NP8660 and Intel WiFi Link 5300 : Frequent problems with wireless connections

Is anyone else having an issue with the Intel 5300 as far as automatically reconnecting upon booting?

I have a Sager NP8660 with an Intel 5300 and when I am not using wireless I naturally disable it (via the FN key). Then when I need it I turn it back on and connect to the Internet just fine. However, when I am connected and then do a reboot and it boots back into Vista the wireless connection NEVER reconnects to my network successfully. It will show it disconnected (but it is turned on and enabled) in the network connections. Then after maybe 10-15 seconds it will connect but say "Local Only" and not "Local and the Internet" which it's supposed to. To reconnect I have to disable it and then re-enable and manually connect to the network. My Intel Pro Wireless 3945ABG on my Latitude D830 for work never has this issue on my home network. It reconnects every single time with no issues.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great. I think I am at the most recent drivers because I went to Intel's website and downloaded it on Saturday (11/08/08). My Wi-Fi network is 802.11b/g with WEP encryption (I know, I know - terrible but there is one friggin wireless card on my cousin's old laptop that will not connect to my network unless it's open or WEP encryption).

Again, it's not that the wireless card just won't connect to my network, it just will not do so consistently and (usually) won't when I need it the most. i don't think it's the router because 4 other laptops are connecting to it just fine with no issues.

Any suggestions would be awesome. If yours is working perfectly fine what driver version are you using and where did you get it? Also, what router and wireless encryption are you using?

 

I think my self and a lot of other users of the np8660(m860tu) are having the same problem. I have to turn off radio and turn it back on periodically to be connected back to the internet. I think this is the easiest solution right now til Sager or Clevo come out with an update for the driver or bios. I will call Sager and Clevo and see if there are any fixes that we don't know about and will report back.

 

my problem is even worse than that. i almost never disable wifi but sometimes it randomly loses connection and goes to limited access, local only on my network. it doesnt see any of the other networks in my apartment building like it usually does, and then it disconnects and doesnt see any networks at all. when i go into network connections and devices it doesnt show anything, no wifi card or anything like they arent even installed. the only way ive found to solve it is system restrore. i would love some ideas if anyone has any

 

Download driver update from intel website. I have no problems with my wireless card since.

 

Intel Wifi 5300: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=3062&lang=eng

I don't have problems also, maybe some connection problems, but I blame the school network Works fine at home. Maybe some rare lag spikes but that's all.

 

Wow thanks for the super quick responses. That link goes to a newer driver than I have installed so I am going to try that when I get home and see if it helps. By the way, for the two that said it is working fine for them, what wireless encryption type are you using and what router?

I only ask because these wireless issues I talked about above only happen at home. They never occur when connected at work where we have nearly the same Linksys router but are using WPA2-Personal instead of WEP.

 

WPA-AES on a good old Linksys G router (WRT54GS) . I didn't put it to WPA2 or changed to TKIP since my Wii wasn't compatible with WPA2 when I bought it and I don't want to reconfigure all the devices at home. Also, on the laptop, I disabled all N-settings related because I was experiencing slow connection (under "Speed" in Wireless Network Connection Status).

At school, I sometimes have a hard time to authentificate with WPA2-Enterprise EAP-MSCHAPv2 but I just have to wait a bit

 

Hmmm, same router as me... I will try the driver update and changing the N settings like you said because it can't hurt (I don't have any N devices on my network either). So to get to the N settings do you right click on the wireless connection under network or go to the device manager and go to configure(I'm using Vista Business x32)?

Thanks again, this forum rocks!

 

WEP because none are computer handy enough in the country I live to crack it. Also, for me, it connects to every computer in the household without problems.

 

802.11n Channel Width (2.4 and 5.2): Auto
802.11n Mode: Disabled
Ad Hoc Default Wireless Mode: 0. 802.11b/g
Transmit Power: 5. Highest
Wireless Mode: 4. 802.11b/g (but 3. 802.11g wouldnt be bad either I think).

Other settings are default. But this should only solved the speed problem: it kept changing from 54Mbps to 1Mbps or 12 or some random numbers. Drivers should help the connection problem. Maybe update your router firmware: http://www-ca.linksys.com/servlet/S...rapper&lid=1218111465H29&displaypage=download.

 

livesoft or another, would you mind navigating me to that menu? I can't find it.

 

Device Manager > Network adapters > Intel(R) WiFi Link 5300 AGN > Properties > Advanced tab

 

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your suggestions and help. I checked and I did have the most up to date Intel WiFi Link 5300 driver installed so it must not have been that. However, my router's firmware was not up to date so I updated that and changed the N settings on my card. I also changed from WEP to WPA encryption (I wanted to go to WPA2 but the stupid wireless xbox 360 adapter my cousin uses is not compatible).

Now when I boot up my brand new laptop it connects immediately and even from standby or sleep. Success! I can't tell you how frustrating it was to have a brand new laptop and have to fiddle with it for 10 minutes everytime I wanted to bring up Internet pages. Thanks again

 

I have had the same problems as the rest of you. I was loosing connection constantly and not being able to recconect or get limited access. Also i was loosing connection while browsing and the card still said i was connected with great signal strength.

To fix this, i uninstalled the intel wireless software and uninstalled the driver. Updated with the newest driver only(do not use crappy intel proset software). Also i switched from WEP to WPA and noticed that everything was works significantly better.

 

Yea I really think the key is the newest driver from INTEL website AND switching from WEP to WPA. It simple did not work reliably on my network when it was WEP.

 

I've solved the issue in my notebook as well. It was not the 5300 driver that needed to be updated, but the Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Connection Utility. Since I downloaded the latest version of this utility last night, I haven't had another disconnection. I really encourage all of you to do the same. The download is here. Go down to Software Applications and choose your OS.

Man it feels good to be able to browse the internet for an hour without losing my connection.

 

I too have connection problems with Intel's 5300 WiFi Link. I've done a complete re-install of my T400 and I use the latest Intel drivers. But still it's not 100%.

Why should you need the Utility. Drivers are enough for the internet to work? (I like to keep my laptop clean)