Wireless networking help

  • Thread starter Thread starter MikeB
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MikeB

I'm about to chuck my new $2K laptop with Vista Ultimate out of the
window due to my frustration with wireless networking on the thing.

Lenovo T500 Thinkpad
Intel Core 2 Due Centrino with something called VPro
Intel Wireless AGN 5300 wireless card
Lenovo Access Connections (something that's supposed to manage and
configure for various networks one might connect to).
Firewall is Windows LIve OneCare firewall.

My Router is a Netgear supplied by Time Warner Cable. I have two other
computers running Windows XP that connet flawlessly and seamlessly to
the wireless network.

On the new laptop the wireless intermittently goes into something that
Windows Networking reports as "Local Access Only" as opposed to "Local
and Internet Access" when the computer is connected to the network.
This is what the little networking icon in the notification section of
the taskbar reports.

I've managed to get it to reconnect by a process of try-this-and-see
doiing one or more of the following. I have not yet identified a
consistent sequence of activities that restore access.

- powering off the wireless radio using the Access Connections icon
in the notifications section,

- disconnecting and reconnecting to the network from the networking
icon in the notifications section of the taskbar

- adjusting the settings of the firewall from "public place" to "Home/
Work". Not sure why this doesn't remain as specified.

- uninstalling the entire wireless network defiinition and
reinstalling it.

Sometimes one of the above actions seem to precipitate changes in the
other areas and I"ve not yet manages to understand cause-and-effect in
this area. For instance, sometimes disconnecting from the wireless
network will turn off the wireless radio.

Any help/advice will be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
MikeB said:
I'm about to chuck my new $2K laptop with Vista Ultimate out of the
window due to my frustration with wireless networking on the thing.

Lenovo T500 Thinkpad
Intel Core 2 Due Centrino with something called VPro
Intel Wireless AGN 5300 wireless card
Lenovo Access Connections (something that's supposed to manage and
configure for various networks one might connect to).
Firewall is Windows LIve OneCare firewall.

My Router is a Netgear supplied by Time Warner Cable. I have two other
computers running Windows XP that connet flawlessly and seamlessly to
the wireless network.

On the new laptop the wireless intermittently goes into something that
Windows Networking reports as "Local Access Only" as opposed to "Local
and Internet Access" when the computer is connected to the network.
This is what the little networking icon in the notification section of
the taskbar reports.

I've managed to get it to reconnect by a process of try-this-and-see
doiing one or more of the following. I have not yet identified a
consistent sequence of activities that restore access.

- powering off the wireless radio using the Access Connections icon
in the notifications section,

- disconnecting and reconnecting to the network from the networking
icon in the notifications section of the taskbar

- adjusting the settings of the firewall from "public place" to "Home/
Work". Not sure why this doesn't remain as specified.

- uninstalling the entire wireless network defiinition and
reinstalling it.

Sometimes one of the above actions seem to precipitate changes in the
other areas and I"ve not yet manages to understand cause-and-effect in
this area. For instance, sometimes disconnecting from the wireless
network will turn off the wireless radio.

Any help/advice will be appreciated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

After about three agonizing months of dealing with Lenovo tech support,
including two in-home service calls which yielded zero help and cost me
hours of additional wasted time, and stubborn refusal on my part to get off
the phone until tech support put a manager on the phone, I managed to get
Lenovo to replace my T61 Thinkpad. The replacement Thinkpad was equally
problematic and after painful escalation of my myriad of issues, to include
the wireless networking issue you describe, I managed to get Lenovo to take
the second Thinkpad back and refund me my money. I won't bore you with the
details of the second phase of my war with Lenovo to get them to refund me a
15% restocking fee they withheld from the refund.

I tried everything you mentioned to get the Vista machine to sustain a
robust connection. My Windows XP desktop connected to my router flawlessly,
every time. the Lenovo Vista Thinkpad connected sporadically and often lost
the connection or would connect "local only".

Have you tried uninstalling the Lenovo Access Connections. I seem to recall
that it was a redundant program. Vista pretty much can do everything that
program does.
 
