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Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN problem - disconnecting

idata
Employee
15,181 Views

I'm having a problem that just started with my 2 year old laptop. The Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN adapter keeps dropping connection.

On my laptop there is a light that shines blue when connected and orange when not connected. I boot the computer and the light will be blue. After awhile it switches to orange. I go into device manager and disable the adapter and re-enable it and it works fine for a bit and then disconnects again. A few weeks ago it was disconnecting one or two times a day. Now it is disconnecting as often as every minute or two.

Sometimes when I go into device manager the adapter isn't even listed. I try scanning for hardware changes and sometimes that will find it and I can re-enable it. Sometimes the scan will not find it and all I can do is re-boot.

I have tried using the latest version driver from the Intel site (13.4.0.9) and that has the same problem as the version that is the latest on my laptop vendors site (13.0.0.107).

I have not made any changes in the last 12 months to my wireless network settings in the router or on the computer. There are three other laptops in the home which work just fine and never drop connection.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

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58 Replies
idata
Employee
1,416 Views

For what it's worth, my card has seemingly died a slow death. I too was convinced that it was a router-specific issue, but now the card fails everywhere, regardless of the router. I bought a USB wireless connector .. not a preferable solution, but at least it works. It would be nice if someone at Intel fessed up to what is obviously a defective product. Replacing the on-board card looks like a fairly delicate procedure, otherwise I would have done this by now.

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

I've been having this issue ever since I got my Dell studio over a year ago. Have tried all sorts, but the solution above finally fixed it for me. Thanks Patrick.

If I went to the card in Devices and searched for latest drivers it always said I had the most up to date. A visit to the Intel website recommended an update, and so far it's worked a treat, a whole week without a disconnect.

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/?iid=dc_iduu http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/?iid=dc_iduu

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

Right-click on "My Computer" and click on Manage. Click on Device Manager on the left side. Expand Network adaptors, right click on Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN and uninstall it. It will prompt you to restart. Once restarted, it will automatically re-install it. You should be good to go.

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

Just following up on this long saga. I've tried all above recommendations without success. Then, out of the blue, the 5100 turns on about two days ago and works flawlesssly for two days straight. Then, just as sure as it kicked in, it died today and disappeared from my network adapters list. I've yet to restart to see if I can get it to kick back in, but this device is definitely making its claim for most erratic computer component of the decade..

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

In my case the Intel 5100 quit connecting but would reccognize the wireless networks in the area. After see this forum of many posts without answers I went to the Cisco pages. They have an AE1000 USB adapter on sale for under $20 refurbished. I ordered one and installed it. I uninstalled the Intel 5100 and its software. My Dell XPS now runs faster like it di originally. Video and music now runs properly as do many other applications. The bottom line is the Intel 5100 AGN may be destroying the performance of your laptop. Go to another wireless adapter like the Cisco AE1000. My N level network is now running like it should.

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

I have the Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN in my HP DV7-1262US and also experience unexplainable drop out on an AMBIT wifi router and on a Belkin wifi router. I feel your pain. On the Time Warner RoadRunner supplied Ambit wifi router I have no access to signal levels in or out. My network and sharing center will say the signal from the the Ambit or Belkin wifi routers are good to excellent yet I get dropped. I run the laptop on a USB cooler pad. So I don't think it is heat related. The drop out is so intermittent in nature. I can run for days drop out free then in on night I can be dropping out on the Ambit and switch to the Belkin for hours then drop out of the Belkin and go back to the Ambit. I can do a reset remotely on the Belkin and be up and running. On the AMbit it is not possible to do a remote reset. I would have to go to the next houde over and do a hard power down reset. Will try that next.

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

Aparrantly Intel is still not listening to us. I have this in my HP. Their solution is for me to send my laptop back to HP and for them to completely wipe my hard drive just to fix the wireless card! Thats makes for a lot of work once I get the lap top back. I would prefer they put a different card in and be done with it!!!!

Nancy

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

Same problem here. The laptop - HP Probook 4410s - is 1.5 yrs old, the problem started appearing about 6 months ago. At that time, it happened infrequently, that too in Linux. There are lots of bug reports on this problem for Linux and apparently Intel is working on it. Now the problem is severe - so I checked in the dual OS Windows ... and of course, its same in Windows too! I need 2-3-4 reboots to get the wireless working in Windows (XP) and even then, the card stops working if I put a little load on internet. And sometimes just on its own.

