Wirless network randomly disconnecting

penguinboy20 · 02-04-2008, 01:40 PM

I have a Dell Truemobile 1300 Wireless adapter. It has been working fine but in the past month or so it has started disconnecting randomly from my wireless network and I have to unplug it from the USB port and plug it back in, in order to see the wireless network again. I read on other threads and it said to update the drivers which I did but i still have the problem. I also don't think I have the corrupted drive file thing (INFACHE or whatever its called) as all my other USB devices worked fine. Anyway, any help in fixing this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.

**OldGrayGary** · 02-05-2008, 12:35 AM

Hi penguin

Did you find Vista-compatible drivers for that adapter? The most recent official drivers that I can see from Dell are from March 2004, and of course are Win2k/XP drivers.

Decent adapters can be had for $25 when on sale, should things begin to drive you crazy, it might be worth grabbing a newer adapter. Beats uphill battles.

Other than that -- you can try

1) Download CCleaner --- http://www.download.com/CCleaner/300...-10315544.html
2) Use CCleaner's Cleaning function to clear temp files (which can be troublesome for some installers if things get piled up).
3) With the Dell TrueMobile 1300 USB adapter plugged in, go into Device Manager, and into the Network category, & uninstall it.
4) Should the device still show in the "Safely Remove Hardware" applet in the System Tray, select it, and unplug it. Also unplug it even if it doesn't show in the Safely Remove list.
5) Use CCleaner's "Issues" function to clear tangles from the Registry. Run the Issue function until CCleaner reports "no issues found".
6) If you found a Vista-qualified driver, install it, then plug in the adapter.
7) Since there's been a lot of coming and going, check in the adapter's "Properties" to make sure that it's wireless settings are correctly set. (They'll need to match your network-type - probably "Infrastructure" and not "AdHoc", and probably set to "Mixed" modes if you travel between wireless networks of 802.11a/b/g/&n types).

Best of luck
. . . Gary

P.S. ... we don't recommend the casual use of Registry Cleaners, and only recommend the tools specifically mentioned by a certified technician for a task. Many cleaners cause more trouble than they cure, and some are outright frauds or rogues. CCleaner has won awards for years, and can be used with confidence (it also has built-in "un-do" features as a fail-safe precaution).

penguinboy20 · 02-05-2008, 02:53 AM

thanks for the reply I tried the suggested steps but still have the problem. I think I wil just but a new wireless adapter. Could you recommend a good one? Thanks

**OldGrayGary** · 02-05-2008, 01:12 PM

Hi again

I looked at the availability of adapters & their ratings . . . and can't say that I'm all that impressed with the USB adapters. From personal experience, I've used wired ethernet USB adapters that worked without any problems. On the wireless side, I've yet to see a PC-Card device that doesn't work like it's supposed to - they almost all work without any problems. But the PC-Card devices cost more, and of course are limited to use with laptops. USB seems to be more hit-and-miss with wireless -- I suspect part of that has to do with the fragile nature of the connection itself. So .... if you can find a PC-Card wireless adapter on sale for less than $50 that has a bona-fide Vista driver available - that might be the least headache. Here in So. Calif., cheap USB wireless adapters go as low as $11 on sale (value-line imports from a company called AirLink) .. but I've yet to see any feedback on how effective they are.
_______________

How about a couple more attempts to get your TrueMobile Device happy again? It worked before, and - assuming that the device isn't damaged - there should be a way of getting it to work again.

1) QuickFix Try:
You've tried several things ... but I don't think you've tried System Restore yet. Give it a go, using a restore point from the time period when it was working well.

2) Call Dell:
Strangely enough, there's absolutely no information I could find as to what wireless chipset is used in the USB version of the Dell TrueMobile 1300 (the miniPCI & PC-Card versions use Broadcom chips, but the driver updates for those devices specifically state NOT FOR USB). So see if Dell support can give you that information. I almost guarantee that the first-tier of Dell support won't know ... they are generally less-informed than the higher level techs. You might have to ask to escalate your question to a higher-level tech. IF you can find out what chipset the device uses, you could then visit the chipset makers website to see if a generic Vista-compatible driver is available for USB devices using that chip.

3) If none of the above steps help ... think back to what wireless connection utility you were using when the adapter was working well. If it was the Xp version of the Dell Wireless connection utility, try disabling the Zero Configuration Utility in Vista, and then reinstalling the Dell utility & try it. If the utility that worked best earlier was the Vista Zero Configuration, then you'd uninstall the other utilities. Try to work back to what was working before.

Also run some malware scans on as thorough settings as you can. Malware can disrupt network settings.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

penguinboy20 · 02-05-2008, 01:44 PM

thanks for the reply. I will try those new steps and hopefully 1 of them will work.

