Wireless Disconnects - a Vista Bug

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

On two different Vista Home Premium laptops, two different architectures and
laptop models and three different wireless routers I have experienced the
following issue. After about 15 minutes of being connected, my wireless
connection drops the Internet connection and becomes 'local access only.'
Local access is true, because I can stream from my 360, but the laptop cannot
access the internet. Just renewing the IP isn't enough, I have to completely
reset the adapter. A cursory search of the internet shows that this happens
on just about every imaginable platform and hardware configuration out there.

What gives, Microsoft? When will this be patched?? I bought this laptop for
my wife so that she *wouldn't* be calling me all day at work to help her, yet
the support calls are through the roof!!

Matt
houstonmat--at--gmail
 
The fix for this is to change the Power Management tab for the wireless card.
Select "Allow Windows to this device off to save power." Then Vista knows to
wake the card and reconnect to the network after Sleep or Hibernate.
 
Not true, both are disabled (hibernate and sleep). As I stated, it happens
after about 10 minutes, which often is in the middle of me actually doing
something.
 
Well for a start it does not happen on mine or any of those I visit to
teach. That said I would not jump to blame the Win system but look at ISP
prob's and router set up problems first.
 
You can't totally disable those. I have them disabled in Power Options too
but I still can manually put the computer into sleep or hibernation. Just try
the fix--it came from Microsoft support and see if it works for you. It can't
hurt. The shutdown button on the Start menu is set to Sleep instead of
Shutdown. You can change that in Power Options. So even if Sleep is disabled,
you still can choose that from the start menu.
 
What OS do you teach on?

I have had nearly a dozen XP laptops connected to my router(s) and never an
issue whatsoever. Simultaneously I will have my work laptop (XP) and this
laptop (or its predecessor, both Vista Home Prem) connected, and the Vista
laptop drops the connection after a few minutes while the XP machines have no
problems. I have a business class connection for which I pay a lot of $$. I
know it's not my ISP, and I know it's not my router (or the other two routers
I tried).
 
Thanks, I will have a second look at that this evening and see if it helps
(and report back). Pardon my frustration...I just don't like troubleshooting
issues that may be unresolvable.
 
houstonmat said:
What OS do you teach on?

I have had nearly a dozen XP laptops connected to my router(s) and
never an issue whatsoever. Simultaneously I will have my work laptop
(XP) and this laptop (or its predecessor, both Vista Home Prem)
connected, and the Vista laptop drops the connection after a few
minutes while the XP machines have no problems. I have a business
class connection for which I pay a lot of $$. I know it's not my ISP,
and I know it's not my router (or the other two routers I tried).
Click to expand...

Simple answer: Vista is broken

I've been using Wireless on XP SP2 for 5 years now wit no problems what
so ever. There is absolutely no excuse for such a shoddy translation of
it to Vista, seeing as it's supposed to be bet tech and all, and coupled
with the fact that this was fixed in XP with SP2, it's absolutely
bewildering that they managed to break it. It's one in a very long list
of broken components in Vista. Sigh.

-saran
 
See if there might be a correlation between the specific wireless NIC
adapters in the computers and the router. Many times it's problematic to mix
and match hardware. I know I have changed wireless NICs and been rid of
connection problems. Explore router firmware and NIC firmware. Then drivers.
The drivers for XP were older, most likely, than the ones for Vista now. I'm
not supporting Vista since I find it's an OS that tries to do too much (OS,
firewall, malware and more) rather than focusing on being an OS first and
letting 3rd parties fill the other needs as has happened in XP (pre-SP2) and
Win2K. Good luck.
 
Houstonmat,

I had the same problem with my new computer running Vista Home Premium and
then Ultimate. I made several calls to Dell and Microsoft trying to
understand the problem.

Who is the vendor of your laptops? Is it Dell. If so, click on All Programs
and go to Dell Wirelss. Uncheck the box that says "Let Dell manage your
wireless connections". This will then let Windows manage the connection.

However, I still had some problems. After a bit more researching I was
advised to update the driver for my wireless card. This permanently solved
the problem for me. It may or may not work for you but the thing I discovered
was that it was not the fault of my Vista operating system.

Have a nice day.

C.B.
 
