Wireless connection on new X61s always needs manual disconnect/connect to work

[Wyburd]

My X61S was new 2 months ago, and would not connect reliably to wireless networks [unlike my X31 which I still have; both are on fully updated XP Pro]. I was told by Lenovo Support to remove the Access Connections programme since apparently this conflicts with Windows XP Wireless Manager, which I did, but am left with the problem that on starting the machine "limited or no connectivity" nearly always shows even though signal strength is 5 bars. "Repair" in Windows connections does not work; it is always necessary to disconnect/reconnect manually, after which wireless connection is fine. This is becoming irritating - would be very grateful if anyone can advise the solution. Lenovo email support is not answering. Wireless router is a top of the range Draytek.

[andyP Community SuperMod]

Wyburd, welcome to the forum,

have a look at the energy setting of the card in device manager, they are best set for best network performance and windows is not allowed to turn it off.

[Prunella]

I have much the same problem.  It starts by making a connection using the Access Connections and then the Windows one seems to jump in and overrule the inbuilt ThinkVantage access connections and so I have to click on Repair the Windows one, which it can't do, but somehow seems to disconnect something, and then I click on the Connect to my chosen Location profile and it re-connects and then I'm fine.  But it's really annoying having to do all this every time I start.

[Wyburd]

I think I have cracked it - not bad for an ancient Brit.

Go to "Wireless Network Connections Properties", and click on "General".

Then under "This connections uses the following items" untick "TVT Packet Filter".

"TVT Packet Filter" stands for Think Vantage something, and is a Lenovo add-on for ThinkVantage Access Connections software, which conflicts with the latest versions of Windows XP if you use Windows to control your wireless network.

ThinkVantage Access Connections has given me grief, so on advice I have uninstalled it and now use Windows to control my wireless network. However, I have only just discovered the need to untick "TVT Packet Filter" as well.

So far this has solved the problem of having to disconnect/reconnect the wireless connection every time on start up, and hope it does for you.

[Prunella]

Thank you, Wyburd.  I was actually wanting to use the ThinkVantage Access Connections, but perhaps I'll have to do as you have done.  I'll give it a try.

[Wyburd]

Having worked fine yesterday without the the need to disconnect/reconnect wireless, I have found that after leaving X61S overnight the need to disconnect/reconnect has returned. What is more if I restart the machine the problem is still there, which was not the case yesterday. I haven't a clue why - very sorry. The need to disconnect/reconnect wireless is not network specific. It happens when I access any wireless network.

Changing energy setting of the card in device manager [preventing Windows from turning it off as suggested in previous post] also does not work. Updating the wireless card driver has made no difference.

My old [IBM] X31 works fine. I wish I had not bought the expensive [$2,200] and troublesome X61. It seems that Lenovo has cut corners on software development [support told me on the phone there were problems with ThinkVantage Wireless Access software, and advised me to uninstall].

Sent 2 emails to Lenovo Technical Support before joining forum, and neither was replied to. Now that I have had machine for over 30 days, phone support is not available. Not good at all.

Unless someone from Lenovo contacts me soon, my company will no longer buy Lenovo products. Why should we be left to solve these problems?

[Prunella]

I had to call in an IT chap who has managed to resolve the problem.  I had downloaded some software to enable me to find wireless networking sites and this loaded up each time I turned on the laptop, and it disconnected the connection that had already been established.  He has stopped it from starting up automatically when I turn the machine on, so now my ThinkVantage Access Connections seems to work fine.   I hope others have had some success.

[cp652]

Prunella, could you please let us know what software you are using?  This connectivity issue is getting annoying...

50% of the time, my wireless card is simply absent in my system. I actually need to restart the system, hoping that the XP will see it this time.  I also noticed that the wireless is not present in the BIOS either, when it "decides" to turn itself off completely.  Weird...

Thanks,

[bylund]

I've been having the same problems as Wyburd and I changed the power settings immediately after unpacking my computer. So it is already maximizing performance and Windows is not allowed to turn it off. I thought perhaps it had anything to do with my using Win Vista Business (on an X61) and possibly compatibility issues with ThinkVantage. But it seems this is an issue that isn't resolved in the numerous updates I'm downloading and installing.

The problem I'm having is that my computer seems to lose the wireless connection for a second or two only to reconnect. This is quite annoying when I'm e.g. Skype or watching movies online. Also, it seems sometimes it cannot find a wireless network at all, so I will have to doubleclick the access connection bars (the task bar icon showing connection strength) to turn on the wireless radio (it has for some reason been turned off "automatically").

[Prunella]

The software which I referred to was simply one called trustive.com which enables you to buy time online from certain wireless internet sites throughout Europe (and maybe beyond, I don't know).

However, I have just returned from a trip - and didn't actually find any of the places where I was supposed to be able to get online from, but did turn it on in an airport in Rome.  NOw I'm back and I seem to have lost all the connection settings for my home/office wireless connection and have got to ask the IT man all over again how to re-set it!  I'm so exasperated with computers.