X220 wifi issue? Help Please.

For some reason my X220 has the worst wifi signal out of any laptop I own, including my four year old $400 HP G71.

It can see networks about as well as the other laptops, but when they have less than four bars it can't connect. My other laptops, and even my iPhone, can connect to any network they are able to see, with the only exception being that 1-bar connections often disconnect.

The error I get is "Windows was unable to connect to ____wifi name____" and it says reset the modem. Unfortunately that does nothing, and it asks that at times when every other laptop connects perfectly.

Any idea how to fix this?

I know my laptop has the intel wifi link 1000, which is low performance but it shouldn't be THAT bad. Yes my laptop has a webcam.

Thank you very much for assistance.

 

Also, there is another issue with my X220: Sometimes when running on battery it will randomly turn off. (not out of battery) Does anyone know why this occurs and how I can fix it?

 

Do you have the Realtek wireless adapter (the non-Intel one)? If so, they suck.

Run a gauge reset on your battery.

 

The Intel WiFi 1000 is a fairly capable card, so it shouldn't be that bad. I would go to Device Manager and do a complete uninstall of the drivers, and then reinstall the latest compatible drivers from Intel (drivers only; you don't need the Intel software). See if that helps.

As for the battery issue, go to Power Manager > Battery Maintenance > Perform Reset, and let it finish the reset (it may appear stuck at a low percentage for a long time; that's normal). Also, what does the battery report as the full charge capacity, remaining charge, and design charge?

 

This is why I always forego the webcam and get the 3x3 Intel 6300 card. You can always add a USB cam if you need it. Not so with a poor wireless card.

Since wifi is used 99% of the time (probably 100%) vs. maybe 2% webcam use, always get the highest end card possible, IMO.

 

In this case, that has nothing to do with the WiFi card's performance. A base Intel WiFi 1000 will outperform the WiFi capabilities in pretty much any phone.

 

Ok FWIW I've never had any issue with the 6300.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

This sounds like a Windows issue. Make an image of the current Windows image, reinstall Windows and check.

If that doesn't fix it call Lenovo. You should be able to connect even with one bar albeit with lower speeds. Sounds like the antenna is ok, but either it or the card might need replacing if it's not a Win issue.

 

If I'm going to be reinstalling windows, are there any advantages to not doing a clean install? Are any of the thinkpad softwares really worth it?

Thanks again everybody.

 

Use the Lenovo Windows image. It's been verified that power consumption is a lot less with the Lenovo image. Even if you use the same Power Manager settings they seem to optimize the OS quite a bit to have a massive advantage over a clean installation. Not just the X220, it's been the case for models on Vista and XP in the past too.

 

Not sure if it's changed since, but power consumption figures as reported by Power Manager are identical on my clean-installed X120e and T500 as they were with the stock Lenovo install. The X120e had the "Lenovo Enhanced Experience" on the stock install.

If you're using an SSD, I would definitely do a clean-install, if you're using a regular HDD, it doesn't matter all too much, as Lenovo's factory image is relatively sparse.