Limited connectivity problem (Vista)

[TrolleyDave]

Hi there! I recently bought a new PC, originally I was using an Athalon 2400 but have just upgraded to an AMD Athalon Dual Core. The previous machine wasn't capable of running Vista but as the new one is I decided to upgrade.

 

Under XP my TP-Link wireless card works flawlessly. Using Vista though I continually get Limited Connectivity problems. Disconnecting from and reconnecting to the router starts the connection up again and it runs fine for anywhere between 5 mins and 30 mins but then it gives me the limited connectivity problem again and I'm forced to disconnect and reconnect.

 

The chipset in the TP-Link is a Realtek one. I swapped the TP-Link out for a generic wireless card based off a Marvell Libertas chipset. Swapping the card out solved the limited connectivity problem.

 

Now I'd be more than happy to keep the generic card in there except the signal quality/strength is about half of what it is with the TP-Link card. I'd really like to get the TP-Link card up and running. I think it could be either a driver or hardware conflict with the onboard LAN, which is also a Realtek chipset. I can't switch the onboard LAN off either as I use that so my Xbox360 can share the connection and stream video.

 

I've tried both the driver that came with the card itself and the generic one that Vista installs both with the same result. Like I say, the card works fine under XP it's just Vista where the problem occurs.

 

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be? I'd really like to get the TP-Link card up and running because it has a much better signal quality/strength than the generic card.

 

Cheers!

[snow]

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

 

The first thing I can think of is to try disabling any power saving feature of the card. Do the following:

 

• click "Start"
  
• click "Control Panel"
  
• click "Classic View"
  
• doubleclick "System"
  
• select "Hardware" tab
  
• click "Device Manager" button
  
• click "+" to left of "network adapters"
  
• doubleclick "Realtek TP-Link ...."
  
• click "Advanced" tab
  
• select "Power Save Mode"
  
• select "off"
  
• select "OK"
  

[TrolleyDave]

Hi! Thanks for the welcome and advice. :) I should have mentioned that I've already tried most of the things suggested for limited connectivity problems (I'm a little scatterbrained!). I've tried switching off power saving, and I've also switched off IPv6.