G73- Atheros AR9285 Wireless Adapter

[save86]

Lately I've been experiencing problems with my internet connection. I've pretty much tried everything I know.

About a month ago my wireless connection began disconnecting on its own, I would then manually reconnect and it would work fine. It seems it has only become worse over time. Wired connections do not work at all, and the wireless connection constantly disconnects, and then will not reconnect without a reboot.

I tried updating the drivers via windows and Device Manager, it did an update and then it did not work at all. Used the roll back feature and then it worked fine for a few weeks, then started the disconnecting issue.

Have two other laptops in the house that work fine, so I imagine it can only be the network card.

So the latest thing I tried was uninstalling the device, and re-installing. That worked great, but now every time I restart, or the laptop goes into sleep mode, the card is not detected. Have to re-install every time, then it works for a short time, and disconnects again. Driving me insane.

Any other troubleshooting ideas?

[dstrakele]

1) What version driver is displayed in the "Drivers" tab of your Atheros card Properties in Device Manager?

2) It's curious you report your ethernet connection does not work at all. What driver are you currently running for your ethernet device?

3) Do Errors or Warnings in the System or Application Event Log point to a troubleshooting direction?

4) Does the Security (I use WPA2-Personal) and Encryption (I use AES) you've set up for your wireless network on your G73 match that of your router (or the other 2 working laptops)?

[save86]

1) 9.2.0.427 6/21/2011 release

2) Atheros AR8131 1.0.0.29 4/21/2010 release

3) When I am unable to connect, I get the "troubleshoot" option that pops up, I use it, Windows resets the adapter, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Half the time Windows says its the access point or router, half the time says there is a problem with the adapter.

I might note here that my automatic windows updates have been failing for months, every time.

4) Not entirely sure about that, in my list of networks it says it is WPA2-PSK

[Yiddo]

There is only one real fix for that Wireless Card. Burning it with petrol and fire.

Once burnt replace with a Killer N card.

Problem solved.

[dstrakele]

Before you strike that match, try uninstalling your current Atheros driver and installing version 9.2.1.470 - http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/...64_Z921470.zip

And see if Atheros LAN Driver version 1.0.2.43 - http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/..._64_Z10243.zip will get that ethernet workin'.

[Cheeseman]

I was pretty disappointed with mine and finally replaced it with the Intel N-6300. You can try the drivers from the manufacturers website and see if it makes any difference:
Drivers for Atheros AR9285 and Windows 7

[squawks]

I agree with the Yiddo and Cheeseman and suggest just tossing the Atheros and buying an Intel card.

I've had two Atheros cards, one from an ASUS netbook, the other from an ASUS G74SX. Both sucked, both have poor transmission, latency, and occasionally dropped connections. For my first Atheros card, I tried everything, from multiple drivers to hacking various settings.

Moral: don't even waste your precious time. Just buy an Intel card, any half-card, and it should most likely never give you problems.