Windows Vista Vista...SIGNIFICANTLY better WiFi??? Wow...

Hey all,

I'm on the third floor of my dad's house in Germany. Yes, the Crunch has made his way to Europe to visit family again.

Anyway, when in XP, I have to be in a CERTAIN spot basically get ANY signal at all. With Vista, it is stunningly different. Not only does it hold a STRONG signal, but I can move around freely on the third floor. All on the same laptop of course.

Is this one of many Vista's improvements? And how does it work, might I ask?

Thanks all.

 

Hi CD,
Seems interesting. I suppose, first I would check the listings for the WAN devices in Device Manager (even LAN devices, since they would be working on similar lines). Check that the names are exactly the same. Look for any Win XP driver updates. The Vista installation DVD may have installed more recent drivers than those of your XP installation (unless you have looked for and installed XP updates). For example, XP or Vista may be able to install basic drivers for the hardware, the ones Vista has will be more recent.

Setup? Is security/encryption tighter on the XP system? If you are using 128 bit encryption I think I have read that Vista can cope with it more easily.

I couldn't think of many more reasons at the moment.

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

I've had the same experience - Vista's WiFi is better. This is on a dual booting laptop using the same hardware.

 

Hi Charles,
I always like to know why? Offhand, I wonder if it is along the same lines as USB/USB 2.0. Win 98 needed drivers for USB devices, Win 2000 and Win XP didn't.

I don't think there was a Wireless Network Connection wizard in 2000, it first appeared in XP.

Windows "integrating" with the changing technology?

Matt

 

I'm always interested as to why things are the way they are, too, especially with stuff like this, which on the surface doesn't really make sense.

One issue, though. I got three bars on Vista's WiFi when I had all the ThinkVantage tools installed, including Access Connections. Hmm...Now that I did a long overdue reformat and installed everything from scratch, I only have one bar. It was consistent. 3 bars before, one now. Does Access Connections, or any other ThinkVantage tool somehow improve WiFi??? Even at one bar, it's still better than XP, though.

 

Hi Crunch and Matt,

Well, I'm assuming the built in software is better

I remember in reading about Vista (can't site a particular source at the moment) that one of the big improvements was WI-FI

 

May only be for interest, but there is information about connections and power settings here:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=67452
Specifically mentions laptops and although aimed at Vista, it adds some information about Win XP at the end.

If this might be the area where the difference is, third party software (eg, ThinkVantage) may make modifications to the settings to optimise them. For mobile computers there will be trade-offs for optimal performance vs power saving. "Default" power settings may different between XP and Vista.

Vista seems to be able to control the new "VPA2" adapters.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/wirelessnetworking.mspx

Matt

 

Alright, like I said, Vista only gives me one bar on the third floor, but is still better than XP's WiFi. Before I did the reformat, my Vista installation had THREE (!!!) bars consistently, and I could move around the third floor freely. I had all the ThinkVantage stuff installed and I now do as well. It's STILL only one bar.

So now what? I really want to fix this back to where it was stronger. What settings did I mess with and don't remember now? I'm trying to look for anything and everything and can't come up with a solution. I don't regret having done the back-up, the restore to factory default, and reinstalling both operating systems, as my old setup was just a mess, but the Vista WiFi was still awesome.

Should I try to find a different driver? Maybe I found, and now don't recall, some settings to give WiFi more power, or block it from Power Management? I think it's something small I'm overlooking. It usually works like that. lol...

Thanks everyone! This might be interesting to people in the future. Like a KB-thing, ya know?

 

What about different channels? I tried the overlap channels 1, 6, and 11. No dice. I got such a different (better!!!) signal before I did the reformat. This *****.

 

CD, probably not my best subject I have only installed wireless on desktops and then only basically. The subject interests me though, and the "why?"

You might need to remember what settings you had in the previous installation.

Do Windows updates play a part?

Private/Public network settings in Vista have been troublesome for me.

Matt

 

Hey Matt,

I don't remember any settings I might have changed. It's still better than XP, and I'm finally getting to the point (with very few exceptions) to where I use Vista only.

I looked at the Public vs. Private setting, too. What exactly is the difference? I installed Access Connections, which is for IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads, and I get a "poor" 10%, and the Windows tray icon shows only 1 bar.

