Laptop Keeps Going Offline when using Wireless

We have a number of laptops which keep dropping the wireless connection at random periods throughout the day causing the laptop to appear offline. Manually syncing the laptop will bring it back online but this has been going on for a few months or so and thought it was about time I tried to get to the bottom of it.

All laptops are running Windows XP and are connecting to an Aruba managed wireless network which was installed this time last year. It is also worth mentioning that the laptops are not always moved about i.e. laptops which spend all day at the same desk also experience the same symptoms.

I hope there is somebody out there who has experienced this same problem and can shed some light on the situation :-)

There are two things you can try. Firstly navigate to Device Manager, locate your wireless adapter, right click it and choose 'Properties'. Locate the 'Power Management' tab and untick 'Allow computer to turn off this device to save power'. I would also recommend you upgrade drivers (if available), as this also can help with wireless compatibility.

To be honest WPA2 compatibility problems are generally a thing of the past, but these days I find some 64Bit drivers (such as on Windows 7 x64) can be a little problematic. Upgrading drivers 9/10 times generally fixes a lot of issues.

Have you tried Aruba's support forum?