SZ loses wireless network connection every 20-30 minutes?

So I have this really annoying problem. Basically my SZ is sitting on my desk, not 5 ft away from my wireless router. Every 20-30 minutes it will lose the network connection. Apparently it keeps trying to reconnect when this happens, and within another 5-10 minutes it reconnects again. It does this 24/7, and I don't have this problem with any other devices using the wireless network, so I figure it's gotta be something with the laptop. Any ideas??

 

Try uninstalling the wi-fi driver and reinstalling the newest version of it, probably downloadable from Sony.

 

Maybe router problem sometimes. Had that before from personal experience.

 

what is your router? I have a similar problem with lynksis wrt54gl . the drop occurs less frequently than yours though. maybe once in 2-3 days but then it keeps disconnecting a few times in a row for few hours....the same thing at the same time on our 2 laptops (sz150 and n150). wired connection is ok..

 

I've also had this problem from day one with my SZ1....I've got another wireless notebook (DELL) connected to same router for just as long and it has never lost the connection..whereas the Sony drops all the time...I have never ben able to copy a large file across...always drops the connection..but have learnt to live with it (use ftp the copy large files). I would be more than willing to help in finding a solution for this...

I have tried latest Sony and Intel drivers...but still the same.

 

I have the wrt54gs router. It's got to be the laptop though - I have other devices connected wirelessly and they never drop the connection.

As far as I know I have all the latest updates, drivers, etc. but I'll double check. I'm not too tech savvy so I'm not sure where to go from here? ...

 

Be careful un-installing/re-installing drivers if you're not tech savvy. There can be unforeseen issues. I have a similar drop issue in that I lose connection randomly but not regularly. It's just enough to be annoying though. I have SZ460.

 

I have a similar problem though not quite as frequent as yours both at work and at home (different routers) with my SZ. After a bit of internet trawling I believe it is due to my digital cordless phone working on very similar frequencies.
At work our router is peridocially wiped out and resets and occasionally it just wipes out individual connections.
If you do have a digital cordless it may be worth unplugging it for a while to see if that solves the problem? Apparently moving to channel 11 on 2.4Ghz or shifting to 5Ghz connection may help a bit. The former helps a bit for me, though the latter isn't an option on our work network.

Good luck

Hamish

 

Upgrade your router firmware. This happened to me out of nowhere once and that was the problem.

Call Linksys and they will be happy to walk you through it.

 

I had a Linksys, worked for ages and somehow over period of 2-3 years it started to slow down, so went and brought a new one and it was fine again ever since.

Belkin was crap day-one.

 

have you tried moving the laptop to a different location? even though it's only less than 5 feet away, there might be other interferences and EMI that's causing the connection to not stay stable

 

Don't know if you're addressing that question to me - but I've tried placing my laptop 30cm away from my old router and the signal was still on 'Low' - it was ridicilous.

 

i have belkins....geez its freakin' problem.

i've never experience this ON-OFF wireless loss connection. only now after downloading a lot of upgrade from sony and windows

dont know if this is related with vista OS!!!!

 

i guess i was addressing the question to you sylonien, or anybody else with the problem

if it's 30cm away and still shows as low, it might be some sort of interference. you should try going into the router and changing the channel in which the signal is coming from. By default (at least in america, i dont know about the UK), most routers use Channel 6, which i hear is also shared with cordless phones, microwaves, and all other routers. By changing it to channel 1 or channel 11 (both of the other ends) it might help you out

cheers

 

In my case I have one laptop about 2 feet from the wrt54gl router, and the second one is in a different room about 15 feet from the router. The connection drops on both laptops at the very same moment. My router has the most recent linksys firmware. The things which i've experimented with but did NOT help are:
1. distance/walls
2. encription protocols (WPA, AES...)
3. high vs low data load
4. changing channels including 1, 6 and 11
5. adjusting wifi settings in the laptops (roaming, transmission power...)
6. using windows vs intel drivers/utility for managing wifi

During the period when the laptops are trying&failing to reconnect to router, the wired internet works (tested with the 3rd desktop computer). The router itself first disappears from the list available connections but then appears back. Despite of that laptop just fails to reconnect back again. Only after 2-10 minutes it reconnects. Sometimes this goes 2-3 times in a row and then one week without any problems. I can't exclude possibility of interference from other devices from my neighbors. But at least the channel I use is not used by any of them.

 

Have you tried using your laptop on a different router to see if its' a laptop related problem?

For instance, my girlfriends' dads Compaq never connects to the router whereas I had no problem with my Acer and my Sony. So I'm taking it as a laptop problem.

 

This is the same behaviour I am seeing at home on a Linksys and at work on a generic ISP supplied wireless box. (At work this is wiping out 4 SZs and a couple of VGNs as well). Interestingly I've run 'Network Stumbler' and seen that next door's wireless drops out at the same time sometimes - therefore leading me to make the assumption that it must be e.m. interference. And the only thing I can link this to is our cordless phones. Certainly moving the phone and base station away from my wireless boxes does help. Unfortunately as I haven't an alternative wired phone I can't unplug it completely to do the most obvious test!

 

I had exact same problem with SZ230 and SZ450 for different reasons.

- SZ230: Original XP wireless driver caused this problem. I have resolved the issue by installing latest Intel PRO/Wireless Driver from Intel site.

- SZ450: When I configured the Vaio Wireless Setting to use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, the connection was dropping. I have resolved the issue by just selecting 2.4GHz.

I hope this helps.

 

Ok I just noticed something that is most likely my problem. Like I said I'm not too tech savvy so don't laugh...

Down at the bottom right of the screen there's all these little icons right? I found the Intel wireless deal, and when I put my mouse over it it says:

"Windows is managing this wireless adaptor. Click here to use Intel PROSet/Wireless."

This is how the laptop came and I just haven't messed with it. So it sounds like you guys are saying I should tell it to use the Intel Wireless?

 

i let windows manage my wireless connection. it's better that way. less cpu/ram usage and faster startup time.

no problems at all. unless the signal strenth is 1 bar. with 1 bar i get dropped connections and have to use the repair option.

how many bars do you (the topic starter) have?