XPSP1 can't find wireless connection after emerging from sleep mode

Here is a problem I'm having that others are having as well. I hope someone here can help me solve them, since the answers will help end the frustration of lots of folks.

  1. When I put my laptop in STANDBY mode overnight, in the morning, it will not connect via my wireless router unless I first dial-up my ISP. This does NOT happen if the laptop is in standby mode for a short period of time.

  1. If I do a re-start, I'm almost always able to connect wirelessly without first dialing up using the modem.

  2. Sometimes I lose the connection with the router, even though the signal strength shown on the machine is always maximum.

DETAILS:

  1. This happens with 2 separate ISPs and 2 different routers (a 2Wire router, and a Westell 327, designed by Westell specifically for Verizon customers). That suggests that the problem is not the router or the ISP, but my laptop.

  1. Hardware/Software details:

I'm using a Dell Dimension D600, running XP Home, V2002, SP1. I'm using a US Robotics PCMCIA card. When I tried to install SP2 some years ago I ran into a conflict of some sort and abandoned the effort.

There must be something that triggers the dropping of the wireless connection. Anyone have any ideas?

And why is it that dialing up my ISP via my modem, and then hanging up, restores the connection?

NOTE: I've determined that lots of folks have this problem. Two fixes I've read about that have NOT fixed the problem are (a) change the Wireless Zero Configuration setting from AUTOMATIC to MANUAL; and (b) use IPCONFIG to /RELEASE all connections, then /RENEW them. When I try RELEASE, IPCONFIG tells me I'm not connected. And I never shut the router off.

Reply to
ta1xxx
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Then try again. There are a large number of "enhanccements" (i.e. bug fixes) introduced in SP2 and subsequent updates. You're working with a known buggy operating system.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

just a note - as I have the same type of problem with our Dell C610 laptops, and their internal mini-pci WiFi cards. I think that the card goes to sleep - as does the entire computer - and then does not powerup correctly... so it's not a software thing.

Even using the Disable + Enable on the Network Connections for the card does not always resolve the problem - a re-boot is required...

Reply to
P.Schuman

got an on off switch for wireless? one of my laptops does and one doesn't, for the one that does I can just flip the switch, for the other instead of a reboot I can get away with a control panel/connect to/network/disable and then re-enable it..

You said you had a laptop, does it do it when you close the lid? (mine sleeps/hibernates after it's been on for awhile and freaks out, but if I shut the lid it starts back up again correctly... have no idea what the difference is between hibernate and sleep, so I just close the lid and it does one of those two :)

Reply to
Peter Pan

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