T400 with Intel 5300 card. ...Signal strength issues

[stephenaron]

I am using my T400 using hte Intel 5300 wifi card to connect to my Dlink DGL-4500 router. My other machines inthe house have fine wifi signal, but the T400's is bouncing from 130mpbs to 1mbps. I made sure transmit power on the laptop is set to maximum performance....i am using WPA with AES encryption. Any thoughts? Any one else noticing similar issues?

[emorphien]

I can't say I've looked for or noticed any problems. Only used mine on a WEP encrypted system at home and the unencrypted system on campus.

[prelude528]

I'm having similar problems with my 5300 as well. Changed the setting but I get large signal changes even thou the laptop isn't moving. I don't have this problem on the old T42.

I'm hoping someone will figure out a solution

[lponz7]

Similar issue. The signal degrades over time until it's gone entirely and the card detects no wireless networks in range until I re-boot.

[rxblitzrx]

ditto. XP Pro SP3 with 5300 here.

[stephenaron]

well i started the post...so let me tell you what i have changed since then. I have always used Access Connections on my thinkpads, but i uninstalled it last night and stopped losing the signal. Then today i went into my dlink router (DGL-4500) and made the channel width set to 20, instead of Auto or 40. T400 working well for now. I will reinstall Access Connections again, but just unistalling it seemed to help the laptop alot. Anyone else?

[wrhahn]

ThinkPad Intel WiFi 5300 Wireless Connection Drop Problem and Solution!!!

I have read about Intel WiFi Link 5300 wireless connection drop problems on many different forums, including ThinkPads and many on other computer systems. In the end, I was able to solve this problem using a simple approach documented below in the SOLUTION DESCRIPTION section.


************
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

- Wireless connectivity works but drops connection after a few minutes, sometimes as quickly as just a few minutes, other times taking as long as 30+ minutes.

- The ability to replicate the problem is consistent, in that it always stops working in a relatively short period of time. However, it is impossible to predict how long before the connection drops, although it usually happens in less than 30 minutes, sometimes even quicker.

I received a W700 2 weeks ago, loaded with Windows XP Professional and the Intel WiFi Link 5300, etc.

This connection drop problem happened to me while running Win XP SP2 as well as SP3.

Note: I've heard that SP3 vs. SP2 matters and I've read some forum entries that indicate rolling back to SP2 fixes the problem. However, I've seen other evidence/posts that indicate it doesn't make a difference. Regardless, I am running Win XP Professional SP3.

I tried updating to the latest Intel 5300 driver (12.1.2.1) alone and the problem did not go away.


I also tried updating multiple drivers via the Lenovo site.

The latest Intel WiFi Link 5300/5100 drivers available on the Intel website are newer than those found on the Lenovo support and download site.

In the end, a posting on several forums by jposner led me down the right path, which was to update my ThinkPad with three things: (1) Intel WiFi Link 5300 driver (2) Intel WiFi Link PROSet software (3) Latest ThinkVantage Access Connections

The specifics of these three parts of the solution are described below in the "SOLUTION DESCRIPTION" section.


************
SOLUTION DESCRIPTION:

1) Update Intel® PRO/Wireless and WiFi Link 5300/5100 Drivers-Only (12.1.2.1)

AND

2) Update Intel® PROSet/Wireless WiFi Connection Utility (12.1.2.0)

using one of the following links:

http://support.intel.com/support/wirele ... /index.htm
(Multiple downloads for different Operating Systems)

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_ ... &submit=Go!
(XP Specific)

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_ ... me=Windows
(XP 32/64 & Vista 32/64)

3) Update ThinkVantage Access Connections V5.0.2

Use Lenovo Downloads and Drivers for your model ThinkPad, via the following link:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... eLenovo.do


The combination of ALL three of these has fixed my wireless connection drop problem, which would happen anywhere from 3 minutes to 30+ minutes after an initial wireless connection. I have run for days now without a wireless connection drop, across 802.11a/b/g connections.


***********
POTENTIALLY IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

I also found it useful to configure the Intel WiFi 5300 Wireless Driver with the following details:
(This is based on reading many other posts across many internet Wireless 5300 & ThinkPad forums)

o Power Management "Highest" and Roaming Aggressiveness "Lowest"

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Device Manager > Intel WiFi Link 5300 AGN Properties > Advanced Tab

o Power Management "Highest"

o Roaming Aggressiveness "Lowest"

o Power Saver mode off (don't let Thinkpad/Windows Power Management turn wireless off to save power)

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Device Manager > Intel WiFi Link 5300 AGN Properties > Power Management Tab

o Un-Check "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

o ThinkVantage Access Connections > Manage > Edit Profile for your connection > "Wireless Settings" Tab

o 5. Advanced Configuration "Settings" button > "Power save mode:" > "Low (best network performance)"


Please feel free to comment here or email me with questions.

P.S. I am extremely happy and impressed with my ThinkPad W700 > It is FAAAAST, awesome display, great drive bays, and much much more...
This W700 system totally ROCKS!!! (especially now that my WiFi is rock solid:-)

[bill bolton]

All versions of the drivers are OK, its almost always the power management related settings that cause initial WiFi connection issues with new ThinkPads.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[wrhahn]

It definitely wasn't the power management settings for me. I had those tweaked per overwhelming advice across the board. The only thing that solved my problem was updating the drivers as noted in my post.

Perhaps the W700 is new enough that the latest drivers matter more than in the past.

Thanks.

[bill bolton]

Perhaps the W700 is new enough that the latest drivers matter more than in the past.

This is the T 400/500 Series forum and my comments apply to those T series models.

Cheers,

Bill B.