WIFI Cuts Out Fequently

I have a bit of a problem with my Acer TravelMate 5520 (Running Vista). Until recently it ran like a champ. I have wireless in my home and office, and it had no problem finding and connecting to each and any SSID that I would have available. A month ago, I picked up a Verizon Wireless card that also requires the VZ access Manager software since if I am away from a hot spot, I may need to quickly get on the 'net with the laptop while being on the road.

Upon using the Verizon wireless card, I would start to experience problems later on with my internal wifi connection. It would stay connected for an hour, or all day or just five minutes, with no rhyme or reason as to why it would inexplicitly disconnect. I actually bought a new router, thinking that an old one was dying, but that did not stop it. I thought it may have been something around my office or home, but the occurrence of disconnection was not eliminated when I went to another location that I knew had free wireless without any passwords or security and still the problem of dropped connections occurred.

Then all of a sudden it stopped being a problem...that was UNTIL I used my Verizon Wireless USB air card again...now the problem is back with a vengeance...I do not know what I did to stop the problem the last time and cannot figure what to stop, start, reset or break to get the problem to go away. I do not believe the relationship with the Air card and the problem coming back is a coincidence.

I checked for viruses, but no dice (I use Avast, and it is fully updated).

If anyone has an idea, I would love to entertain it.

 

Tony,

1. The Broadband Connection from Verizon is listed BUT not able to be disabled...It was not "active" but that doesn't mean it wasn't acting in the background...
2. As for the software, I have kept the Task Manager open looking for anything that looks like VZW or something that could be that software operating, and it is not apparent. Again, that doesn't mean that it is not.

Because I could not disable the connection, I actually deleted it, with the thought I could re-install later...That did not work...within one minute the wifi cut out. I rebooted and it still cuts out.

Something else…right before it cuts out, the CPU spikes…Ring any bells with anybody?
Again, is there a command that resets or clears the Wifi at the command prompt so I may have a clear slate to start anew?

 

Tony,
Unfortunately the Ip address renewal did not seem to work.
The Wireless modem is listed in the device manager, but only when in the USB port. Prior to today it had not been linked with the WIFI adapter...I actually tried that (intentionally linking them), but the same result has occured... the drop out occurs. To isolate the issues with the Verizon air card, I have uninstalled all the Verizon software...Alas the problem still occurs even after a reboot...
I wonder if Verizon's software has anything to do with it, or was just a catalyst already to occur...Any other ideas?

 

AH - HA!
I believe my problems were, in fact, a coincidence with my use of the Verizon Air card. The problem I now believe is related to the Acer eNet Management system, which ushers wireless connections. And I recall that the problem may have begun right around the time the latest round of updates came rolling through, so some security issue updates may be in conflict with the Acer eNet Mngmt. As of now, I have shut down the eNet program and that seems to have solved the issue. Everytime I turned it back on, it would cut out...
Sorry to have racked your brain about this, but thanks anyway...

 

Whoa, Hold our horses...
All I have done is cut down the frequency...It still cuts out but now it cuts out when I open the IE7.0 or switch url pages...
Before I turned off the Acer stuff, it would cut out indiscriminately
I wonder if it is over-aggressive security patches...I am not so inclined to take them off yet but that is another possible reason for this occurrence...Before I take the action of opening a possible security, do you have any other thoughts...I am just lost...As you can assume, the cut-outs have gone from annoying to distracting to debilitating when I need to get work done...

Hope to hear soon...

 

When you install the Verizon Manager how did you answer the question "Would you like V Access Manager to manage all of your wireless connections? "

 

Negative.

Actually I re-installed the VW card and said no to WIFI monitoring and the wifi cut out happened within 10 minutes...Then I uninstalled VZ access again, and then reinstalled and answered yes and had VZ access manage the accounts...and still it cut out pretty much in the same time. I have taken off VZ access once again (and for the final time) and have re-installed it as a non managing, WWAN device only, not a wifi manager. I am pretty convinced that it is not the culprit now since I had installed the VZ access long before this problem cropped up without any issues…but I am open for any ideas…

Unfortunately, this is like the problem one has with the car…Happens all the time until you get to the mechanics and then it works fine…
The funny thing is it does not APPEAR that it has cut out this AM...The situation is that I had it cutting routinely last night (the frequency appeared to have increased, but that could be my perception through aggravation…), so I hibernated my laptop, as I usually do. Upon resumption this AM, it does not appear to be knocking off at all…I say appear because if I were to step away, the current Windows wifi manager drops and links back up with the router in my house very quickly, so I may not know if it is dropping or not unless I sit in front of my computer like a drone waiting for it to fall down once again…

 

By George I really think I have it...and it has something to do, of all things, with the power management.

Under the power management settings, there is one for wifi, under battery and plugged in...For some reason, the Plugged in had been set to Maximum Power savings vs. Max performance...The minute the CPU rose over 50%, the wifi would cut...Resetting it back to Maximum Performance has stopped the cut out completely...(I also think the Acer eNet management was in conflict as well, and as I do not need it, I will not turn it on again...)
SO if you have a problem similiar, check your power settings as well!!
DMD