I'm running Vista Ultimate on an HP 6730s notebook (Intel PRO/Wireless
3945ABGN) and connecting to my desktop (Windows XP Pro) and Internet via a
Linksys WRT54G wireless router. The desktop is hardwired to the router and
the notebook connects wirelessly to the router. I'm running Windows Firewall
on both machines. Everything runs fine.

Tyro
 
Have you tried uninstalling the Lenovo Access Connections.  I seem to recall
that it was a redundant program.  Vista pretty much can do everything that
program does
Click to expand...

I considered this, since I uninstalled it on my previous laptop. I
agree that it is pretty much redundant.

However, on this laptop with built-in wireless, that seems to be the
only place I can find that will turn the wireless radio on or off.
Since it seems to turn off randomly, I'm leery of uninstalling it and
then getting stuck with the wireless radio in "off".
 
Hi--

On most laptops, notebooks, and netbooks, there is an "F" button where you
can toggle wireless off and on by holding down the Fn and its key (it
usually has a wireless antenna logo. Often it has 4 settings, Bluetooth On,
Bluetooth off, Network Connection and Bluetooth On, Net Connection and
Bluetooth Off. Check and make sure it's set to have wireless on.

Although this is not mentioned enough, any router's 802.11 stability can be
spooked by anything that can emit EMR (EM radiation) that interferes with
your wireless frequency. Make sure your router is a sufficient distance
from any box in your network that has two moving parts that can spook it--a
fan and a rotating hard drive, any monitors which can emit EMR, and entities
outside an office where construction is going on can also enter into the
equation. The causes outside can even include pine trees because the
moisture in the needles emits a frequency that interferes with many routers.

Put the router far enough away from anything moving inside a box and from a
monitor so it is stable. This can be remedied if necessary by getting a 3-4
meter USB connection(s) for the router.

This instability can be corrected sometimes by just unplugging the router
and replugging it in but router placement is important.

Best of luck,

CH
 
Turn off or remove the Windows Live OneCare firewall, use the one natively
included in Vista.
Click to expand...


Then I'd have Windows Live OneCare complaining about being "at risk"
all the time. One would hope that Miscorosft wouldn't use different or
incompatible firewalls in their own products.
 
I'm running Vista Ultimate on an HP 6730s notebook (Intel PRO/Wireless
3945ABGN) and connecting to my desktop (Windows XP Pro) and Internet via a
Linksys WRT54G wireless router.  The desktop is hardwired to the routerand
the notebook connects wirelessly to the router. I'm running Windows Firewall
on both machines. Everything runs fine.

Tyro
Click to expand...

Gee thanks. That helps a lot.
 
Hi--

On most laptops, notebooks,  and netbooks, there is an "F" button whereyou
can toggle wireless off and on by holding down the Fn and its key (it
usually has a wireless antenna logo.  Often it has 4 settings, Bluetooth On,
Bluetooth off,  Network Connection and Bluetooth On, Net Connection and
Bluetooth Off.  Check and make sure it's set to have wireless on.
Click to expand...

hey that helps. I found F5 that does what you say. That allowed me to
turn off Access connections. In doing that I discovered that Access
connections had a selected option to "turn off twireless radio when
inactive." WTF?? I unchecked that option. Here's hoping.

Although this is not mentioned enough, any router's 802.11 stability can be
spooked by anything that can emit EMR (EM radiation) that interferes with
your wireless frequency.  Make sure your router is a sufficient distance
from any box in your network that has two moving parts that can spook it--a
fan and a rotating hard drive, any monitors which can emit EMR, and entities
outside an office where construction is going on can also enter into the
equation.  The causes outside can even include pine trees because the
moisture in the needles emits a frequency that interferes with many routers.

Put the router far enough away from anything moving inside a box and froma
monitor so it is stable.  This can be remedied if necessary by getting a 3-4
meter USB connection(s) for the router.

This instability can be corrected sometimes by just unplugging the router
and replugging it in but router placement is important.
Click to expand...

My wireless router is all by itself in a room upstairs. Although none
of the other computers connected to it wirelessly exhibits these same
symptoms.

Let's hope getting rid of Access Connections at least alleviates my
problem.
 
