Crippled Laptop Connectivity

[Stuey]

Ok, so I have a Compaq laptop (800MHz PIII with 64+256 PC100 ram and a replacement HD and power brick replaced with Targus 70W adapter).

I have recurring problems which are driving me insane again since I couldn't bring my desktop home for my 2 week break.

I spent a long time trying to wirelessly connect to my router. Disabling SSID broadcast disabled any connection that I had.

Connecting the laptop via ethernet cable to the router produces frequent "cable is unplugged" warning message. This does NOT happen whenever I connect straight to an ethernet jack in my university, or straight to the cable modem.

After a certain duration, the linksys card turns off. If I try to reboot the computer with the card in, it freezes upon booting until I remove the card. If I wait a few minutes and try again, the card works for two minutes or so before the status lights go dark and my connectivity dies. This is probably a heat related problem stemming from the ram???

Two years ago when I built a desktop, I did so because the USB card for my laptop stopped working, and I encountered the same wireless card problem as I described here. A few months ago I disassembled my laptop to apply new thermal paste as I had frequent temperature-induced shutdowns. At that time, I noticed slight discoloring of the flap that opens up to the ram upgrade slots.

I reset the router to factory conditions this morning (linksys BEFW11S4) and the notebook card is WPC11 ver. 4

Also, I recently reformatted my HD and reinstalled Windows XP pro onto the laptop.

Is there any way to repair/circumvent any of these issues until I can afford a new laptop. This is not too vital since this is not my primary machine, but I'd like to avoid fighting for my parents' desktop as my sister and both my parents tend to monoplolize it.

Thanks!
Also, I've considered building some type of other enclosure for the laptop which would cool the machine down. Maybe an aluminum briefcase with cooling fans and an adapter to power them with??

[thefultonhow]

I've heard the BEFW11S4 is a lemon -- you may want to look into replacing it with a WRT54G. I think these problems are not associated with your laptop, but rather with the card and router.

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow I've heard the BEFW11S4 is a lemon -- you may want to look into replacing it with a WRT54G. I think these problems are not associated with your laptop, but rather with the card and router.

Nope, it's definitely associated with the laptop because when I was home for the summer, my desktop has a linksys wireless PCI adapter which performs flawlessly with the router. The ethernet to router issue might be due to some router setting since it works perfectly with a direct connection, but the card issue is the result of the laptop being a POS.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Stuey83 my desktop has a linksys wireless PCI adapter which performs flawlessly with the router.

That doesn't rule out problems with the card. See if you can borrow a different card and/or a USB wireless adaptor from somebody to try it out.

Originally Posted by Stuey83 The ethernet to router issue might be due to some router setting since it works perfectly with a direct connection, but the card issue is the result of the laptop being a POS.

It's quite likely, if the connection between the computer and router is intermittent, but not between the computer and modem, that there's something wrong with the router above and beyond settings. It may or may not be the primary cause of the problems.

[Stuey]

My sister used the notebook card for a while without problems. Since I had similar problems with a different notebook card (a USB 2.0 card) the problem must be with the laptop's hardware. Here is its history:

After ~16 months, harddrive went bad. My sister had an identical notebook and her HD went bad too. Since then, I put in more ram (went from 128 total to 320) and replaced my 20gig 4200rpm HD with an IBM travelstar 40gig 5400rpm.

A few months later, my AC adapter went bad (at a stress point the wire failed somehow). I bought a Targus adapter (one of those slimline ones) and everything seemed fine.

Sometime later, both of my batteries stopped holding charge. I ususally swapped them with each other every now and then but I mostly kept the system plugged in.

A few months later, my USB 2.0 card stopped working properly. I then encountered problems when I swapped it out for my wireless card. I waited a little bit and I discovered that I could only have the card in for a short while until it went nuts.

Built a desktop. When I tried transferring files, the laptop couldn't connect to the router when another comp. was connected so I hooked it up to a different ethernet jack in the apartment's living room.

After all my files transferred, the laptop kept overheating and shutting down during Win XP reinstall. A few months later after barely using the laptop, I set it up for my mother to watch a movie clip. The laptop overheated and shut off.

A few more months later I took the laptop out of the closet, disassembled it and discared the rigid thermal pad and replaced it with new thermal grease.

The ram area usually gets hotter than I remember it being, and it's cover shows slight heat induced discoloration and deformation.

The ram area is right next to the cardslot so you can see why it's not hard to imagine that this could be causing overheating anf malfunction of some sort.

As for router compatibility, the notebook is 4 and a half years old, so the NIC might not be capable of this kind of use although I cannot imagine why.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and I do not have another card to try with the notebook nor do I have another router. Eventually though, I'm going to upgrade to a wireless-n, g, or pre-n router around the time I purchase a new laptop.

I am fairly certain, for the reasons mentioned, that my laptop is the major culprit here with the router being a minor accomplice.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Stuey83 I am fairly certain, for the reasons mentioned, that my laptop is the major culprit here with the router being a minor accomplice.

Yeah, if the card works in another laptop, you're probably right about that.

[Stuey]

So how do I go about fixing this myself?

[thefultonhow]

The question is, is it worth it to you to spend that much money to fix something on a laptop worth this little? You may want to either buy a used laptop off eBay or wait until you can afford a new one.

[Stuey]

Nono, I don't want to spend money fixing this POS. I want to crack it open and get dirty with it, jerry-rigging it to a more productive operating state.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by Stuey83 Nono, I don't want to spend money fixing this POS. I want to crack it open and get dirty with it, jerry-rigging it to a more productive operating state.

I suppose you could put in a Mini-PCI wireless card to replace the wired network card, but that's about the only thing i can think of.

[Stuey]

lol, but don't want to spend any money! I wanna figure out what's wrong so I can implement a temporary and costless fix.

[Stuey]

*bump*

[Stuey]

Bump Bump Bump

[thefultonhow]

I'm not so sure there are any "temporary and costless fixes."

[Stuey]

Well, relatively cheap DIY fix. Oh well, I guess I can tolerate it for a few months more.

For some reason when I have problems with my hardware I have such odd issues that few people have any idea as to what to make of it. Anyways, thx for your comments.

[Stuey]

Well, if I have the laptop on a surface, I typically get about 35 minutes or less before the wireless card gets hot and shuts off. I get about the same time if the laptop is on my lap.

So last night I wanted to type some stuff from bed so I put a narrow wooden plank on my chair, with a thin sheet of aluminum on top of it, and on top of this I placed the laptop. I got over an hour of wirless time, and I then removed the card which had not yet failed.

SO... I imagine that this is a heat issue that can be corrected. I'm going to draw up some idea of how to rebuild the laptop's housing inside of an aluminum case or something. My primary obstacle is figuring out how to extend the keyboard and display connection ribbons.