x200 wifi troubles; adapter disappears, slow to connect

dansherman · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:11 am

I'm having two issues with the wireless adapter on my x200. I'm running Windows 7 32bit, with 2.0.0.75 Atheros drivers.

1) When I resume from sleep or hibernation it takes 4-5 minutes to reconnect to the access point. I've combed through the event viewer, and found this entry:

Code:

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client/Admin
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client
Date:          2/12/2010 7:03:19 AM
Event ID:      1003
Task Category: Address Configuration State Event
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      
User:          LOCAL SERVICE
Computer:      x200
Description:
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0x002269015B5F.  The following error occurred: 0x79. Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.

I would have assumed that it was just a problem with my router, but I have the same problem with any hotspot I try to connect to.

2) Every now and then, the wireless adapter disappears. It doesn't show up in Device Manager or the Fn+F5 hotkey window, and the light at the bottom of the monitor next to the bluetooth light turns off. I can't find any log or record of the adapter failing, or anything related. The really weird thing is that when I reboot the computer, it works just fine.

Here is the output of netsh wlan show all

Code:

Wireless System Information Summary
(Time: 2/11/2010 6:06:56 PM Central Standard Time)


======================================================================= 
============================== SHOW DRIVERS =========================== 
=======================================================================


Interface name: Wireless Network Connection

    Driver                    : 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III
    Vendor                    : Atheros Communications Inc.
    Provider                  : Atheros Communications Inc.
    Date                      : 6/9/2009
    Version                   : 2.0.0.75
    INF file                  : C:\Windows\INF\oem23.inf
    Files                     : 1 total
                                C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\athr.sys
    Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver
    Radio types supported     : 802.11b 802.11g
    FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
    Hosted network supported  : Yes
    Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Shared          WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Shared          WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                Shared          WEP
                                WPA-Enterprise  TKIP
                                WPA-Personal    TKIP
                                WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
                                WPA2-Personal   TKIP
                                Vendor defined  TKIP
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                WPA-Enterprise  CCMP
                                WPA-Personal    CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
                                Vendor defined  CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP
    Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP


======================================================================= 
============================= SHOW INTERFACES ========================= 
=======================================================================


There is 1 interface on the system: 

    Name                   : Wireless Network Connection
    Description            : 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III
    GUID                   : 106a6ac5-51b7-41a2-b3f7-3fd9da30211b
    Physical address       : 00:22:69:01:5b:5f
    State                  : connected
    SSID                   : nephi
    BSSID                  : 00:23:69:15:f7:98
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : 802.11g
    Authentication         : WPA-Personal
    Cipher                 : TKIP
    Connection mode        : Auto Connect
    Channel                : 1
    Receive rate (Mbps)    : 54
    Transmit rate (Mbps)   : 54
    Signal                 : 96% 
    Profile                : nephi 

    Hosted network status  : Not available


======================================================================= 
=========================== SHOW HOSTED NETWORK ======================= 
=======================================================================


Hosted network settings 
----------------------- 
    Mode                   : Allowed
    SSID name              : "x200-03170"
    Max number of clients  : 100
    Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
    Cipher                 : CCMP

Hosted network status   
--------------------- 
    Status                 : Not available


======================================================================= 
============================= SHOW SETTINGS =========================== 
=======================================================================


Wireless LAN settings 
--------------------- 
    Show blocked networks in visible network list: No

    Only use GP profiles on GP-igured networks: No

    Hosted network mode allowed in WLAN service: Yes

    Allow shared user credentials for network authentication: Yes

    Block period: Not Configured.

    Auto iguration logic is enabled on interface "Wireless Network Connection"


======================================================================= 
============================== SHOW FILTERS =========================== 
=======================================================================


Allow list on the system (group policy) 
--------------------------------------- 
    <None>

Allow list on the system (user) 
------------------------------- 
    <None>

Block list on the system (group policy) 
--------------------------------------- 
    <None>

Block list on the system (user) 
------------------------------- 
    <None>


======================================================================= 
=========================== SHOW CREATEALLUSER ======================== 
=======================================================================


Everyone is allowed to create all user profiles.


======================================================================= 
============================= SHOW PROFILES =========================== 
=======================================================================


Profiles on interface Wireless Network Connection:

Group policy profiles (read only)
---------------------------------
    <None>

User profiles
-------------
    All User Profile     : UST-Mpls
    All User Profile     : plymouth
    All User Profile     : nephi


======================================================================= 
========================== SHOW PROFILES NAME=* ======================= 
=======================================================================


Profile UST-Mpls on interface Wireless Network Connection: 
======================================================================= 

Applied: All User Profile    

Profile information 
------------------- 
    Version                : 1
    Type                   : Wireless LAN
    Name                   : UST-Mpls
    Control options        : 
        Connection mode    : Connect automatically
        Network broadcast  : Connect only if this network is broadcasting
        AutoSwitch         : Do not switch to other networks

Connectivity settings 
--------------------- 
    Number of SSIDs        : 1
    SSID name              : "UST-Mpls"
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : [ Any Radio Type ]
    Vendor extension          : Not present