No, it's currently a Linksys WRTSL54GS but I've also tried two D-link
routers, one a DI-524 and the other a new draft N (returned it for the
Linksys). I actually still have the DI-524 but I've unplugged it in favor of
the Linksys. But for testing I swap back and forth.

So far I've tried all suggestions except for searching the NIC
manufacturer's website for new drivers, which I will do today. Static IP
address, disabling IPv6, changing power settings to max performance...etc.
etc. and nothing works yet.

I'll keep you posted.
 
some one else had this issue a few days ago and fixed it by upgrading the
routers firmware so I wouldn't limit the fact that it could need the newest
firmware. I'm not guaranteeing that's the fix but its worth a try.
 
houstonmat said:
On two different Vista Home Premium laptops, two different architectures
and
laptop models and three different wireless routers I have experienced the
following issue. After about 15 minutes of being connected, my wireless
connection drops the Internet connection and becomes 'local access only.'
Local access is true, because I can stream from my 360, but the laptop
cannot
access the internet. Just renewing the IP isn't enough, I have to
completely
reset the adapter. A cursory search of the internet shows that this
happens
on just about every imaginable platform and hardware configuration out
there.

What gives, Microsoft? When will this be patched?? I bought this laptop
for
my wife so that she *wouldn't* be calling me all day at work to help her,
yet
the support calls are through the roof!!
Click to expand...

Have you tried running the Vista wireless diagnostic tool to see if it
reveals a possible cause?

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...5ae8-4cb0-ade5-0a7c446cd4f71033.mspx?mfr=true
 
Mr. Arnold said:
Have you tried running the Vista wireless diagnostic tool to see if it reveals a possible cause?

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...5ae8-4cb0-ade5-0a7c446cd4f71033.mspx?mfr=true
Click to expand...
I had exactly the same problem recently, other than it would not even start to access the Internet.
However I could connect to any other computer on the LAN. The diagnostic tool only gave me a
message that a firewall policy could be the problem. I only use the Windows Vista firewall. I
eventually just did a "system restore" back a couple of days and now the Internet works again.
 
Richard in AZ said:
I had exactly the same problem recently, other than it would not even
start to access the Internet.
Click to expand...

That's because the computer and its wireless NIC never got a DHCP IP from
the router that was going to let it access the Internet. In addition to
that, the machine cannot even access the router's admin pages either using
the router's device IP, because it was not using an IP on the router.
However I could connect to any other computer on the LAN. The diagnostic
tool only gave me a message that a firewall policy could be the problem.
I only use the Windows Vista firewall.
Click to expand...

That is correct. The computer couldn't get a DHCP IP from the router and
timed out. When the computer couldn't get an IP from the DHCP server on the
router, the O/S assigned a default IP to the NIC of 169.xxx.xxx.xxx. The 169
IP will allow the computer to access other machines on the LAN. But the 169
IP will not allow the computer to access the Internet nor will the IP allow
the computer to access the router's admin page, because the computer is not
using an IP on the router.
I eventually just did a "system restore" back a couple of days and now
the Internet works again.
Click to expand...

I am glad it worked out for you.
 
Well after 2 solid days of troubleshooting this one, I'm prepared to chalk it
up to a bug. I don't know for sure whether I blame Microsoft, HP or Intel,
but there's no doubt it's a bug...and a well-documented one judging from the
number of search results I get.

I have upgraded both routers' firmware to the latest versions, run all
Windows, HP and Intel updates (wireless NIC is Intel), run all Intel
diagnostics with positive results, made the DHCP broadcast flag changes in
the registry (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233/en-us),
tried AutoConfig on and off
(http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t540668.html), used a
static IP address (worked the best but not permanent), tested every
individual broadcast channel on my router
(http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/b...Adapters&message.id=4868&query.id=24271#M4868),
performed a system restore from the D drive image HP ships (back to factory
settings), created another user profile, turned power settings to high
performance, unplugged EVERYTHING in my house that uses a wireless signal
except for the router and laptop (even with draft N I still had the
problem)...that's all I can remember doing, but I'm sure it's not everything
I tried. The lovely thing about it all is that my XP laptop was on during
various times throughout this ordeal and NEVER NEVER NEVER had a problem
connecting and staying connected or accessing the public Internet.

