Wireless connection drops out - a hardware problem?

[Pete L]

I have a Sony Vaio laptop. Over the last few weeks from time to time
my wireless connection drops out but generally connects again within a
minute. I assumed it was my ISP but I have noticed that my wife using
her laptop has no trouble. I have connected my PC by cable to the
modem now and generally there are no drop outs. I have also noticed
that on the front of my PC is a little blue light that indicates that
Bluetooth and wireless is on - this light goes out when the wireless
drops out. Can it possibly be the cause of the problem that my
wireless receiver in the PC has a fault? If so, is there any cure?

 

[David B.]

Your observations indicate it is in fact a problem with your laptop, whether
it's a driver or hardware issue I can't say. Have you tried getting a new
wireless driver from Sony's website? Have you tried disabling power
management on the card?

 

[Elmo]

I have a Sony Vaio laptop. Over the last few weeks from time to time
my wireless connection drops out but generally connects again within a
minute. I assumed it was my ISP but I have noticed that my wife using
her laptop has no trouble. I have connected my PC by cable to the
modem now and generally there are no drop outs. I have also noticed
that on the front of my PC is a little blue light that indicates that
Bluetooth and wireless is on - this light goes out when the wireless
drops out. Can it possibly be the cause of the problem that my
wireless receiver in the PC has a fault? If so, is there any cure?

Open Device Manager, open the properties on your wireless/Bluetooth
device, click the Power tab, and deselect "Allow the computer to turn
off this device to save power". The device might not have a power tab..

 

[Pete L]

Open Device Manager, open the properties on your wireless/Bluetooth
device, click the Power tab, and deselect "Allow the computer to turn
off this device to save power".  The device might not have a power tab...

Thanks Joe - Device manager showed a red cross over the wireless/
bluetooth device. Bluetooth was disabled (no idea why, but I haven't
fiddled with it!) and I re-enabled it. That was about 15 mins ago. No
drop out whne normally it would have done after that time. I'm not
clear in my mind why Bluetooth is involved. I thought that the
wireless ran on a different frequency and Bluetooth was just used for
communicating with a phone, camera or to pass files from another PC.
Anyway, all seems to have been cured. Thanks again.

 

[Elmo]

Thanks Joe - Device manager showed a red cross over the wireless/
bluetooth device. Bluetooth was disabled (no idea why, but I haven't
fiddled with it!) and I re-enabled it. That was about 15 mins ago. No
drop out when normally it would have done after that time. I'm not
clear in my mind why Bluetooth is involved. I thought that the
wireless ran on a different frequency and Bluetooth was just used for
communicating with a phone, camera or to pass files from another PC.
Anyway, all seems to have been cured. Thanks again.

A quick look at Wikipedia suggests they both use the same band, but
Bluetooth typically uses less power. I could be wrong about their
differences though. Thanks for reporting your results.