Fixing Ethernet Connection Problems on the Lenovo ThinkPad T410

Earlier this year I purchased a Lenovo ThinkPad T410 laptop. Nice box. But shortly after purchasing it I began to notice that its ethernet adaptor would lose connection on a regular-yet-random basis regardless of the network I happened to be on. I dual-boot with this machine and I did not seem to be experiencing the same problem while running Ubuntu. So… I suspected the culprit might be my Windows 7 network driver. Sure enough, after trying several versions of Lenovo-supported drivers, the ultimate solution to this problem was to dump the Lenovo driver completely and download the driver for the 82577LM ethernet controller directly from Intel. Problem solved.

Note that in addition to the installing the base driver for the ethernet controller, the package will also give you the option to install Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager, Intel Advanced Networking Services, and SNMP for Intel network adapters for Windows 7. The first two are selected for you by default. If installed, Intel’s PROSet software provides a custom device manager property page for the adaptor which has some pretty nice features, including diagnostics. Contrary to its name, the Intel Advanced Networking Services feature does not install additional Windows services, rather it installs a couple of extra tabs in the aforementioned device manager property page allowing you to setup and manage teaming and V-LAN tagging on the adaptor. The SNMP for Intel network adapters feature is simply an SNMP agent enabling you to send event notifications via SNMP (requires that the Windows SNMP service be running).

Comments

  1. Excellent. Been dealing with the same problem on my T410 and this seems to have resolved the issue. Thanks for sharing.

  2. i’ve been facing the same issues with my t410 running windows 7 in 64 bit mode, but i tried this about a week ago and am still facing the random network issues (basically see a yellow exclamation mark in the task bar icon for the network). the only solution back then was to reboot the computer (felt like i was going back to the win95 days).

    i have tried this latest set of drivers, will see if there’s any difference, are you guys not seeing the issues anymore?

  3. stephen, thanks for your comment. No, mine seems to be working fine. I did attempt an update to a later version of Intel’s driver shortly after I wrote the post but discovered some problems with it. So, you might try reverting back to an older version of the driver. The driver I’m using now – v15.4 – seems to be rock solid. Unfortunately though, it looks like you can now only download v15.5 and later from Intel’s site.

    Good luck, I hope it you get it working.

  4. Hi,
    Just like to say thanks for this as it resolved the issue I had with my network adapter on my T410. I have a similar issue with the Wireless adapter. Anyone else have this problem and can offer any advice?
    Thanks.

  5. Stephen, thanks for your comment. A couple of things you may want to consider. First, if you can live without it, uninstall Lenovo’s “Access Connections.” While it has some nice features, I found the reliability of my wireless connections generally improved without it (and the amount of bloat on my system was reduced as well). Second, if you chose Lenovo’s 11b/g/n wireless adapter when you purchased the machine, you might consider downloading and installing a driver directly from Realtek, the OEM for that radio. The Realtek model number for the radio is my T410, for example, is the RTL8192SE and the driver can be found here. You should verify which model exists in T410 before proceeding.

  6. It solved the problem, now I am able to work with ethernet connection as well , thanks for the post

  7. gracias por esto en verda me ayudo mucho muy agradecido el costo por reparacion era al to y con esto lo arregle yo mismo gracias

  8. I have a thinkpad x61 – it’s 4 1/2 years old and I’ve had a similar problem with the Intel network adapter. I’m constantly losing connection. sometimes I can repair the connections (disable and re-enable the network adapter), sometimes I have to turn the machine off.

    My OS is Windows XP. Anyone know if the solution would be the same? and if I should remove access connections? When it was in warranty, Lenovo troubleshooted the problem – had me download other drivers. It worked for a while – but then got worse again (out of warranty).

    thanks for any help.
    Lynn

  9. Lynn, I would certainly give it a try. You can always remove it and roll back to Lenovo’s driver if desired. I typically remove Access Connections as I don’t receive much value from it, particularly when using Ethernet. However, because you’re using XP, it may be worth retaining, as wireless connections on that OS are more difficult to manage reliably compared to Windows 7 without a third-party driver and application.

  10. Hi Iceflatline I am hoping you can help.

    Running Windows 7 Enterprise on a Lenovo Thinkpad T440S and have been having issues with connectivity since day 1.

    Randomly get booted off of the internet, whether on Ethernet or wireless the problems remain, and over time it gets worse and worse until eventually we can’t connect at all.

    We have the Access Connections program and it is a problem in itself.

    We’ve replaced the wireless card, replaced the motherboard, and it works for a few hours but still end up back at the same place.

    Any help is appreciated.

  11. Trina, I occasionally use a T440S at work (also with Windows Enterprise edition) and it seems to work fine so I don’t think there is a systemic problem with that product. I would start by uninstalling Access Connections and then installing the latest drivers for both wired and wireless adaptors. The wired adaptor driver can usually be obtained directly from the manufacturer (e.g., Intel). For the wireless NIC, I would use the Lenovo’s System Update utility to install the latest driver. After you get those installed, test to see if the connection problems go away. If problems persist, you may want to try the laptop on another wired / wirless network to determine if the problems lie with original network. You might also try disabling the wireless adaptor when on the wired network – and the wired adaptor when on the wireless network – to see if the system is disconnecting while switching between the two networks.

  12. And don’t forget to set it so that the wireless does not turn itself off in power managent.
    Follow this path —> Control panel – administrative tools – Computer Management – system tools – device manager – network adapters – 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II ( or pick your adapter from the list) – pick “power Management” tab at the top – uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

    Or alternative path —> control panel – network adapters – 11b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II ( or pick your adapter from the list) – pick “power Management” tab at the top – uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

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