It's still raging fast, but before, I had also had Access Connections installed, but it displayed 20-25%, and the Vista tray icon showed 3 bars, consistently..........................

 

Interesting. Thank you for your insight. I have two questions:

How do you account for the fact, or experience let's say, as you disagree with the notion that two other IT experts as well as myself, have experienced the opposite. That being that WiFi is better on Vista than XP. I didn't even know this until I was (and still am) on the third floor of my parents' house, where the WiFi signal has to travel multiple floors, penetrate multiple walls, etc.?

Second, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones then, as my Thinkpad uses an Intel chipset. More specifically, I have the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network chipset. Can you recommend anything that I can do to improve signal strength. Because again, before I reformatted my drive, etc., I also had everything installed as I do now, but it was much stronger, and I would never lose the signal. Now, occasionally, I do lose it when not in a specific room on the third floor. I remember tweaking the settings through Vista, but I just can't remember what it was.

Should I maybe go on Intel's website and get a newer driver. The current driver is from 4/30/07. Is there any additional software I can install? Can I tweak the settings in a way that will improve it? Is there any way to give the chipset more system resources? What's the significance of the different channels? I am on channel 6 right now. Just thinking out loud.

Before I leave for back home in the U.S., I will install a repeater for my parents anyway, so that they are no longer restricted as to where in their house they will have a usable signal. For example, I gave them both Netgear (that's all they had left) 802.11g cards for Christmas last year. They can't even get a decent signal on the SECOND floor with the cards.

Thanks again for your help. I look forward to hearing back from you.

 

Hmmm....this might be it!

I think I might remember what I changed before I reformatted. I looked through tons of settings and could not find it. Somewhere, you can de-select "Let Windows manage this connection" or something to that effect. I just noticed that when I added a second profile for when I am at my brother's house that when I open IBM's Access Connections, it says "Windows Wireless service" and underneath it says "The current wireless connection is being managed by Windows Wireless or another service ". Hmmm...Where do I deactivate that?

Thanks...

 

I looked in Vista Help and Support.

Here is how to turn it ON:

Do some searches in Help and Support. I found that under the Wireless networking FAQs.

Check if the "IBM manager" has actually been installed.

Matt

 

Hey Matt,

Funny, I decided to look at the help section, too, and found the same thing last night. Thanks for your effort, though!

And yes, IBM/Lenovo "Access Connections ", is installed. It is basically only for convenience, or so I think...?? You can create and save multiple profiles and save them if you travel a lot. Big deal lol...It uses up system resources. But if it's doing something else, such as improving a connection, then I'll leave it installed for now. I'm waiting for TonyT for a response as he sounds very knowledgeable on the subject.

Thanks again!

 

Vista WiFi wins...hands down!

After 2 more weeks of testing, upgrading, downgrading, loading 3rd party WiFi applications, the jury is in. Vista's WiFi has drastically improved over XP. I have the Intel 3945ABG in-built wireless card on my IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T60p, and the latest driver for Vista (6/20/07) blows everything else away. Although the one from 4/30/07 was already much improved, the new one stabilizes the signal and I can now move around my laptop on the entire 3rd floor of the house with an ill-placed router on the 1st (ground) floor.

This is the first time where I have seen software (the driver) *drastically* improve a hardware component.

And it's consistent...I did the same on my XP (I have a dual boot) install. I upgraded the driver in different ways to where it got better, but I still cannot hold on to a signal unless I go in the other room of the house (3rd floor).

On both XP and Vista, I tried it with and without 3rd party software, and ended up just upgrading the driver through the OS, and the results are totally consistent. On Tuesday, I'll be picking up a repeater for my parents to make this issue go away, but that's besides the point. With Vista, you'll hold a signal in a poor/low signal area a lot better, not just a little.

This was a fun experiment. And Vista wins hands-down. I would have bought the new OS either way, as I like to play around with operating systems, and I'm always a part of the MS beta program when new software comes out. But "under-the-hood" stuff like this, making it possible for me to be in my favorite room of my parents' house with a reliable and stable signal is BIG.

 

Hi Crunch,

Thanks for confirming my experirence

And as I've posted before, this is one of the improvments that MS cites for the superiority of Vista versus XP.

 

No problemo. Microsoft definitely didn't lie about this one.