Security settings 
----------------- 
    Authentication         : Open
    Cipher                 : None
    Security key           : Absent
    Key Index              : 1


Profile plymouth on interface Wireless Network Connection: 
======================================================================= 

Applied: All User Profile    

Profile information 
------------------- 
    Version                : 1
    Type                   : Wireless LAN
    Name                   : plymouth
    Control options        : 
        Connection mode    : Connect automatically
        Network broadcast  : Connect only if this network is broadcasting
        AutoSwitch         : Do not switch to other networks

Connectivity settings 
--------------------- 
    Number of SSIDs        : 1
    SSID name              : "plymouth"
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : [ Any Radio Type ]
    Vendor extension          : Not present

Security settings 
----------------- 
    Authentication         : WPA-Personal
    Cipher                 : TKIP
    Security key           : Present


Profile nephi on interface Wireless Network Connection: 
======================================================================= 

Applied: All User Profile    

Profile information 
------------------- 
    Version                : 1
    Type                   : Wireless LAN
    Name                   : nephi
    Control options        : 
        Connection mode    : Connect automatically
        Network broadcast  : Connect only if this network is broadcasting
        AutoSwitch         : Do not switch to other networks

Connectivity settings 
--------------------- 
    Number of SSIDs        : 1
    SSID name              : "nephi"
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : [ Any Radio Type ]
    Vendor extension          : Not present

Security settings 
----------------- 
    Authentication         : WPA-Personal
    Cipher                 : TKIP
    Security key           : Present

ZaZ · **Posted:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:54 pm

You tried dumping Access Connection or try running System Toolbox to see if that can find anything?

dansherman · **Posted:** Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:49 pm

I should have mentioned, I use the native wireless manager instead of Access Connections. I've tried it before, but it is no faster to connect.

The Toolbox/PC-Doctor didn't detect any problems, other than my lack of backup software.

I wonder if I should just replace the card?

arsenic004 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:34 pm

Is your router firmware up to date?

I had lots of problems with my X200 Intel 5300 wireless card before...slow to connect, dropped connections, connected but no internet, etc...

Turns out it had nothing to do with my laptop, but the router firmware. Make sure it's updated.

dansherman · **Posted:** Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:56 am

I've found a solution!

I figured that since it was slow to connect when waking form suspend, that it might be something with the power settings. I changed the settings to sleep when the lid was closed, in addition to pressing Fn+F4 or the power button. The next time it woke from sleep, it connected straight away. Seems like a weird solution, but it works.

The adapter still disappears every now and then, though, so I still have something to figure out.

jnguy · **Posted:** Tue May 31, 2011 4:44 am

I think I was able to prevent the wireless device from disappearing by unchecking "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" under the Power Management tab when accessing the device through device manager. I still have a hard time connecting after sleep however. This problem only started after I disabled that option.

smh · **Posted:** Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:01 pm

I have the same problem.

I found a solution that works, buts it's not practical: turn off the network cards, using the physical switch, before putting the computer to sleep/hibernation. When you resume from sleep/hibernation, turn on the switch only after you have logged in.

This works for me. So far i have narrowed down the cause of the problem to windows power management - most probably it's a combination of driver and power management. Windows cuts the power to the netcard, which causes the device to disappear. I have tried with generic drivers (downloaded from the chip manufacturers website) and it seems to work a lot better than the lenovo drivers. Although the netcards do disappear from time to time, it is not as often as with lenovo drivers and only when i have not used the wireless for a long time (e.g. if i'm using LAN and have BT, WIFI, and WWAN cards active then after 1-1.5 hours the wireless cards disappear).

jnguy · **Posted:** Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:41 am

It turns out the change I suggested above does not really prevent the wireless device from disappearing.

However, I have found that if I go into the device manager and right click, select "scan for hardware changes" under network devices, the wireless adapter comes back. Pain in the butt, but better than rebooting the computer every time. Hopefully a better solution exists.

penartur · **Posted:** Sat Feb 09, 2013 6:11 am

I have the same problem and been able to find this "scan for hardware changes" workaround long ago before I found this thread.

The problem with my X200s (7465-CTO, "thinkpad b/g/n wifi" produced by Realtek) started about 3 years after purchase, so it is not under warranty. Sometimes it can work all the day long, sometimes it disappears from the device manager in a couple of minutes, and during the recent months "scan for hardware changes" does not work as consistent as it were: sometimes it is not enough to "scan for hardware changes" to make missing adapter reappear, and only reboot (or a complete reboot, including unplugging the power adapter and the battery) will help.

According to lenovo forums, it is possible that the wireless adapter itself is not the source of the problem. The other reason I might think about is the faulty hardware wireless switch; but bluetooth does not suffer from this problem.

So I don't know what to try. Replacing the wireless card is not that cheap and there is no certainty about whether it will help or not.

Have you find any solution to your problem?

x200 wifi troubles; adapter disappears, slow to connect

Who is online