Has anyone tried to replace the mini PCI intel Wifi card with something else? Broadcom / Atheros / another Intel?

For the sake of Linux users, this problem will start happening infrequently and gradually increase. It is probably not related to Heat - I opened the laptop and the Fan seems clean. This is unlikely a driver problem... and if you see these messages in dmesg/syslog then you have been graced with this misfortune.

"iwlagn: Error sending REPLY_RXON: enqueue_hcmd failed:"

"iwlagn: No space for Tx"

 

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

I have this problem on my laptop, and I have figured out that the problem is physical... though it seems to lose connectivity randomly, I realized that if the laptop is physically moved or shaken it always cuts out. I tested the theory a bunch of times by simply turning on the laptop, connecting to the internet, and shaking it like an etch & sketch... it lost connectivity every time. Even with this problem I can often work for hours when the laptop is sitting on a table where it is stable. I'd like to see if anyone/everyone else can replicate the experiment to confirm that this is an actual loose physical connection. If I am right, there may be a way to fix this by more securely fastening something (the chip?) to a board...

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idata
Employee
1,416 Views

In my company also have some problem, we have more than 20 user using ACER with intel 5100,nigtmare always happen in the morning, when one by one call me and tell they cannot be able to connect to wireless, i try many things but still not fix this issue, is there someone here using ACER with windows xp also ?

hope intel will hear this and make a resolution, thats why this forum created

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idata
Employee
1,456 Views

After having read through this posting, sadly I still have not found a workable solution other than these 2 things we did at work:

1. KEEPING the 5100/5300 (most cost effective): Bolster the wireless network with G-only routers using a separate SSID. We used Linksys WRT54GL's with the DD-Wrt firmware.

2. DISABLING or REPLACING the 5100/5300 card with another card, or disabling the 5100/5300 cards and using a USB wifi device.

What is really strange is that a few of the Toshiba laptops with the 5100/5300 cards have had NO PROBLEM at all, while other Toshibas (exact same model with exact same firmware) have had nothing but problems connecting. It's a 50/50 proposition. And IMHO, an intrensic problem with the Intel 5100/5300 cards that Intel would just as soon sweep under the rug and not bother with a recall.

If it were all up to me, I'd replace all the wifi miniPCI cards with a different card. Such cards can be purchased for $25 or less online. But we had so many Toshibas with these 5100/5300 cards, it was more cost effective (monitarily, at least) to bolster the wifi-N network routers with G-only routers using a unique SSID (on a dedicated channel) so that these laptops could use them.

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TC4
Beginner
1,456 Views

obviously, this is not hardware problem.

this is how I fixed my problem on Sony VAIO notebook with intel WIFI link 5100agn

reading through this post from beginning, give me some idea below

 

1. some router did not implement "Power save polling" correctly  http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-006205.htm Intel� Wi-Fi Products — Power save polling (PSP) causes connection issues with access points.

2. some router have WMM problem, upgrade router firmware or disable WMM on intel wifi 5100 fix problem

 

explain by Wickham /message/153318# 153318 http://communities.intel.com/message/153318# 153318

3. some power management setting cause problem with intel wifi 5100

 

/message/153458# 153458 http://communities.intel.com/message/153458# 153458

The combination of above solution + update latest driver from intel website

 

then run "netsh winsock reset" fixed my problem.

 

maybe because some update between microsoft and hardware driver causing problem in TCP/IP stack

 

and run "netsh winsock reset" fix those problem.

/message/196618# 196618 http://communities.intel.com/message/196618# 196618

Today, I notice that when I plug-in power cable to notebook, wireless problem come back again. (it was fine when running on battery)

go to control panel ---> power option --> change plan setting ---> change advance power setting ---> wireless adapter setting ---> power saving mode ---> both "on battery" and "plugged in" : change setting to "low power saving" or something that isn't "Maximum performance"

"Maximum performance" setting cause Intel WIFI 5100 to hang and disconnected.

idata
Employee
1,456 Views

I was having a similar problem after reinstalling windows 7 on my Lenovo T400 with an Intel WiFI Link 5100 AGN adapter. After waking my laptop from sleep mode and logging in, the WiFi connection would drop for about 10 seconds after which it would connect and work properly. I did NOT have this problem before the windows reinstall.

