Wireless card automatically disabling on EL80

I have a EL80 laptop and recently, a week or so after installing the SP for vista business, my wireless card has been just turning off. I do not think it is a specific program that is causing problems because i can run only remote desktop and sometime after the screen saver (through remote desktop) turns on the wireless light turns off and windows says the card is disabled. I have tried to enable the card but it does not seem to change. I disabled my firewall to make sure it was not 'protecting' me by turning off the adaptor.

Has anyone else seen this problem or know of anything i can try to do to stop it from happening? I have had it happen while running WoW as well with some small background programs like chat clients.

I do not have the wireless switch program installed (for the fn+f2 switch) and have made sure the physical switch has not been switched over.

any ideas or help is appreciated

Icey Kitsune

 

I don't have an EL80, I have an IFL90 (vista business), but I think your problem is related to your latest installation. I would suggest to re-install your WiFi drivers again.

 

I actually just updated my drivers right after this started happening, hoping that would take care of the problem but so far it has not. I can try again to reinstall or install the ones off of compals site rather then the ones on intels site even with the compal ones being older.

Icey Kitsune

 

did you check the wifi card properties and make sure under "power management" that the box is NOT checked to allow windows to turn off the card??

 

few months ago my wifi card startd to dissapear from system also . it was dead and it did the same on other laptops too. so i just bought a new and better one.

 

Mine sometimes disables by itself. It happens once or twice a week. Symptoms: no internet connection, but the wireless icon in the system tray says there is a connection. I can't disconnect though, the wireless icon is irresponsive. Can't disable and re-enable the wireless adapter either, not even by the hardware switch. Only solution, reboot. I just installed the latest drivers (which I didn't have I think). Let's see how this one goes...

 

I already unchecked the power management box but at the time i did it it had already died, when the card died it seemed anything relating to the card (ie network connections, network sharing center, adaptor properties) took 3 times as long to load. the card still showed in device manager with no errors but running the diagnostic on the card said it was disabled. re enabling didnt work as it would say it was enabling but then disappear and still be disabled. I dont think my card is dead yet but if it is dying then ill have to buy a new one and im not looking forward to it. i will retry disabling the power management just to be on the safe side to make sure that windows didnt do something to keep that option enabled when it was unchecked.

interface: what one did you buy so i can look for that if i do have to buy a new one for my laptop?

 

Atheros AR5006EG - well i got it allmost free @ my work so i didnt choose much . but its way better than those Intel cards. discoveres more networks from longer distance and signal is more powerful.

 

Any update on this issue?

 

well it didnt happen for a few days but just a bit ago it did it again, this time i wasnt really doing heavy traffic of any type

 

Very strange, is not a consistent behavior. It must be something you are doing, perhaps a virus?

 

Sorry for the long wait, I tried to run a virus scan on my laptop but came up with nothing. Additionally if it were a virus unless it targeted just the wireless card, I was able to use my ethernet port just fine and transfer 8 GB to another computer. Opening network and shareing center as well as network connections does take a long time. I tried installing the wireless select switch thinking that it may be turning off the card in software but the select switch software does not find my wireless card. Also when my laptop disables the wireless my network icon shows limited connectivity, if i use the hardware switch it shows the red x meaning there is no network avalible. Network connections shows that the card is disabled but continually trying to enable the card does nothing.

Icey_Kitsune

 

Limited or no connectivity usually means that your laptop is configured for DHCP service of an IP, Gateway and DNS addresses; but that for whatever reason your client DHCP request has failed.

Try A right-click on your network icon in the notification tray and do a repair........


If your problem remains, run a network diagnostic and post the results back here

 

Please allow me to summarize your issue and tell us if I'm wrong.

1. ADHOC is fine (ethernet communication among computers colocated and behind the router)

2. LAN is not working (Internet).

3. WLAN has limited communication, it connects for a short time and get disconnected.

4. Good signal level for the wireless nic card (at computers).

5. Wireless base station functionality working well at the router.

 

First, my laptops wireless is configured for DHCP, the main thing is that when it goes out and says limited or no connectivity before i do the hardware disable, inside network connections it will show the wireless adapter as disabled. it needs to be enabled to do the repair. as for the diagnostic in vista, it says the device is disabled and needs to be be enabled then exits after it thinks it has enabled it. other software i ran said the same thing, the hardware was disabled in either device manager or in network connections

second:
1 if by adhoc you mean just ethernet cables then yes, i do not actually do adhoc wireless.

2 i get internet fine, but it seems if i dont go into an idle state every so often or i try to do too much (which imo is not much; playing a game, running some chat and having a web page with some pics on it load all at once) then the wireless dies, i get a limited or no connectivity, the wireless card shows as disabled and the light next to the hardware switch does not light up. ethernet (physical cables) has had no problems what so ever

3 pretty much but like i said above, it works for a while but it randomly will stop.

4 when i am connected i get 4 to 5 bars. this has happened no matter how close or far (within range) of the wireless router.

5 the wireless router has never had problems and no other wireless devices connected are disabled


Icey_kitsune

 

If you lose connection when it goes idle, it could be caused by the way you have setup your system to do when it goes into hibernation/stby/sleeping mode or else, check that out.

With regards getting disconnect when intensive operation, it could be that your ISP can't supply enough capacity, what kind of ISP you have and are you the only one connected?

Is your WLAN secure? It could also be that other people are tapping into your connection and using your bandwidth?

Listen I'm just talking loud here to generate ideas as where the problem it could be coming from, so don't lose patience if I don't make sense, thanks.

 

Its ok, I work at a help desk so I do this stuff with others all day. My wireless is secure, I have also checked to see if I have any other computers on my network when I loose my connection. I checked using my main PC that is connected directly to the router. I am running comcast internet service. I have downloaded more on my main PC and infact have downloaded software (legally) on that system with no problems. If it was comcast then they would be in my network which I believe is illegal (but im not a law student). If my ISP couldnt handle the traffic then i wouldnt expect I would have to reboot my laptop just to get the wireless to show up again. I do have others connected but they are not heavy internet users.

I have never lost connection before and do not have my system set to hybernate while it is plugged in, nor do i have it set to go to standby. I have not noticed a connection loss while Idle, only when I am working with my laptop have I noticed it.

Icey_kitsune

 

Sorry tif I repeat myself, how much memory do you have?

 

I have 2 GB of ram, max it can handle, also have the 2.0 core 2 duo. no bluetooth or TV tuner internally.

 

Although 2GB seems to me fine for normal useage, I think is a memory issue. You may use the TM to verify what is taking so much memory space. Beside this I don't know what else I can tell you, perhaps you may want to attempt to re-install the WLAN drivers, I don't know.

 

I will double check the memory usage, from what I seen vista usually takes about 500 to 800 MB and then my other programs do not use much but I suppose it could be the issue. I do see some extended load times switching between WoW and my other programs but have not checked if its at the same time as the wireless going out. I ahve reinstalled the drivers but that didnt seem to help for long, I feel it may be a problem with the software/hardware side of the disable switch. Without being able to test the switch program (as it does not detect my wireless card anymore) I do not know. The physical switch does its job but it is already enabled when the card dies.

 

Try to have the card replaced, are you still on warranty?