wireless signal decreases over time

I have a X60 tablet with all the drivers downloaded, and have verified this with Lenovo's system update software. Within the last 2 months my computer has developed a problem with the wireless signal decreasing over time. When I log into Vista I have 5 bars, but within 15 minutes or so it drops to 2 bars and stays there. If I move any farther away from the router (I am only 20 feet away or so) it goes to 1 bar and i start to significantly loose network performance. What is going on?

 

Try changing the wireless channel on your router. That sometimes helps.

 

Power management in the router or the wireless card? I know some APs will negotiate power level changes with the wireless NICs. Which wireless card do you have (Atheros/3965/4965)?

 

i have changed the channel, and it still does the same thing. It is definitely something with the computer because other computers on the network (including another lenovo notebook) do not exhibit this problem.

Im not sure what AP means. Could someone clarify? I think i have the Atheros, how do i find out for certain?

 

You can find out in the device manager under network adapters.

AP means access point which will be the device you connect to from your laptop.

With some cards, in the Device Manager under Network Adapters there is and advanced tab and transmit power is adjustable. However is doesn't sound as if transmit power is an issue for you. It sounds as if the AP may be adjusting it's power down because of how it is hearing you.

I have a silly suggestion and it may not work at all. In the device manager try adjusting your power down considerably and see what happens.

 

I confirmed that I have the Atheros adaptor. The only thing close to transimit power is "transmit buffer" and that is set to 256. i dont think this is the same however

 

one issue to be noted is i tried to install the intel driver a while ago but the install wizard failed to run. it crashed before it started installing the driver. when i try to uninstall it it did the same thing. Im pretty sure it did not install any files on my system.

I was having wirless signal strength problems before the clean install and when i was back at school on a different network (a friends lenovo could pick up a network in the same room as me but mine would only have 1 bar and drop frequently) I was hoping the clean install would help...

 

I think it's time for a new card.

 

should i send lenovo an email? i just got my computer in the beginning of june...

 

Ya, call up customer service and see what they say.