Vista wireless connection problem

[SilentSal]

Hi

I have a new Sony Vaio FW31E laptop with Vista Home Premium. When it comes out of sleep or hibernation, it loses internet connection. Usually, initially, it will load internet pages, but seconds later, it loses the connection. The network icon displays that it has both local and internet connectons, but it cannot load web pages or other internet applications. In order to fix this I have to switch the wireless card off and on again and then it connects ok and is usually stable, although once or twice I have lost the internet connection some time later.

The Event log displays the following warning:
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 00215DF1B004. The following error occurred:
The semaphore timeout period has expired.. Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.

Sometimes instead of "The semaphore timeout period has expired" it says "The operation was canceled by the user". Presumably that is when I switch off the wireless card manually?

I have disabled IPv6 and tried giving the computer static IP and DNS addresses, but the problem still occurred so I changed back to obtaining IP and DNS addresses automatically.

I have a Netgear DG834Gv2 wireless router, which is obviously quite old. Other laptops on the network with XP have no problems.

This is driving me nuts. Any suggestions?

Thanks

SilentSal

[johnwill]

Check in Device Manager and disable any power saving options for the wireless adapter.

[JeKyL]

Hello,
Just a thought SilentSal, have you tried to update your wireless card to the newest drivers? Look at both the Card's vendor and the OEM drivers of the chipset
manufaturerx64 or x32 drivers. Just a suggestion.

JeKyL

[SilentSal]

Thanks for the input. I have already disabled the power saving options and it didn't help :(

The problem seems to be getting worse and I've been losing connection while using it. Sometimes on a fresh boot it won't connect to the internet either. I tried ipconfig /release that worked ok. But when I tried to renew it said "unable to contact your DHCP server". Does that give any clues?

I haven't updated my wireless driver yet. I know that manufacturers sometimes have their own version of the drivers but there is no updated version for the Intel Wifi Link 5100 AGN card in my Sony laptop. There is a later version of the Intel driver though. Is it OK to try that?

Thanks

SilentSal

[JeKyL]

Check out this:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Prod...=3062&lang=eng

I hope it helps!

[lloydkuhnle]

I am convinced that no one who has this problem ever really fixed it. It creeps up on you after a few months, and then happens more and more frequently. I have been through all the forums on this. Those who do not have the problem are only guessing as to it's cause. MICROSOFT has never really addressed the issue.

After suffering for months, I just gave up, and am awaiting my pre order of 2 WINDOWS 7 DVDs. I am hoping the problem will then just go away.

For now, I set aside my top of the line Alienware laptop, and went back to my old DELL XP laptop. XP DOES NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM. IT NEVER DISCONNECTS.

I am convinced of the following:

1. This is not a router issue. (Firmware or hardware)
2. This is not a computer hardware issue.
3. This is not a wireless adapter issue. (Hardware or driver related)
4. THIS IS A VISTA ISSUE.

Lloyd

[SilentSal]

You could be right, I don't know, but my laptop has been OK (touch wood!) since updating the wireless drivers. I do still have occasional connection problems but they affect the XP computers in the house too and are fixed by a router reboot.

I hope Windows 7 fixes your problems!

SilentSal

[lloydkuhnle]

Originally Posted by SilentSal

You could be right, I don't know, but my laptop has been OK (touch wood!) since updating the wireless drivers. I do still have occasional connection problems but they affect the XP computers in the house too and are fixed by a router reboot.

I hope Windows 7 fixes your problems!

SilentSal

Hello Sal

My Alienware laptop is not old, and after searching, I discovered that I already had the latest wireless drivers. My router is a relatively new Belkin n type, recommended by DELL for it's VISTA compliance.

Note that for the first several months of using the new laptop, I never had a drop out. This is a problem that crept in over time, as it has with thousands of others out there. (Based on the forums I've searched.) This is only a wireless VISTA issue. My hardwired VISTA desktop has NEVER dropped out, nor has my OLD wireless DELL laptop.

On another note, I had the same problem with my MEDIA CENTER EXTENDER, connected to my TV. When using it wirelessly, I would constantly have to reset the router. It became unusable. Once I hard wired it to the router, there was NEVER 1 DROP OUT.

VISTA & wireless - Not perfect together.

Let’s hope 7 solves it!

Lloyd