Actually, my recommendation is to remove OneCare altogether and use a
different AV solution.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

Turn off or remove the Windows Live OneCare firewall, use the one natively
included in Vista.
Click to expand...


Then I'd have Windows Live OneCare complaining about being "at risk"
all the time. One would hope that Miscorosft wouldn't use different or
incompatible firewalls in their own products.
 
Actually, my recommendation is to remove OneCare altogether and use a
different AV solution.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVPhttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help -www.rickrogers.org
My thoughtshttp://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

WLOC is terribly convenient to use. I much prefer it to Norton which I
had previously.

What firewall are you recommending?
 
Actually, my recommendation is to remove OneCare altogether and use a
different AV solution.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft
MVPhttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help -www.rickrogers.org
My thoughtshttp://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

WLOC is terribly convenient to use. I much prefer it to Norton which I
had previously.

What firewall are you recommending?


The Vista firewall.. maybe Avast or Avira free av programs..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
 
I've never seen a need for anything other than the native one. Wouldn't
recommend Norton's either, though the most recent iteration seems to be an
improvement over previous performance hogging versions. My preferences lean
towards eset's nod32 and kaspersky's product. The freeware ones, avg and
antivir among others, aren't bad either.

OneCare has been shown to cause a number of differing problems for end
users. While it may be convenient, the issues it has caused are not
insignificant.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

Actually, my recommendation is to remove OneCare altogether and use a
different AV solution.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft
MVPhttp://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help -www.rickrogers.org
My thoughtshttp://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

WLOC is terribly convenient to use. I much prefer it to Norton which I
had previously.

What firewall are you recommending?
 
hey that helps. I found F5 that does what you say. That allowed me to
turn off Access connections. In doing that I discovered that Access
connections had a selected option to "turn off twireless radio when
inactive." WTF?? I unchecked that option. Here's hoping.
Click to expand...

Also do two more things:

- In Power Options, Advanced, set the wireless card to "maximum
performance"

- In Device Manager, wireless, set so that windows is not allowed to
use power management on the card.

Post if you need more specific instructions on doing either.
 
WLOC is terribly convenient to use. I much prefer it to Norton which I
had previously.

What firewall are you recommending?
Click to expand...

You've got a system with serious connection difficulties, and you're
going with "convenient to use"? Dump WLOC, use the Vista Firewall or
Zone Alarm Free (not both). Use Avast for A/V. Both are free.
 
In my area, intermittent wireless connections have been known to occur as a
result of interference from other wireless routers in neighbors homes. Try
changing the channel on your router.

Hi--

On most laptops, notebooks, and netbooks, there is an "F" button where you
can toggle wireless off and on by holding down the Fn and its key (it
usually has a wireless antenna logo. Often it has 4 settings, Bluetooth
On,
Bluetooth off, Network Connection and Bluetooth On, Net Connection and
Bluetooth Off. Check and make sure it's set to have wireless on.
Click to expand...

hey that helps. I found F5 that does what you say. That allowed me to
turn off Access connections. In doing that I discovered that Access
connections had a selected option to "turn off twireless radio when
inactive." WTF?? I unchecked that option. Here's hoping.

Although this is not mentioned enough, any router's 802.11 stability can
be
spooked by anything that can emit EMR (EM radiation) that interferes with
your wireless frequency. Make sure your router is a sufficient distance
from any box in your network that has two moving parts that can spook
it--a
fan and a rotating hard drive, any monitors which can emit EMR, and
entities
outside an office where construction is going on can also enter into the
equation. The causes outside can even include pine trees because the
moisture in the needles emits a frequency that interferes with many
routers.

Put the router far enough away from anything moving inside a box and from
a
monitor so it is stable. This can be remedied if necessary by getting a
3-4
meter USB connection(s) for the router.

This instability can be corrected sometimes by just unplugging the router
and replugging it in but router placement is important.
Click to expand...

My wireless router is all by itself in a room upstairs. Although none
of the other computers connected to it wirelessly exhibits these same
symptoms.

Let's hope getting rid of Access Connections at least alleviates my
problem.
 
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