Problems with Intel Wireless 2200

Question

I have been experiencing some slowness with my wifi card. For some reason the connectivity drops to 1Mbps and slows down. I understand that there are many different factors that can be involved due to this being rf technology. I have another laptop with a Dell Truemobile 1350 b/g being used in the same location and the connectivity never drops under 18Mbps. Currently I have Windows XP pro w/sp1 installed. All the drivers are current, as well as bios. Windows is currently controlling my connections. If anyone can give me some tips it would be very much appreciated.

boppo · Answer

try changing the channels until you find one that might work better

anthony26 · Answer

I don't think changing the channels is going to do anything, I have another unit with a Dell Truemobile which is working fine never drops down under 18Mbps. I would think if there was a problem with the interference on the channel I'd probably would be seeing the same problem on the othe other unit. Something leads me to believe that theres a config/compabability issue somewhere with the Intel 2200. What I've done is disabled the wireless zero configuration service, then I installed the Intel Proset utility which is now managing the connections. I still see the drops in speed however it's not as frequent and not as slow. The connection shows a status of excellent to good however the bandwith still sinks down to 1Mbps. To further add this is not only happening in one location but in multiple locations. I have access to about four different AP's that I connect to daily and on each one I'm seeing a drop in performance. The only thing all locations have in common is the card. I've had a good deal of experience with 802.11 technology, however this is my first time with an Intel Centrino solution. The only other time I've seen this happen with an 802.11 solution is with a defective card. I may call Dell tomorrow to get this replaced being that this unit was just delivered this week. I just dread wasting my time with overseas support.

Slick1ru2 · Answer

I am having the same problem with the Intel 2200 on my 8600. I have used it with 2 different Linkysy routers. In both G and B modes it shows excellent signal signal strength and drops down in steps to 1 MBPS and even sometimes totally drops my connection (like it did while typing this post) even though I am broadcasting my network SSID at the router. I think it has to do with the 1.5M chip setup controling the power consumption of the wireless device. I am not sure though. I have tried to get the wireless connection to work using the Intel Pro software and while I can connect to the router, I can't get on the internet no matter what I try. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

boppo · Answer

i too disabled the zero service and let intel pro run the card. did you go into network and click advance and set those option ? Message Edited by boppo on 06-18-2004 02:08 PM

anthony26 · Answer

Just for clarification you can connect and surf while using just the built in Windows XP support however when you use Intel Pro set you are not? Do you have any encryption setup on this router, that's the only real thing I can think of as going wrong if you've connected to the same router before outside of using Intel's util. I also noticed the Intel Pro set util does not have any support for WPA.

anthony26 · Answer

No never went into network only the Intel Proset util. As far as the power consumption goes, by default the Intel Util sets the card to use maximum performance so I take it the radio is running at full strength. I have now enabled logging within the intel utility to see if I can see any patterns in the performance drop. I'll keep you both posted on my findings.

boppo · Answer

I was talking about the advance settings in intel util, that where I made my changes. I have the 128 bit code setup on mine (26 char)

Slick1ru2 · Answer

I am using WEP. When using Intel Pro to control the 2200, it shows me connected at 54 MBPS. But I do a tracert to 192.168.1.1 and it says I can't connect. It goes nowhere. I have to use System Restore to get connected back to the Internet again.

Slick1ru2 · Answer

Yeah they are. Router is a DHCP server. I first tried to remedy this problem by upgrading to the newest Intel Pro 2200BG drivers and could never connect to the net after doing that. Had to go back to System Restore to get online. I dread calling India about this. When it goes down to 1 Mbps it does nothing. I would hate to have to end up buying a Wi-Fi card to get around this.

Message Edited by Slick1ru2 on 06-18-2004 07:34 PM

boppo · Answer

go to properties in your connection and click on tcp/ip and make sure both are set to auto.

Slick1ru2 · Answer

Well, for the past 15 minutes I have been surfing pretty fast. I went in and manuelly assigned my IP/DNS setting and am running fast. And, I havn't dropped below 36 Mpbs (I am one room over from the router). I had read a post where someone has my same router and it takes a couple of minutes when he frst turns on hos computer to connect. I get that too sometimes. Someone suggested assigning an IP, ect. Hopefully this is the solution!

Slick1ru2 · Answer

Dipped briefly to 1Mbp but went back up to 36. Better, but still not right.

anthony26 · Answer

I'm convinced there are some issues with the Intel 2200 that I have in my system. I got this unit on Tuesday and Thursday and Friday were the first day's that I had been really using this on my wlan at home. Twice my router has went down. This has never ever happened. The only thing that has changed and the only thing that was connected when the router went down was my machine with the Intel Pro 2200. I had to reboot the router to get things back. I'm positive it's my card. Wireless access was totally dead. I'm currently selling a Dell Inspiron 8500 which has a Dell Truemobile card. I'm going to swap out what I have in my other unit for the 2200.

anthony26 · Answer

Ok ran a test running a DTM 1300 wifi card in my new d600 and everything worked out great, no performance drop, no dropped connections, it was heaven. So I did a forum search for Netgear specifically wgr614 (which is the router I have at the house and router that I connect to at work) Looks like there may be a problem with compatability issue. I'm going to try updating the firmware on my router. Don't know if this going to help you all or not, but if you happen to have a netgear router it's worth a shot. Heres a side note when I swapped out my Intel 2200 card for my DTM1300 the branding of my machine changed from Centrino to just a Pentium M. I noticed it when the bios is loading and theres the intel logo on the right hand side. Man Intel is strict, thought I could fool them. Update later.

-Anthony

anthony26 · Answer

Update everyone check this out: Heres a link to netgear confirming that there are some issues between centrino based laptops and the MR814v2, and WGR614 netgear routers. I may go ahead and and start a new thread just to help other users out. There may be an issue with other routers as well, you may want to check out your routers manufacturer. I coming to this conclusion because I also did a search on the forum for Linksys and there were some connectivity issues that were also found.

http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101200.asp

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Problems with Intel Wireless 2200

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