Atheros AR5007EG constantly drops connection on Windows 7

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Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300I've loved my little 8.9" Acer Aspire One since the first day I got it about a year ago, with one exception... the WiFi card would occasionally just vanish completely from the device manager.

The standard fixes found by Googling never worked. It was rare enough that I didn't mind too much before, however since I've installed Windows 7, the Atheros AR5007EG card drops constantly when I transfer a file of any substantial size.

I tried every version of Windows 7 driver for this bad boy and nothing seemed to work. So I just bought an installed an Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300, it was very easy to install, check youtube... there are literally tons of videos on how to open and access your Aspire One, it's not as scary as you may think... I used this video, as I prefer using my library card to separate the keyboard and face, rather than a screwdriver that I see in so many other videos.

Happily, the new card is rock solid, and the hardware switch shuts it off and on as it did the old card. The speeds are great, I haven't yet tested the "N" speed, but connected to my home "g" router, it gets a steady 2.7MBps, which is roughly 22Mbps, which is the max my cheapo Buffalo router seems to push.

Finally I can download my movies from my home server to my netbook without jacking into the RJ45!

The card itself is around $40 shipped from a U.S. e-tailer (like Amazon), but you can get them cheaper on Ebay if you don't mind waiting for them to ship from China. Don't forget to buy a 3rd antenna!

Update: Be cautious, it appears as though there are at least 2 versions of this card, a "normal" one, as well as one made for HP & IBM/Lenovo machines. I'm unsure how to differentiate between them as the model number is the exact same, verify with any seller first.

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Mark Senff's Avatar

Mark Senff

I had the exact same problem. Installed a new driver, the latest one from http://downloads.k0k0.de/index.php?dir=Netbooks/Drivers/WLAN/Atheros/Archive/
Seems that did the trick.

However, if it turns out it didn't work, I will most likely follow your advice and buy a new card. Question though, what do you mean by "I haven't yet tested the "N" speed, but connected to my home "g" router,"? And what is that 3rd antenna you're talking about? *confoosed*
Matt's Avatar

Matt

Hi Mark,

When I said I haven't yet tested the "N" speed, I'm just referring to the fact my home router is an 802.11b/g router, and it doesn't even have an 802.11n radio for me to test with. The 802.11b/g radios operate in the 2.4GHz Frequency. 802.11n can use 2.4GHz and/or 5Ghz.

The 3rd antenna is for better reception with the 802.11a&n radios on the new mini-pci express card I installed, it's not necessary however, but I'd recommend it. I just reused the 2 existing antennas with new card for the other antenna connections.

Check out this pic; http://mdj.us/media/images/wifi/antennas.jpg of the new card, you'd simply connect the existing antennas to TR1 & TR2, and the new antenna to TR3.

The technical explanation of 802.11 WLAN protocols;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#Protocols

I hope you have good luck with those drivers, I had tried all the drivers I could find at the time, I even rolled them back to earlier versions (2.0.0x I think), that card just died on any file of any real size.

One nice thing about the Intel card is B/G radio speeds/range are way better than the old card, not to mention the A & N radios for when I upgrade my little home router.
Wei's Avatar

Wei

I have the exact same problem for my 8.9" Acer Aspire One with Atheros AR5007EG on Windows 7, was hoping for Atheros to release new driver but seems like no progress as of today. Now I have to boot WinXP even I have Win7 installed due to this issue (Dual boot XP and 7). So... your solution might be the best I can find so far.

This Intel Wifi 5300 card available in both PCIe mini card and HALF mini card form factor. Which one should I use for my 8.9" Acer Aspire One?

Thanks!
Matt's Avatar

Matt

Hi Wei, the Intel card works awesome, adds a/n capabilities as well, and works out of the box in Linux (in Zenwalk anyways, a Slackware-based distro), so it's a worthy upgrade from the Atheros.

You want FULL height pci-e mini, the half height cards are tiny.
Wei's Avatar

Wei

Thanks, Matt!

Buying one from Amazon, can't wait to get it, will upgrade the memory to 1.5GB while I am at it :)
Matt's Avatar

Matt

Good idea to upgrade both while you're inside the netbook Wei. It's a little scary the first time you open it, if you haven't done it before, but follow that youtube link and you'll have no problem.