I was able to fix my problem on my laptop, and hope this works for you guys as well. I have not been able to confirm this, but it seems the issue lies with the latest driver of the adapter, version number 14.2.0.10. The steps I followed for the fix were:

1. Go to this page and download the driver for the adapter. This is just in case during the process, your computer is unable to locate the proper driver for your machine. If this may happen, only then install this driver.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20432&keyword=intel+wifi+link+5100+agn&lang=eng http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20432&keyword=intel+wifi+link+5100+agn&lang=eng

You will see 2 downloads. I used the one with the driver only, i.e. the first one with the file name Wireless_14.2.0.10_Ds32.exe.

2. Right click Computer > Device Manager. Select your 5100 AGN adapter, right click on it, go to its properties and to the Driver tab. Click on Uninstall. In the window that opens, tick the box with the option to "Delete the driver software for this device." This is NECESSARY.

3. Once the device is uninstalled, in Device Manager, right click on your computer's name (under which all the devices are listed) and click Scan for Hardware changes. Windows will automtically detect the adapter and install the driver for it. For me, it installs the driver with version number 13.4.0.9. This seems to work perfectly for me.

I hope this works for you guys as well.

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idata
Employee
1,456 Views

Confirmed: Installing the new Intel driver that Saeed and another user indicated seems to completely solve this problem. My laptop no longer drops connections, will now connect when awoken from sleep and when rebooted.

My Lenovo T400s thinkpad running Winows 7 64-bit had frequent and annoying disconnections until I downloaded and installed the new 5100 drivers from either:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20432&keyword=intel+wifi+link+5100+agn&lang=eng http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20432&keyword=intel+wifi+link+5100+agn&lang=eng

or by running the Intel detection wizard found here:

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/?iid=dc_iduu http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/?iid=dc_iduu

New version # 14.2.0.10.

PS--I did not unload the old driver first, the new driver installed automatically over the old. However, unloading the old driver is the clean way of doing this. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks, all.

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idata
Employee
1,456 Views

thanks for the update. I just updated the driver as you suggested and will know the answer by morning. My WHS backs up all the computers on the network overnight, and ofter the HP Win6 x64 dos not reconnect after the backup. I also noticed that when the connection is dropped, the network connection stays, only the internet disconnects. I'll post in the norming when I find out if this solves the problem.

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idata
Employee
1,456 Views

I started experiencing lower signal quality and sudden disconnects after I upgraded to firmware 14.2.0.10. The solution was simple. I have downloaded and installed version 13.5.0.6. Everything works well again.

Laptop:Lenovo ThinkPad T400

Wifi: Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN

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idata
Employee
1,456 Views

See if your symptoms the same as follows:

Event ID 5002 (many) followed by 5005. Tried updating driver. Newer ones would hang the adapter causing re-boot to reset it; older ones would recover, but still 5002's and 5005 in the log. Only happened when streaming (like watching a ball game, etc.). Bought a Mini USB-connected wireless N adapter for $10 and the problem(s) went away - must be in the adapter or driver(s), I thought! Continued searching for answer (techies do this by nature). 'net searches on OEM sites and general showed MANY folks having same/similar problem with Intel wireless adapters. Decided to try enabling/disabling stuff in my router. Noticed an option for WMM. Researched it on the 'net. Seemed to only apply to streaming, and other bandwidth-hogging xmissions. Was advised that WMM is sometimes called Ad Hoc Qos Mode. Disabled it in the router (Was called WMM there). Found Ad Hoc Qos Mode option under the Advanced Tab in the Configuration Option for my 4695AGN adapter. Changed it to WMM disabled! Re-booted and did some streaming every day for 3 days. No more symptoms! Changed everything back just to check! Within 15 minutes 4695AGN hung while streaming! My driver is ver. 13.4.0.139, which is current distribution for W7 64-bit. I am soooooo happy! Hope this will help you not to go through a month of maddening trials, or throwing out a perfectly good adapter! I still think the driver is not handling something properly with WMM, because the older ones (12.0... and below) keep working without hanging, although you still get a boatload of 5002,5's every 1 - 60 minutes in your System event log!

P.S. I am NOT saying this is your problem; but it sure fixed mine!

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