there is no power management tab, or anything to uncheck. in the adapter tab, there is a power settings area. when i hit congfigure, it says for power management: auto or manual.

Right Click the Adapter and go to Properties and then hit the Configure Button. Look to the far right in the Power Mgt Tab and uncheck that setting.

it is set to max performance and 100% tranmission.

Have you checked the Power Management tab?  By default it is set to turn off the NIC to save power even when plugged in.

Try manual and make sure it is not allowed to power down.

Also see the following:

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-006205.htm

Steve

ooh. it was already on max, but i set it to manual and made sure like it said to in the article. hopefully it'll fix the problem. but what is also strange is that after it disconnects, sometimes it has trouble reconnecting. but if i right click on the icon in the system tray and go to status, it connects again.

still discconnecting...anymore suggestions to what it might be? thanks for all the help. sometimes even when it get disconnected, i can still look at websites. the status gets stuck at acquriing network address. repairing does not work. but like i said, often times if i right click and then go to status, it might connect properly. however, even if the websites work, aim keeps getting cut off.

Message Edited by skybluelinen on 09-08-200602:21 PM

hmm...looking at the intel website, it looks like my driver and software are not completely up to date. should i download the new ones through the intel website, even though it recommends getting it from the original place of purchase? i mean i have all the new stuff available through the dell support, but should i get the stuff from intel?

Yes, get the drivers from the Intel web site.  They will usually be more up to date than the ones on Dell's site.

Steve

Which version of the drivers does it say you have in Device Manager?

Steve

i got the software and driver update from the intel website. but for some reason, it did not update the device manager driver. it only updated the software version. how do i solve this problem? i got the download from here: http://support.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-010623.htm#dr

it says it includes both the software and device driver. why didn't it update both?

Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software: 7.1.4.7
Device Driver: 1.2.4.35

Is that the way it is supposed to be for 3A?

but i think that the update for the just the software is doing the job. it has been working well for a couple of hours. (crossing my fingers)