I've been inside mine 3 times now, just make sure when popping those top tabs for the keyboard, that you don't push the right-most one too far back or it can get stuck and is a royal pain to pop back out.

As for the memory, I used this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134007

But any decent 200-pin DDR2 533 sodimm should work.
korp's Avatar

korp

What's the model number of your Intel 5300 card? I got one on eBay and it does not work. I get the dreaded but oh so common error code 10.

It appears there are a number of different variations, some compatible will certain chipsets and some with others.

After reading the very fine print it appears my card will only work with some HP and IBM Thinkpads.
Matt's Avatar

Matt

Hi Korp, you know, I'm not certain of the part #. I got mine off of Ebay too, from Hong Kong, I'll have to check it the next time I'm inside.

Your card only works on HP and IBM Thinkpads? That's interesting, perhaps there are multiple versions floating around? Where did yours source from?
Matt's Avatar

Matt

korp, I just did some reading on the web, looks like you're correct, there appears to be multiple versions of the card, with same model #533AN_MMW, I believe http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-5300agn-802-11n-wireless-N-mini-pci-e-card-Dell_W0QQitemZ130311614364QQ... is the correct one.
I read http://www.micropctalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5898#8 that there are 2 versions, a normal one, and then one specifically for HP, IBM/Lenovo, & possibly Toshiba. Both with the same model number.

Man that's not a good idea, multiple versions of the same model. I hope the one I linked to amazon is the correct one, but I removed it just in case, as there are 7 different suppliers for that card on amazon, none specify which version.

@ Wei, if you come back, please let us know how the card worked for you, and what amazon supplier shipped it, thanks.
robert's Avatar

robert

if you disable power save mode for the card it does not disconnect anymore, also this card tends to run hotter when you get farther from your router. i solved the overheating with a homemade heat sink, which is ugly but very effective. click my website url to see a pic.

i love the ar5007eg, works great for packet injection
Matt's Avatar

Matt

LOL, I love the heat sink man, awesome. I did try disabling powersave though, still didn't work.

I just had crap luck with that card, maybe it's just a batch of these things, I dunno.
8200's Avatar

8200

v4WLAN-7.7.0.406 is working in Windows 7 on Acer Aspire One 150
Anthony's Avatar

Anthony

Even though this post is fairly old, thought I'd put some knowledge in here for those that are searching. If you have the Acer Aspire One with a AR5007EG card in it and have upgraded to Windows 7, force it to use the old XP drivers directly from Acer. They work perfectly fine, no BSODs, no corrupted downloads or disconnects as I've had with every other version of the driver.

This of course sucks because the 8.0.0.238 driver is needed for connectify which will let it work in AP mode but any large sized downloads like zip files will corrupt. Anybody finds a fix to this I would love to know.
Terrence's Avatar

Terrence

my Intel pro wireless never has worked on my 2 yr old Lenovo. I am looking forward to an Atheros in the next laptop as lots of other people say the opposite. they say Atheros has grat range etc. Now my friend has a low-level Acer and her wireless is horrible too. I think that is just Acer but then we moved and it worked fine. So, it's hit and miss?
In any case, I'll have a Cisco adapter just in case. Bro, this is a true story.
Matt's Avatar

Matt

I think it's a driver issue Terrence, or it was a driver issue. The Atheros worked fairly well over all in WinXP, it was when I installed Win7 that it started dropping the connection all the time.
Jeffrey's Avatar

Jeffrey

Great that i found this page.
The wireless card Atheros AR5007EG keeps dropping his signal in Windows 7 Ultimate.
I just ordered the recommended card.
Let's hope it wil work.
Jeffrey's Avatar

Jeffrey

It was a hell removing the keyboard.
But yes it works great.
Thank you for this page...
Bye Bye signal drops...
For anyone who wants to know where i ordered the nic.
www.azerty.nl
Intel wireless Wifi link 5300 PCI Express Mini card
181188/533an_mmww

Cost 35 euro's including post and package..
mrbob's Avatar

mrbob

Hi all,,,

I had the same problem, but the problem is not with the wifi card, but with the driver itself... So i resolve this by googling for penetrator app. This app exist on android, i was searching for something similar for windows7. Well the amazing thing is that i found a similar app, like commview... and this when installing asks to install a new driver, a specific one, to make the work in neutral scan mode... this had solved my issue...




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