02-04-2008, 01:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
penguinboy20 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 17 OS: Vista Bussines	Wirless network randomly disconnecting I have a Dell Truemobile 1300 Wireless adapter. It has been working fine but in the past month or so it has started disconnecting randomly from my wireless network and I have to unplug it from the USB port and plug it back in, in order to see the wireless network again. I read on other threads and it said to update the drivers which I did but i still have the problem. I also don't think I have the corrupted drive file thing (INFACHE or whatever its called) as all my other USB devices worked fine. Anyway, any help in fixing this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help.

02-05-2008, 12:35 AM	#2 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,232 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Re: Wirless network randomly disconnecting Hi penguin Did you find Vista-compatible drivers for that adapter? The most recent official drivers that I can see from Dell are from March 2004, and of course are Win2k/XP drivers. Decent adapters can be had for $25 when on sale, should things begin to drive you crazy, it might be worth grabbing a newer adapter. Beats uphill battles. Other than that -- you can try 1) Download CCleaner --- http://www.download.com/CCleaner/300...-10315544.html 2) Use CCleaner's Cleaning function to clear temp files (which can be troublesome for some installers if things get piled up). 3) With the Dell TrueMobile 1300 USB adapter plugged in, go into Device Manager, and into the Network category, & uninstall it. 4) Should the device still show in the "Safely Remove Hardware" applet in the System Tray, select it, and unplug it. Also unplug it even if it doesn't show in the Safely Remove list. 5) Use CCleaner's "Issues" function to clear tangles from the Registry. Run the Issue function until CCleaner reports "no issues found". 6) If you found a Vista-qualified driver, install it, then plug in the adapter. 7) Since there's been a lot of coming and going, check in the adapter's "Properties" to make sure that it's wireless settings are correctly set. (They'll need to match your network-type - probably "Infrastructure" and not "AdHoc", and probably set to "Mixed" modes if you travel between wireless networks of 802.11a/b/g/&n types). Best of luck . . . Gary P.S. ... we don't recommend the casual use of Registry Cleaners, and only recommend the tools specifically mentioned by a certified technician for a task. Many cleaners cause more trouble than they cure, and some are outright frauds or rogues. CCleaner has won awards for years, and can be used with confidence (it also has built-in "un-do" features as a fail-safe precaution). __________________

02-05-2008, 02:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
penguinboy20 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 17 OS: Vista Bussines	Re: Wirless network randomly disconnecting thanks for the reply I tried the suggested steps but still have the problem. I think I wil just but a new wireless adapter. Could you recommend a good one? Thanks

02-05-2008, 01:12 PM	#4 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,232 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Re: Wirless network randomly disconnecting Hi again I looked at the availability of adapters & their ratings . . . and can't say that I'm all that impressed with the USB adapters. From personal experience, I've used wired ethernet USB adapters that worked without any problems. On the wireless side, I've yet to see a PC-Card device that doesn't work like it's supposed to - they almost all work without any problems. But the PC-Card devices cost more, and of course are limited to use with laptops. USB seems to be more hit-and-miss with wireless -- I suspect part of that has to do with the fragile nature of the connection itself. So .... if you can find a PC-Card wireless adapter on sale for less than $50 that has a bona-fide Vista driver available - that might be the least headache. Here in So. Calif., cheap USB wireless adapters go as low as $11 on sale (value-line imports from a company called AirLink) .. but I've yet to see any feedback on how effective they are. _______________ How about a couple more attempts to get your TrueMobile Device happy again? It worked before, and - assuming that the device isn't damaged - there should be a way of getting it to work again. 1) QuickFix Try: You've tried several things ... but I don't think you've tried System Restore yet. Give it a go, using a restore point from the time period when it was working well. 2) Call Dell: Strangely enough, there's absolutely no information I could find as to what wireless chipset is used in the USB version of the Dell TrueMobile 1300 (the miniPCI & PC-Card versions use Broadcom chips, but the driver updates for those devices specifically state NOT FOR USB). So see if Dell support can give you that information. I almost guarantee that the first-tier of Dell support won't know ... they are generally less-informed than the higher level techs. You might have to ask to escalate your question to a higher-level tech. IF you can find out what chipset the device uses, you could then visit the chipset makers website to see if a generic Vista-compatible driver is available for USB devices using that chip. 3) If none of the above steps help ... think back to what wireless connection utility you were using when the adapter was working well. If it was the Xp version of the Dell Wireless connection utility, try disabling the Zero Configuration Utility in Vista, and then reinstalling the Dell utility & try it. If the utility that worked best earlier was the Vista Zero Configuration, then you'd uninstall the other utilities. Try to work back to what was working before. Also run some malware scans on as thorough settings as you can. Malware can disrupt network settings. Best of luck . . . Gary __________________

02-05-2008, 01:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
penguinboy20 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 17 OS: Vista Bussines	Re: Wirless network randomly disconnecting thanks for the reply. I will try those new steps and hopefully 1 of them will work.