/g mini-pci II card installed. The a/b/g is more flexible (obviously because of the added 802.11a) and it seems to hold on to a signal better and throughput is higher. Other than that, it's nothing too special. The 2200BG is a great wifi device and I enjoyed using it. I never had a problem with it unless I was at the max distance from an AP: it couldn't retrieve a IP address and subnet but when I was closer it would work. Never had a problem with dropped connections except for the same scenario where I was too far from the AP. I don't remember what drivers or what version of Access Connections I had but I will try to get them and post them up later tonight.

Plinkerton · #18 Post by **Plinkerton** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:48 am

I'm just using the most recent drivers I think, and I use windows to connect my wifi connection. I had some issues with Access connections, so I stopped using it.

skuehne · #19 Post by **skuehne** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:50 am

I just went through the same procedure Treker described earlier - uninstalled Access Connections, the Intel Sebring API, and the existing Intel drivers. Then rebooted and installed the recommended generic 8.1.0.28 drivers. Works perfectly so far and cleared out some hard drive space.

By the way, Intel has a 9.x.x.x version of their drivers out. Has anyone here tried these yet?

Sven

darrenf · #20 Post by **darrenf** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:19 pm

The 9.x version was loosing connection during gaming for long periods of time (up to a minute) so that was a no-go. I do run WPA so it might work without WPA.

-darren

treker · #21 Post by **treker** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:40 pm

Over 24hrs now without a drop. I use wifi exclusively being in a trailer park. I wonder what caused my drops...?

Oh well, new Intel driver seems to have solved my problem.

Thanks to this WONDERFUL HELPFUL FORUM!!!

Merlyn_3D · #22 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:03 pm

I reverted to the 8.1 driver from intel and I haven't experienced a drop yet, could it be because of the new driver?!?

Plinkerton · #23 Post by **Plinkerton** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:19 pm

So the new drivers seem to fix the problem for some, and cause the problem for others. I'm debating whether to install it or not.

byron · #24 Post by **byron** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:56 am

my 2200BG has been working great with my WRT54GS (Alchemy v6a).

treker · #25 Post by **treker** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:34 am

Oooops....just got my first unexplained drop using the bare Intel driver. I will say it has been over two days of good solid connections. Lasted about a minute. I give up. Maybe it's solar flares? An alien spaceship landing? I guess it is something we will just learn to live with.

ehsu · #26 Post by **ehsu** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:29 pm

My 2200BG is working flawlessly with Linksys BEFW11S4. Both have the latest drivers/firmware.

Plinkerton · #27 Post by **Plinkerton** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:38 pm

I just went to instal the new Intel drivers, and they had an error, right when I opened it... Maybe it's a sign...

Merlyn_3D · #28 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:45 pm

ehsu wrote:My 2200GB is working flawlessly with Linksys BEFW11S4. Both have the latest drivers/firmware.

The problem seems to be when using a broadcom based g router (i.e. the wrt54g) so it's no surprise that your BEFW11S4 would be working great, one of my neighbors has that router and I have no issues with it at all.

Plinkerton · #29 Post by **Plinkerton** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:54 pm

one of my neighbors has that router and I have no issues with it at all.

What're you saying there buddy? You're jumping on his network? I'm telling...

Merlyn_3D · #30 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:52 pm

Plinkerton wrote:
one of my neighbors has that router and I have no issues with it at all.
What're you saying there buddy? You're jumping on his network? I'm telling...

Ssshhhhh....it's quite useful when the comcast cable goes out (comcast only brought cable modems here several months ago so their still getting a few kinks out)

OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

Re: OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

Re: OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

Re: OK, that's it, I'm sick of the 2200BG

Who is online