Wi-Fi Cuts in and Out - Vista 32 Business Edition

[tresanus]

Acer Aspire 5100 Laptop - Originally had XP Media Center
Did a full wipe and install of Vista 32 Business Edition.
After update and install of all the drivers everything seems to be working perfect.

The other day I noticed my computer goes limited or little connectivity on my home network. I disconnect and try to reconnect and it fails. I can shut down and restart my machine and then wifi works like a champ.

On my other computers I have 0 wifi issues. This leads me to believe something is wrong with my wireless in my laptop. Should I try and re-install the drivers, would it make sense that it worked fine before and now all of a sudden I am losing connectivity.

Some background information- I rarely use this machine, I have a desktop and a work laptop as well as a Dell Mini 9 netbook. I haven't really installed anything on my acer - I also haven't done much websurfing (and the sites I have gone to include msn.com nfl.com gmail.com). Reason for upgrade to vista - this laptop kept freezing and displaying a gray striped screen - requiring a hard restart sometimes battery pull.

Do you think this is a hardware issue? Should I post this to the vista forum? Other than that the computer seems to run beautifully. I'd like to sell the machine but I wouldn't want to sell it if it wasn't working correctly.

Thanks TTers

Tresanus

 

[vacunita]

It could be the built in wireless card has developed some fault. The easiest way to test this is to get a USB or PCMCIA wireless adapter to test.

If you can connect with the new external adapter without interruption then its safe to assume its a hardware issue with the built-in card.

If it still presents the same problems then you can shift your focus to an Operation system issue. Perhaps a Manager issue.

With that said, if you are using an Acer proprietary Wireless manager perhaps you can switch to Windows' own Wireless manager and see if that alleviates the situation.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[tresanus]

I will try the usb wireless method. It'd be nice if I had one lying around to test but I am guessing they aren't too high priced online these days.

I never thought about the wireless manager. I am currently using the windows manager now but used to use network magic in the past. Maybe I will see what acer proprietary network managers come preloaded and try one of those.

Thank you for your suggestion vacunita, hopefully its an easy fix or replace!

 

[cdogg]

How is the DHCP range and lease time configured on the access point? Try extending the lease time if it's less than a day. Also make sure the range isn't too strict (if you have 5 wireless devices, then you should make at least 7 IP's available just in case).

While you're at it, also make sure your access point is secured. Use WPA instead of WEP.

As for something on the laptop, does it seem like it's happening soon after the laptop comes out of sleep mode by any chance?

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[paparazi]

Hi there, I re-installed Vista on a friends laptop last week (IBM R60 with intel chipset) and had a similar issue of intermittant connection. I fixed it by using an older diver of all things....but there you....I would try finding out exactly what integrated adapter is being used and go to the 'CHIPSET' manufacturers website (not the laptop manufacturers download area) these are generally the latest and most stable (despite the one off situation I experienced)
Martin

On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[Sympology]

What AV have you got? I've just rebuilt the wifes laptop as it's had so much junk installed over the years it's finally given up.
However, one thing I noticed is that McAfee (hey I get it free) was saying it kept dropping off the network. However, it only seems to drop off the network when McAfee was installed.
I can't say 100% sure this is the issue, but may be worth a look.


Most people spend their time on the "urgent" rather than on the "important."

 

[tresanus]

I have AVG free installed.

I will try an older driver, possibly see if an XP driver will work, or go the chipset route.

Also, there doesn't seem to be a reason it cuts out. It happens when I am just browsing normally. I rarely let the machine go to sleep.

My access point is WPA secured, I will check to make sure the range isnt too strict since I have recently added a few more devices (phones netbooks xbox desktops!!)

Thanks everyone

 

[BadBigBen]

This could also be due to exterior interference, e.g. microwave ovens, CB Radio (rare but if a powerful transceiver is in the area, who knows)...

also check the hardware tab, for the wireless device, for any option that can could be a problem, e.g. 'Computer can turn Device off'...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[cdogg]

Yes to go along with the interference idea, a good test would be to see if it happens when you are only a couple feet from the access point. However, you mentioned other wireless devices don't seem to drop the connection, so that's a long shot.

If you're not able to determine the cause, the last test would be to try installing a USB or PCMCIA wireless card into the laptop to see if it continues to drop. At that point it would sound like the internal wireless card is having issues. If the external wireless device doesn't have problems, then you can easily sell it with the laptop.

Just my 2¢

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[tresanus]

Yes I will try an external USB wireless connection if I can find one for cheap or borrow one from a friend.

Thank you all for your help, the computer seems to be working alright at the moment.

I will update with any news!

Thanks All

 

[Sympology]

Never occured to me, but try changing the channel your wireless router is on. You may have someone close by using the same channel.

Most people spend their time on the "urgent" rather than on the "important."

 

[firewolfrl]

IS there more then one network available?
Is the wireless trying to default to another network?
If the router has a issue where you have noticed sometimes the other computers that are wireless have dropped?
Time how long the computer is on to when it drops...is it the same every time.?
on reboot does it drop faster?
What happens is the component warms up and your wireless fails.
Anti-virus can block your network...what anti-virus are you using?

Are you using a laptop cooler to keep the components cool?

Sometimes Vista is just flaky on networks

Sometimes components just go bad...

 

[ATLMatt]

I've seen several instances where the manufacturers wireless manager works better than the Vista version. I never used them in XPPro, so was in the habit of un-installing them along with all the other bloatware on new systems. I've found myself having to re-install the stupid things from the manufacturers sights on some Vista systems due to problems with dropped connections or issues connecting to the network.

If you have an external hard drive you can install an OS on, or a bootable Linux CD/USB key that happens to have a compatible driver, you can test to see if the hardware works better outside of the Vista environment, my guess would be it will be much more stable.

Yet another reason Windows 7 is already available to beta, sigh.