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Networking issues with Windows 7 7057 – RESOLVED!

Given how smoothly Windows 7 had been running on the NC10, I really did not think twice about updating to the (unofficially released) latest version 7057. Windows 7 is still peppy and I’m running the Ultimate version on the netbook rather than the more limited version which is likely to come pre-installed on most future netbooks. I have not had a chance to test whether power management has been improved in this build but plan to do do shortly.

I did my update last Sunday and then Monday flew to London.  I noticed a network problem immediately on Sunday evening but thought it was my usually very reliable cable connection rather than my computer.   I did not have time to really test things out and instead rebooted the cable modem and went to bed.  The next day I was completely unable to connect to Boingo at JFK and only after a reboot did things work.  My time was limited so I checked a few messages and boarded the plan.  At my hotel in London is where I finally realized the problem was consistently related to the new Windows 7 build.  Both my wireless and wired connection options were dropping after about 30 minutes and given the hassle of frequent reboots I chose to just leave the NC10 in the safe and use my work machine instead.  This morning however back at home, I’ve had time and the patience to try and few things and it seems I’ve solved the matter for real …

Windows comes with it’s own generic drivers and I had them running alongside my Atheros Driver from Samsung though the Atheros was the preferred choice. I guessed there was a conflict between the two and decided to remove the Atheros via the Setup utility (in the installer download).  When the Windows 7 generic driver also failed to stay connected I removed that as well and then re-installed the Atheros driver – leaving just that as my only wireless connection option.

I’m happy to report that after over an hour of connectivity I am still connected and there are no detectable issues.  Previously I would see the Yellow Caution Triangle appear on my wireless signal meter within 15-30 minutes killing the connection.  Clearly beta is beta though with a bit of troubleshooting Windows 7 is back online reliably.

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What’s not working for you in Windows 7?

I’ve got a short list of bugs in my Windows 7 install and while I know some of these issues are “standard” on my hardware, I have not seen anyone else talk about a few so figured it was worth a share …

  • Sound & Brightness controls don’t always work when resuming from standby.  This is frustrating but at least the NC10 boots back quickly …
  • Bluetooth seems like a mess.
  • I’ve found if I try to open My Bluetooth Places, I can actually cause the Explorer to crash.  It usually freezes up and stalls, but the full Explorer restart seems pretty major.
  • I can pair devices, but they don’t always work.  My mouse needs to be repaired frequently in order to continue working.  I’m using the Apple Mighty Mouse …
  • Dial-Up Networking is a non-starter.  I have my N85 Paired, but find I can only get a data connection over USB.  This is far from awful, but certainly an inconvenience.  The upside is that the N85 charges like this …
  • Desktop Gadgets are flaky.  I only use the Weather but find that sometimes they like to stay on top of active applications or simply disappear.  I have two of them running and right now one (the first one if that makes any difference) seems to have gone away.  This is usually resolved with a reboot.
  • Full Screen mode in Firefox is hit or miss.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it fights with the taskbar to see which one gets to stay on top.
  • Time – I keep finding the clock is off by quite a few hours.  This morning the time was reading tonight and the time server preference seems to fail on most of the server options.  I usually try manually when this happens and eventually it updates.  I’ll have to try setting it manually and leaving it.

    • Think that’s about it – at least in what I’ve noticed and tried.