T400 - Anyone still have wireless problems with 5300?

I have my 5300 manually configured to maximum performance to avoid the random disconnect issues. Is anyone else still experiencing problems with the 5300 card?

I'm asking because my battery drains ridiculously fast.

 

It is generally understood that wireless clients should always use maximum power—as many APs have issues with clients that try to save power. So crank up your wireless power and save power somewhere else—it’ll save you lots of headache.

 

I used to have the issue where my 5300 would always connect at 6mbps to my wireless N router, Lenovo shipped me a new card and it fixed that issue. What are you getting for wattage? I get anywhere from 8-10 watts when on battery power. 10 being the highest when the HD is active.

 

i have my 5300 at minimum power and it is solid as a rock. i have only turned power to max once when i couldn't get a signal at minimum...

 

I am having drop outs on my 5300 every few minutes. where do i switch it to max power?

 

You may want to check your drivers, maybe the problem is there. Or try to connect to a different wireless network, just to make sure that the card is faulty.

 

You may want to check your drivers, maybe the problem is there. Or try to connect to a different wireless network, just to make sure that the card is faulty.

 

I will try a different wireless network...but I am confident my home network is stable, since other computers have no problem with it.

Drivers? i would think that Lenovo has the drivers firgured out by now on the T400 and 5300?

I havent modified any of the OEM installed drivers, etc.

 

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.


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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/searchs:
(This forum prevented me from including complete URLs until I have made 15 posts :-(
(So, copy/paste the links below into your web browser address bar)

support.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/5300_5100/index.htm
(Multiple downloads for different Operating Systems)

downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=3062&OSFullName=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:

www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/homeLenovo.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

 

I also had the same problem. Called Lenovo, tech #1 wanted to replace the mainboard...on a 1 week old t400. Tech #2 told me to turn off power savings like described in earlier post, but that drains alot more battery, 12 watt on idle vs 8.5 watt (and still doesn't work).

My solution: Switched out my NetGear router to a Linksys and everything worked beautifully. So far I tried 2 NetGear routers both don't work, of the 2 Linksys models I tried, both worked flawlessly. I am currently using max powersavings and all power saving features turned on in the wifi card config page with zero problems.
Gonna give wrhahn's solution a shot.

 

this, for the future, is very useful info

 

So which rotuer models are you having good luck with?

 

I have no problems, I have a Linksys WAG 200B router here.

 

I have a D-link DIR-615 router I bought from Lenovo.

BTW, how about opening a new thread for these routers?