involuntary disconnect and connections tray end program

When connected to AT&T wifi (at Starbucks or Coffee Bean cafes), the internet
connection will terminate after 3-7 minutes. However, if I place the cursor
on the wireless icon in the lower right hand tray, one of two things happens:
usually a box opens indicating I am still connected but sometimes I get no
response. If I right click on the icon, nothing happens. If I go to Start,
Connect to, and wireless connections, nothing happens. The only way I can
restore a functioning connection is to shut down the machine. However, when
I try to shut down the machine, a windows box opens indicating an attempt to
end the connections tray. If I click end program, the box shuts and shut
down proceeds. I do not have this problem when connecting to any other
wireless network, whether at home, hotels, other hotspots, etc., etc. AT&T
denies the problem is theirs and insists the problem has something to do with
Windows XP. I have seen the problem mentioned in independent forums, but for
older versions of XP. No successful solutions are provided in those forums.
I am running Windows XP Professional; it came installed on the machine (a
Lenovo T61p) when purchased in February. Any ideas what’s happening and how
I can fix it?

I've been having the exact same problem! Incredibly frustrating and
inexplicable. I also have a Lenovo.

I don't have any answers, but if you find a solution please let me know and
I'll do the same.

"jkl" wrote:

> When connected to AT&T wifi (at Starbucks or Coffee Bean cafes), the internet
> connection will terminate after 3-7 minutes. However, if I place the cursor
> on the wireless icon in the lower right hand tray, one of two things happens:
> usually a box opens indicating I am still connected but sometimes I get no
> response. If I right click on the icon, nothing happens. If I go to Start,
> Connect to, and wireless connections, nothing happens. The only way I can
> restore a functioning connection is to shut down the machine. However, when
> I try to shut down the machine, a windows box opens indicating an attempt to
> end the connections tray. If I click end program, the box shuts and shut
> down proceeds. I do not have this problem when connecting to any other
> wireless network, whether at home, hotels, other hotspots, etc., etc. AT&T
> denies the problem is theirs and insists the problem has something to do with
> Windows XP. I have seen the problem mentioned in independent forums, but for
> older versions of XP. No successful solutions are provided in those forums.
> I am running Windows XP Professional; it came installed on the machine (a
> Lenovo T61p) when purchased in February. Any ideas what’s happening and how
> I can fix it?

I have worked with Microsoft multiple times by phone and none of their
technical personnel has any solution. They insisit it is not an XP problem,
but Lenovo insists it is not a hardware problem and all the drivers are
updated, etc., etc.. If you hear anything, please let me know. I'll do the
same, but no one wants to "own" the problem. Frustrating.


"sirwinh" wrote:

> I've been having the exact same problem! Incredibly frustrating and
> inexplicable. I also have a Lenovo.
>
> I don't have any answers, but if you find a solution please let me know and
> I'll do the same.
>
> "jkl" wrote:
>
> > When connected to AT&T wifi (at Starbucks or Coffee Bean cafes), the internet
> > connection will terminate after 3-7 minutes. However, if I place the cursor
> > on the wireless icon in the lower right hand tray, one of two things happens:
> > usually a box opens indicating I am still connected but sometimes I get no
> > response. If I right click on the icon, nothing happens. If I go to Start,
> > Connect to, and wireless connections, nothing happens. The only way I can
> > restore a functioning connection is to shut down the machine. However, when
> > I try to shut down the machine, a windows box opens indicating an attempt to
> > end the connections tray. If I click end program, the box shuts and shut
> > down proceeds. I do not have this problem when connecting to any other
> > wireless network, whether at home, hotels, other hotspots, etc., etc. AT&T
> > denies the problem is theirs and insists the problem has something to do with
> > Windows XP. I have seen the problem mentioned in independent forums, but for
> > older versions of XP. No successful solutions are provided in those forums.
> > I am running Windows XP Professional; it came installed on the machine (a
> > Lenovo T61p) when purchased in February. Any ideas what’s happening and how
> > I can fix it?

jkl wrote:
> When connected to AT&T wifi (at Starbucks or Coffee Bean cafes), the internet
> connection will terminate after 3-7 minutes. However, if I place the cursor
> on the wireless icon in the lower right hand tray, one of two things happens:
> usually a box opens indicating I am still connected but sometimes I getno
> response. If I right click on the icon, nothing happens. If I go to Start,
> Connect to, and wireless connections, nothing happens. The only way I can
> restore a functioning connection is to shut down the machine. However,when
> I try to shut down the machine, a windows box opens indicating an attempt to
> end the connections tray. If I click end program, the box shuts and shut
> down proceeds. I do not have this problem when connecting to any other
> wireless network, whether at home, hotels, other hotspots, etc., etc. AT&T
> denies the problem is theirs and insists the problem has something to do with
> Windows XP. I have seen the problem mentioned in independent forums, but for
> older versions of XP. No successful solutions are provided in those forums.
> I am running Windows XP Professional; it came installed on the machine (a
> Lenovo T61p) when purchased in February. Any ideas what’s happening and how
> I can fix it?

This Lenovo machine has Centrino or other wi-fi adapter?
IMHO the manufacturer of the wi-fi adapter should look at this.
Only they can find the root cause, be it AT&T, Windows, or maybe their
own bug. Lenovo support can help to communicate this issue to the wi-fi
vendor.

Regards,
--PA