Today I'll be making a trip to Fry's to get my money back. If anyone can
suggest a place where I can find a laptop with XP MCE and 128-256 MB of
dedicated video memory, I'd appreciate it. Or if someone from MS will
acknowledge this bug and let me know when it will be fixed, I'll hang onto
this laptop a little longer. You have 1 hour... :)

All I can tell you is that if you're reading this post because you have the
same issue, RUN back to the store where you bought it and return or exchange
it. You will not be able to fix it, and will be left resetting your wireless
adapter every 10 minutes.
 
I posted my "final" findings, but it put it onto the second page, so I'm
going to re-post to get it up front. Here goes...

Well after 2 solid days of troubleshooting this one, I'm prepared to chalk
it up to a bug. I don't know for sure whether I blame Microsoft, HP or Intel,
but there's no doubt it's a bug...and a well-documented one judging from the
number of search results I get.

I have upgraded both routers' firmware to the latest versions, run all
Windows, HP and Intel updates (wireless NIC is Intel), run all Intel
diagnostics with positive results, made the DHCP broadcast flag changes in
the registry (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233/en-us),
tried AutoConfig on and off
(http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t540668.html), used a
static IP address (worked the best but not permanent), tested every
individual broadcast channel on my router
(http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/b...Adapters&message.id=4868&query.id=24271#M4868),
performed a system restore from the D drive image HP ships (back to factory
settings), created another user profile, turned power settings to high
performance, unplugged EVERYTHING in my house that uses a wireless signal
except for the router and laptop (even with draft N I still had the
problem)...that's all I can remember doing, but I'm sure it's not everything
I tried. The lovely thing about it all is that my XP laptop was on during
various times throughout this ordeal and NEVER NEVER NEVER had a problem
connecting and staying connected or accessing the public Internet.

Today I'll be making a trip to Fry's to get my money back. If anyone can
suggest a place where I can find a laptop with XP MCE and 128-256 MB of
dedicated video memory, I'd appreciate it. Or if someone from MS will
acknowledge this bug and let me know when it will be fixed, I'll hang onto
this laptop a little longer. You have 1 hour... :)

All I can tell you is that if you're reading this post because you have the
same issue, RUN back to the store where you bought it and return or exchange
it. You will not be able to fix it, and will be left resetting your wireless
adapter every 10 minutes.
 
Have you contacted HP Support yet?


houstonmat said:
Well after 2 solid days of troubleshooting this one, I'm prepared to chalk
it
up to a bug. I don't know for sure whether I blame Microsoft, HP or Intel,
but there's no doubt it's a bug...and a well-documented one judging from
the
number of search results I get.

I have upgraded both routers' firmware to the latest versions, run all
Windows, HP and Intel updates (wireless NIC is Intel), run all Intel
diagnostics with positive results, made the DHCP broadcast flag changes in
the registry (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233/en-us),
tried AutoConfig on and off
(http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t540668.html), used a
static IP address (worked the best but not permanent), tested every
individual broadcast channel on my router
(http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/b...Adapters&message.id=4868&query.id=24271#M4868),
performed a system restore from the D drive image HP ships (back to
factory
settings), created another user profile, turned power settings to high
performance, unplugged EVERYTHING in my house that uses a wireless signal
except for the router and laptop (even with draft N I still had the
problem)...that's all I can remember doing, but I'm sure it's not
everything
I tried. The lovely thing about it all is that my XP laptop was on during
various times throughout this ordeal and NEVER NEVER NEVER had a problem
connecting and staying connected or accessing the public Internet.

Today I'll be making a trip to Fry's to get my money back. If anyone can
suggest a place where I can find a laptop with XP MCE and 128-256 MB of
dedicated video memory, I'd appreciate it. Or if someone from MS will
acknowledge this bug and let me know when it will be fixed, I'll hang onto
this laptop a little longer. You have 1 hour... :)

All I can tell you is that if you're reading this post because you have
the
same issue, RUN back to the store where you bought it and return or
exchange
it. You will not be able to fix it, and will be left resetting your
wireless
adapter every 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
 
Yes. Spent over an hour on the phone with them. Their final suggestion was to
perform the system restore...which didn't fix the problem.
 
Back
Top