Wireless radio suddenly only connecting at 1 Mb/s . . .

[Wayne]

My T60 has an Intel Pro Wireless 3945 ABG radio, running XP Pro SP3, all updates. My D-link DIR-655 router set to wireless G. Since day one the laptop connects at 54 Mb/s. It is located about four feet from the router. I noticed today during the Windows updates download they appeard to be going slow. I moused over the wireless icon in the tray and it showed excellent strength, 5 bars, connected at 1.0 Mb/s. I powered off the radio with the switch, powered on, same speed. I did a system restore to before the MS updates, same speed. I ran the Tweak Test at Broadband reports (which I've used before), no change.

BTW, my wife's T60 (exact same machine) which is about twenty feet away in another room is connected at 54 Mb/s

Any thoughts?

[RealBlackStuff]

3945ABG is the least liked child in the Intel wifi family.
I propose to replace it with the 4965 Intel or an Atheros-based 5008 or better wifi card.

[Wayne]

Thanks for the thought and reply. And I just remembered. When I bought it (refurbed from the IBM site) I got an extended warranty. It's still in warranty. Gonna call them tomorrow.

Wayne

[ThinkRob]

3945ABG is the least liked child in the Intel wifi family.
I propose to replace it with the 4965 Intel or an Atheros-based 5008 or better wifi card.

I second that recommendation. The 3945 is a wonderfully "quirky" (pronounced "buggy") piece of hardware with rather poor power efficiency. I'd ditch it.

[Wayne]

I'll remember to mention that to the support person.

[TuuS]

Just a warning, but the IBM refurb warranty is horrible. They usually won't fix anything at all, they just send you a new laptop. If all you care about is having a working laptop, then that is fine, but if you actually became attached to the unit, or did some upgrades on it and don't want to swap it for an unknown used system, then your screwed.

Maybe with something like a wifi card they will send you the part, but their only solution to a bad set of hinges was to send another unit that also had bad hinges..

[Wayne]

As an aside, I removed and reseated the card yesterday, no change. I'm not averse to whatever they want to do. I always keep a clone of the hard drive. It came with a 60 Gig and I added a 10K RPM 160 Gig (which, by the way, made it boot and run much faster). So if they want to replace the machine I'll put the 60 back in and send it to them. If they want to send me a new card, that's OK also.

I've owned ThinkPads since my first 380ED back in 1999 and this is the first time I've had a problem.

Thanks for your comments,

Wayne

[Wayne]

Just my luck. Powered it up this morning and it's connected at 54 Mb/s. It'll probably die again when my warranty runs out.

[miro_gt]

As an aside, I removed and reseated the card yesterday, no change. I'm not averse to whatever they want to do. I always keep a clone of the hard drive. It came with a 60 Gig and I added a 10K RPM 160 Gig (which, by the way, made it boot and run much faster). So if they want to replace the machine I'll put the 60 back in and send it to them. If they want to send me a new card, that's OK also.

I've owned ThinkPads since my first 380ED back in 1999 and this is the first time I've had a problem.

Thanks for your comments,

Wayne

I seriously doubt that you added a 10k rpm HDD in your laptop.

as far as your wifi issues go, depending on what channel your wifi network is you may sometimes get interference from other computers/networks. Restart and see what happens. I've had to change the channel of my network couple times as new networks pop up quite a bit around me (there are about 15 around right now).

as a rule, channels 1,6, and 11 are not overlapping channels. However depending on how many other networks use those you might be better off at another channel (such as in my case).

also, you can check what firmware edition your wifi card is, as those differ. We got two 4965 cards here and one is older edition then the other one, which btw performed better. This is visible under properties on the wifi driver

[Wayne]

Correction on the drive, it came with a 5,400 RPM and I changed it to a 7,200 RPM. And I powered up this morning and it connected at 54 Mb/s. Since I have six months left on the warranty I'm going to watch it. If it craps out again I'll call support.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's probably cheaper to replace the wifi card, then sending it in under warranty.
Besides, you don't know what you would get back...
While it works, leave it be. Another card is not much more than about 10 bucks.

[ThinkRob]

It's probably cheaper to replace the wifi card, then sending it in under warranty.
Besides, you don't know what you would get back...
While it works, leave it be. Another card is not much more than about 10 bucks.

This man gives good advice.

Really, unless they'll let you do a CRU replacement, I'd just eat the cost of a new card. I'd also go with something in the 5000 or 6000 series or an Atheros card. Avoid the 4965. It's better than the 3945, but not much better.

[craigmontHunter]

I have a 4965 in my T61, and it works really well, great reception and speeds - really its a matter of how much you want to spend and what you use it for - and like that, a replacement isn't that expensive (I upgraded to wireless n for ~$10 with free shipping )

[ThinkRob]

Oh yeah, the 4965 works great as long as you don't enable power saving and/or suspend the device. And provided you use SW crypto in those HW revs that have flaky support.

It's not that it doesn't work, it's that it's... well... quirky hardware. If you have a working config, by all means keep it -- just don't upgrade to a 4965, especially considering that much more sane hardware can be had for a similar price.

[Easy Wind]

great thread! I'm having similar T60 wifi issues with one of my machines. Off to see what actual card is in there (Intel 3945ABG?)

Of the other wifi cards mentioned already, got a fru# on any of those? Specifically the Atheros ones?

TIA!

[Marie-Anne]

Wayne[/quote]
as far as your wifi issues go, depending on what channel your wifi network is you may sometimes get interference from other computers/networks. Restart and see what happens. I've had to change the channel of my network couple times as new networks pop up quite a bit around me (there are about 15 around right now).

as a rule, channels 1,6, and 11 are not overlapping channels. However depending on how many other networks use those you might be better off at another channel (such as in my case).
[/quote]

There exists an excellent utility which shows the overlapping channels in your neighbourhood: inSSIDer
In the past I've changed the channel of my network, based on the information inSSIDer provided.
http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

[Wayne]

It's resolved. Don't know what it was but it connects properly.