Thinkpad 802.11abg garbage....realistic solutions?

Okay,

I have an r51, with the Thinkpad (Atheros) 802.11abg wireless card installed.

The Wireless is absolutely garbage, it drops signals very frequently, and requires reboots to get a connection back. Maybe it has something to do with power settings.

I have researched extensively both here and on bill morrow's forum.thinkpads.com

As I type, the darn system just lost the connection again, twice.

So far, I have:

Re-installed the Wireless drivers + Access Connections
Done Bios Update
Disabled powersave mode
did a full system update.
Tried using just Windows wireless tool and then just Access Connections.
Tried uninstalling access connections, tried disabling windows wireless zero config service.
Looked for any power settings in wired NIC, none
did a system restore back and forth through different driver versions.

Basically I've tried everything I found in my research, plus I'm sure I forgot something else i tried, maybe smacking it in frustration lol. I have given up trying to fix the problem.

Solutions to this include:

Upgrading to Windows Vista (dosen't have this problem at all).
Getting the Intel Wireless card
Trying to get my vendor to fix it (unlikely seeing as i've tried everything).
Returning the laptop

What do you kind souls think I should do, I feel defeated and shafted. ( never had a comp problem i couldnt fix before)

 

I have a new X41 that does something similar although it doesn't seem to effect my operation. What I see is an intermittent pop-up window in my System Tray stating that I now have a valid wireless connection even though I've been doing something else or have be reading a page on the internet. It DOESN'T seem to slow my wireless internet operation down much. Pretty much seamless.

l thought it might have something to do with a power saving feature as the only time I see it, I seem to be on battery operation. However, like you, I can't find any option in the battery that would allow the 802.11 card to unpower when not in use.

My previous IBM did not support "g" mode so I mostly used a PCMCIA wireless card which also seems to pull in "b" mode better than the built-in card. That might be a cheap fix if you want to go that way.

Update: Today I discovered that there is a power saving mode for my wireless operation. Once again, I have a X41 with all the latest updates. When I go into my ThankVantage Access Connections setup, on the advanced settings under "Wireless", there is a power savings mode which apparently defaults to Max savings. I switched it to "Best network performance" and I no longer get the nag popup screen telling me I have good internet connection. As to what it does to battery performance, I haven't a clue.

 

have you try connect the laptop wireless to other places? it could be your cable connection gone bad or you may be too far from the access point.

 

It's under warranty right? You may have a defective card notify Lenovo?