Can wireless cards just stop working? 1

[xwb]

My Philips Freestyle X61's wireless suddenly decided to stop working. It gets given an IP address by the router but I can't always ping stuff on the network. If I try a ping -t, the times are totally inconsistent. On all the other machines, the turnaround time is about 4ms. On this one it is about 150ms.

The machine is only about 6 years old and the wireless has only been used for the last 4 years, almost continuously for the last year.

Just wondering whether wireless cards can give up just like that.

 

[mscallisto]

I would first have a look at the device in "Device Manager" to see if it looks OK (no yellow exclamations etc.).

Right Click My Computer > choose Manage > click device manager then look for your device in Network Adapters.

Double click your device and have a look around the various tabs for anything troubleing especially the drivers tab.

Tried to reload the drivers if you wish, at this point it can't hurt. You may want to download new drivers from your device web site.

And yes, all devices can fail although most wireless adapters usually last many years.

Good Luck

sam

 

[edfair]

I've seen more than my share fail. At one point I was averaging more than half dead or dying out of the box.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[mscallisto]

Ed

Good Point have a splat.

You're probably correct and also a bit unlucky too; while working for a major manufacturer for 20 years I've probably been very lucky not to have one fail at least that I can remember.

I have at times failed to find drivers for older models for newer OS versions and ended up throwing them out and I guess I'll never know if it was the driver or the device.

Anyway they're cheap enough to discard and buy a new one.

sam

 

[SkipCox]

I had one just quit after about 6 months. One day it was perfect; next day it was dead. A friend bought one lthat was DOA.

It happens.

Skip

 

[xwb]

Guess I'll just have to disable the on-board card and use the PCMCIA slot. Hopefully it is 32 bits. Can't get any wireless things for 16 bit PCMCIA. In fact, nowadays, I can't get anything useful for 16 bit PCMCIA.

 

[BadBigBen]

I would take a look at a USB Dongle instead, provided the Laptop has a free USB port available...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[SkipCox]

I still have some 16bit wired and wireless stuff. Just keep looking on ebay and sites that deal with older parts. When you find that stuff it'll probably be pretty cheap...try to stock up.

Skip

 

[xwb]

Maybe there is nothing wrong with the hardware. I tried a PCMCIA card but it still doesn't connect. I'll try reinstalling the OS.

 

[xwb]

OS reinstalled. Wired network works OK, wireless connects at 11Mbps - used to be 54Mbps. 2 other laptops on either side connect at 54Mbps. Guess the hardware is buggered.

One thing that seems to happen a lot now: the bottom right of the casing seems to get very hot. Might be it is getting too hot. Guess it might be OK in winter. I'll leave off playing with it in summer.