FW31M Wireless Prolems

[7hil]

Purchased this new Vaio on Wednesday and am having continuous problems with internet over Wi-Fi. It keeps connecting then disconnecting. I've tried to use the repair option in the Smart Panel which works now and again. I've even performed a full system recovery three times!

I have three laptops. My other two are an old Vaio FZ11Z and a Samsung netbook and I'm having no internet problems with them. I think it's a driver problem but I don't see any updated drivers on the support site.

Help! It's really annoying me!

[Blencogo]

Hi 7hil,

There have been a few posts like this recently.

Do you have an Atheros WiFi Card or an Intel Card? (If you have a 'Centrino' sticker on your Vaio it will be Intel). Let us know and we can search for the latest driver.

All you can do is try a few of these: -

1. Reinstall the latest available wireless adapter driver. Uninstall the existing driver from device manager and reinstall the newest one.
2. Turn off the power management setting for the WLAN adapter (uncheck 'allow device to be turned off to save power').
3. Disable Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
4. Turn off the continuous 'search for better/other networks'.
5. Boot the computer into safe mode and test the wireless connection in Internet Explorer (if it works OK in Safe Mode then your firewall is interfering with the wireless connection)
6. Install the latest firmware for your wireless router and check it is Vista compatible.
7. Check in Services that the WLAN autoconfig service (if it is there) is set to start automatically and is actually running.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head - does anyone else have any more things to add to the list?

[7hil]

Hi 7hil,

There have been a few posts like this recently.

Do you have an Atheros WiFi Card or an Intel Card? (If you have a 'Centrino' sticker on your Vaio it will be Intel). Let us know and we can search for the latest driver.

All you can do is try a few of these: -

1. Reinstall the latest available wireless adapter driver. Uninstall the existing driver from device manager and reinstall the newest one.
2. Turn off the power management setting for the WLAN adapter (uncheck 'allow device to be turned off to save power').
3. Disable Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
4. Turn off the continuous 'search for better/other networks'.
5. Boot the computer into safe mode and test the wireless connection in Internet Explorer (if it works OK in Safe Mode then your firewall is interfering with the wireless connection)
6. Install the latest firmware for your wireless router and check it is Vista compatible.
7. Check in Services that the WLAN autoconfig service (if it is there) is set to start automatically and is actually running.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head - does anyone else have any more things to add to the list?

Thanks for all those suggestions. I've tired option 2 and 6 and have just downloaded the latest intel driver. I statrted up the laptop today and it simply wouldn't connect to the internet at all. The device is an Intel® WiFi Link 5100 and the latest driver is Ver:12.2.0.0 Date:1/5/2009. The version that was on the laptop was 12.1.2 or something like that. Anyway, it is now connecting to the internet. How long that will last...I'll find out today.

What shocks me is that connecting to the internet is a basic function of any laptop. I shouldn't have to pay £1000 and then be faffing around like this using my £300 netbook to try and fix it. Very dissapointed.

Anyway I'll let you know how I get on.

[CruC]

Hi,

I have fw31zj had ssame problems with wireless too, but I solved. My solution is ıf you use WEP encrption etc, disable it on ypour router . put your mac adress on adsl modem config. It is a secure then WAP I guess

[7hil]

Hi,

I have fw31zj had ssame problems with wireless too, but I solved. My solution is ıf you use WEP encrption etc, disable it on ypour router . put your mac adress on adsl modem config. It is a secure then WAP I guess

Cheers for the advice! I've also heard that the router needs to be reconfigured to WPA but I don't find that doing router adjustments are acceptable solutions. What if I need to connect to a WEP router while away on holiday or business? Do I have to go round and change the settings on every router that I come into contact with? My Xbox 360, iPhone, Samsung XP Netbook, and other Vista Vaio laptop work fine on my WiFi network so why should I need to change the settings just to suit this laptop.

Besides, so far the Intel driver update has worked for me. No problems all morning and speeds are great! Hope it stays that way.

[7hil]

Driver update worked. Have been downloading and surfing all day with no problems!

[Blencogo]

Great News

Keep those fingers crossed!!

[7hil]

I think it's definitely fixed. I left the laptop on all night downloading. Woke up this morning and everything is still working fine. Before I would have to restart the laptop to access the internet as it would have lost the connection.

So it looks like any FW Laptop wireless problems seem to be fixed by an update from Intel.

Cheers!