Vista Wireless Connection Problems

[Arjan321]

Hello,

I've bought two brand new Acer Aspire 5102wlmi laptops with Vista
preinstalled.

Connection to my wireless network works fine, but once in while ( once every
~30 minutes) the connection disconnects and connects again, disabling my
internet. Both laptops suffer from this.

An other symptom of this problem is, while playing music in winamp/wmp small
"ticks" are audible, suggesting data loss.

My older laptop, running Windows XP, has no problems whatsoever. No ticks
(same music) and 100% connection time.

Any suggestion?

Specs laptop:
- Acer Aspire 5102wlmi
- Wireless-card: Atheros AR5005G, driver version 7.1.0.90 (latest version as
far as I know)
- IPv6 disabled
- Windows Vista Home Premium

Wireless:
802.11a/b/g/n, with WPA-personal TIPK encription.

[Barb Bowman]

try windows update. Atheros driver 7.2.0.215 would appear to be the
latest driver.

--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
Expert Zone & Vista Community Columnist
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

[Arjan321]

Could you give some pointers of where to find those drivers? Windows update
says my version is up to date.

[John]

Many times wireless disconnects are an issue between the computer's wireless
card and the wireless router. See if your router has the latest firmware.
Check your router's web site for any forums where this problem may be being
discussed. Then check the wireless card settings. It's a PITA .

"Arjan321" <Arja...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:588512F4-8847-4FC6...@microsoft.com...

[Barb Bowman]

Mine came down automatically from Windows Update, so I don't know
what to tell you.

Are you SURE this is a AR5005G chip as you posted??? You've got some
conflicting info - you mention a/b/g/n and AR5005G (which to the
best of my knowledge is b/g). see:

http://www.atheros.com/pt/AR5005G.htm

On Fri, 18 May 2007 10:40:01 -0700, Arjan321

[Arjan321]

Well, my access point does a/b/g/n, the chip is indeed only b/g.

Perheps the drivers aren't available in my localized Windows..

Also, I can't believe I can't find any websites offering this latest
version.. not even the Acer site

[Arjan321]

The point is that my windows XP laptop has none of the problems the two Vista
laptops have. Which, to me, indicates one of the following

- Vista incompatibility
- Old drivers (working on that)
- Serious hardware problems with Acer Laptops

Is there a way for windows to do a check of some sort of wireless connections?

Thanks anyway!

[John]

Is the hardware identical between the Vista nd XP laptops? Check device
manager to be sure, especially regarding the wireless card flavour.

"Arjan321" <Arja...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:BE7B23EF-9F5B-425D...@microsoft.com...

[Barb Bowman]

can you go into device manager and get the hardware IDs for your
Atheros wireless and post them here?

as stated, it is possible that it is the router side causing the
issues.

BTW, my Acer Ferrari 5000 and 4000s running Ultimate x64 have no
issues hardware wise.

[Arjan321]

No.. the windows xp is an older Dell laptop.

[Arjan321]

Both also with Atheros cards? With driver version? I'm still searching for
the latest version for mine.

Sure, as far as I know, these are the hardware IDs of the Atheros AR5005G
Wireless network Adapter:
-PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001A&SUBSYS_04181468&REV_01
-PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001A&SUBSYS_04181468
-PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001A&CC_020000
-PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001A&CC_0200

Thanks in advance!

[Barb Bowman]

I'm using x64, so that is the inf file I can look at. Your hardware
ID is certainly covered in the x64 driver (and I can't imagine it
not being covered in the 32 bit version). this is from the inf file
for the April driver:

%ATHR.DeviceDesc.001A% = ATHR_DEV_04221468.ndi,
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001A&SUBSYS_04181468

[Arjan321]

For those who are searching, i found a reasonable recent version (7.2.0.199)
here:

http://www.opendrivers.com/categorycompany/1113/11619/network-atheros-free-driver-download.html

[Arjan321]

Well, looks like the new drivers did the trick.. Still connected after a few
hours..

The ticks in the music were mostly gone after deactivating IPv6

But still strange windows update didn't update my drivers.

[Barb Bowman]

glad this is resolved for you.

[Arjan321]

Just a little update for the rest of the internets.

To fix (wireless connection, crackles in sound) your Acer Aspire 5100
laptop, you have to do the following:

- Update your Atheros drivers (to at least 7.2.0.199)
- Update your Realtek drivers
- Update your ATI video drivers. Older versions generates crackes. Don't
know why..

Greetings

[terinone]

Hello everyone,

I had not been able to get Vista to connect wirelessly despite my very concentrated efforts.

After following every troubleshooting step I could think of myself or find online, and believe me, I tried everything. I had probably spend 15 hours troubleshooting. My next step was going to be a reformat and a Linux install as I can get Linux running wireless in less than 10 minutes!

Finally success! How? I found an even more updated driver for the atheros wireless ar5005g here: http://www.x-drivers.com/component/option,com_remository/itemid,36/func,fileinfo/id,23397/

It's version 7.3.1.73 and after updating the driver, I was finally wireless!! Now I am going to have a drink...a big one!!

Cheers and hope this helps anyone else in the same predicament.

EggHeadCafe - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com

[terinone]

I had also disabled (unchecked) Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) in the properties of the wireless connection. I don't know if it needs to be done as it is something I tried before updating the driver.

Cheers.
PS--I'm using an Acer Aspire 5100-5540. I had also uninstalled all of the eManagement software that came preinstalled as part of my troubleshooting. Again, I don't know if it's related.

Good Luck!

[KToast]

Just to say, thank you very much Terri None, your solution solved my
problem where six Fujitsu Simens experts could not.

Once again many thanks!

KToast