[G510] Weird Wi-Fi card behavior - connected but no data transfer

I hope someone has already experienced such problem and may be albe to support me in resolving it...

OK, so my Lenovo G510 has a Broadcom Wi-Fi module BCM43142 which has been causing me a headache since I've purchased the machine - ca. 3 weeks ago.

The problem is that the Wi-Fi module apparently stops transferring data to and from the system at random times but without losing connection to the network! After powering up it connects to a network and works without any problems but after some time it just stops transferring data, keeping the connection at the same time. I'm getting the exclamation mark and "connection limited" message only after 2-3 more minutes. It says there's no internet connection but the truth is there isn't any connection, including local network - simply no data travels via network adapter regardless of the address / network I want to access. I can also see the device in the network from other machines but I can't access it.

The weird thing is that I can freely disconnect and reconnect to the network but it doesn't help and there is still no data transfer. I can even connect to a different network but again - no data transfer. I can even disable and re-enable the Wi-Fi connection (in Network and Sharing Center) and still without any effect on its functioning. There are only two operations that "unblock" the Wi-Fi card:

1. "hard" powering off the machine and turning it on again - simple reset dosen't help,
2. changing any network card device parameter (e.g. disable Xpress technology) in the device manager - the card then get reseted (I guess) and re-establish connection with data transfer working.

I'm certain the problem is not with the router / access point or my network configuration, as this has been observed with different routers and different networks.

As I said it happens at random times - it may not happen at all during one session, but then it may happen 2-3 times withing 5 minutes.

This is my second laptop and there are only three applications on it - Kaspersky Internet Security, Mozilla Firefox and KMPlayer - all in latest versions, so I doubt it is a software issue. The operating system is Windows 8 Pro 64-bit. There are no connection restrictions on the router side (like e.g. MAC filtering).

What I tried:

• re-installing network card drivers,
• connecting it to a different Wi-Fi network,
• connecting it to a different router, access point and even Wi-Fi repeater,
• disabling firewall, antivirus and any other protection on the machine,
• running Lenovo diagnostic utility (showed no problems).

I've run out of ideas now. I believe it may be a hardware issue. I wouldn't classify it as pure connectivity problem as there are no problems with connection as such but only with data transfer.

Is anyone able to advise me what to do with that?

 

Try the card in a different laptop; it the result's the same it's likely a dud, it's new, after all.
If it works fine on the other system; not overclocking the fsb per chance? At least, the symptoms seem to indicate an overtaxed device, is "after some time" = after heavy use?

 

Hmmm... I'm not sure if I'm able to remove the card without losing my warranty. I'm not even sure if this is a separate card, not just a module integrated into the main board...

Anyway, it has nothing to do with heavy usage. All I do using this machine is web browsing and media watching. No overclocking and no other "strange" customization - the machine is just as it left the shop

 

It's an mpcie card, so it's removable:





They usually are separated from the main board, otherwise 'dead card' = 'dead system' (people have forgotten about ethernet cables ...) and a 5min./$10 card replacement is a cheap fix whereas a 2hrs./$150 motherboard is not. Regardless, since you still have warranty; RMA?

Don't see any 'void warranty' stickers and it's a simple procedure. I'd ask for an rma for the card only; you can envelope-ship that and still use the laptop while you wait for the new one to arrive.

Offside ranting:

“ Internet's down!!!”
“Wifi only or cable too?”
“ What?”
“Grrr . . .”

 

Have you tried going into Device Manager, and under 'Power management' for the card, unchecked 'allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'? I've seen that fix odd glitches numerous times, on different cards. (And it's not necessarily bad hardware at all - I've had to do this on carts full of x131e's at school, all with the same symptoms and same solution.)

 

t456, thanks for providing this information! I wasn't aware of that.

livebriand, no, in fact I haven't considered that option at all. As far as I remember the card itself has a dedicated internal option for power management. According to this guide, it provides similar functionality.

Minimum Power Consumption
When enabled, this property enables the wireless client to either turn off the radio or to not scan when the wireless client network is unassociated or when the computer is in the IDLE state.

• Disabled
• Enabled (default)

I guess I may consider disabling both of them. Can't say whether it will help but there's no reason for which the card would somehow go into "power off" state because of some strange circumstance. Though I would expect some regularity for this, while it's not the case. Nevertheless, it's certainly worth trying before struggle with the Lenovo service. Thanks for suggesting that!

 

Certainly, try disabling that as well. For what it's worth, the issue I was seeing is that Thinkpad x120e/x131e laptops (Realtek 802.11n wifi) would seemingly stop sending data while connected to Xirrus APs (which are all the school uses), randomly but frequently. With that power saving feature unchecked, the problem disappeared completely. And for that matter, I had to uncheck that setting with the 7260AC in my Thinkpad t440s to avoid a few glitches, like no wifi after resuming from sleep (the issues weren't as bad as the realtek cards to begin with though).

 

And... fail, unfortunately...
I've disabled both power management options and was given a false hope since it took my G510 some time to reproduce the problem. I'm starting to believe it's the hardware issue.