Wireless Networking causing Audio Stuttering in Windows Vista

[Parm]

Hi all,

I'm running Vista Home Premium x64 and if I have my Netgear Wireless N USB Adapter plugged in, my sound stutters and my PC suffers slowdowns at random intervals. As soon as I unplug the Adapter or disable my wireless, the problem is gone.

Having had a Google, it appears the problem is widespread and many wireless users are suffering from it. It doesn't only apply to Netgear either. If like me you're getting stuttering sound, try disabling any wireless networks if you have them and see if that helps.

Not much use to me though, the wireless is my only means of web access on this PC! There seems to be an updated driver for my Wireless Adapter on Vista x86 via Windows Update. That is said to fix the problem but no such updated driver is available on Vista x64 via Windows Update. It's driving me nuts.

Does anybody have any additional info on this matter? I'm slowly going insane trying to work it out.

[dangel]

Thanks for the tip - my vista audio (creative X-FI) is awful - I had put that down to creative's crappy drivers. I'll give that a go to see if it helps me (i'm not using the wireless on my pc).

[Splash]

Don't suppose it could be related to http://blogs.technet.com/markrussino...7/1833290.aspx could it?

[Parm]

Thanks for the tip Splash. I just thought about that and I don't think that's what is causing it. Reason being that it's not only the audio that stutters. Every once in a while, my mouse pointer will stutter too, regardless of whether I have any audio or video playing. For some reason, running a Wireless N network on Vista seems to cause CPU usage spikes every once in a while that causes everything to stutter.

Furthermore, the release notes for the latest Netgear drivers for my WN121T USB Adapter actually states "This driver version may cause audio stuttering issues on a Windows Vista PC". That was published on July 3rd 2007.

It's definately not only Netgear though, having looked around I've found that people with other wireless networking kit are having the same trouble.

[Splash]

How many network adapters do you have active on your machine (including ones with nothing plugged into them)? Do you notice spikes in cpu usage when you have audio playing that go when you close the audio application? Are any of your NICs gigabit by any chance?

[Parm]

Splash, the only other one is an onboard ethernet port on my motherboard. I'm gonna try disabling that in the Bios and see if it helps at all.

I also found a 5 page thread on the matter at the Netgear forums: http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=6314

[Parm]

Just came across the Microsoft Update Catalogue and did a search for WN121T, this is the result: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/....aspx?q=wn121t

Now, on the 16th March two drivers were released:
Marvell - Networking - NETGEAR WN121T Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter Windows Vista Drivers v1.0.1.2 (167 KB for Vista x86)
Marvell - Networking - NETGEAR WN121T Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter Windows Vista Drivers v1.0.1.2 (174 KB for Vista x64)

Both of those drivers, the x86 and x64 versions suffered from the slowdown problems. What I'm suffering from right now.

On the 11th May, one new driver was released:
Marvell - Networking - NETGEAR WN121T Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter Windows Vista Drivers v1.0.1.5 (167 KB for Vista x86)

That driver fixes the slowdown problem, but it's only available for 32bit editions of Vista! Gah! It won't let me install it on my PC, tells me "If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems". Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Is there anyway I could get that driver to install? I very much doubt it and don't know how drivers work but I'm getting desperate now.

[Paul Adams]

That driver fixes the slowdown problem, but it's only available for 32bit editions of Vista! Gah! It won't let me install it on my PC, tells me "If the folder contains a driver, make sure it is designed to work with Windows for x64-based systems". Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Is there anyway I could get that driver to install? I very much doubt it and don't know how drivers work but I'm getting desperate now.

Impossible, sorry.
32-bit DLLs & drivers will not load in 64-bit versions of Windows, it must be a native 64-bit driver.

Have you tried askinng Netgear for assistance?

[Parm]

Doh, didn't think it'd be possible. I've just sent Netgear an e-mail but I don't hold much hope in them giving me a new driver. Their support forums are overflowing with users suffering the same problem but Netgear just don't seem to respond. I'll see how I get on when they reply to my support request.

[Parm]

Here's what Netgear had to say:

Hi Parm,

Please go to the Netgear website http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/wn121t.asp and install the latest driver version 5.0, unless you have already done so. I’m afraid this is the latest driver released for the WN121T at the moment but our engineers are working on a newer release. This is a known problem which we are trying to sort out.

Please keep checking the Netgear website for the latest firmware release. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

Kind Regards,

NETGEAR Level 2 Support

Looks as though it's going to be a waiting game. Unfortunately, the problem has been clearly highlighted in their support forums since April 2nd 2007 and seeing as they still haven't managed to provide a working set of drivers, I'm worried the wait could be a long one.

[Parm]

I've found a fix for the problem! Well, sort of. The fix requires running two bat files each time you boot into Windows. It's a bit of a pain, but it beats having to unplug your wireless adapter to be able to listen to music or watch video properly.

Anyhow, here it is! It was brought to my attention by Brian (another customer with the problem) on the Netgear forums. These are his instructions:

create two batch files (enable.bat and disable.bat)

in enable.bat put:
netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=yes interface="Wireless Network Connection *"

in disable.bat put:
netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="Wireless Network Connection *"

note: the * should equal the number listed in Network Connections for your device. (although the * may work as a wildcard, but I have not confirmed that this works, so I just specify the #, which in my case is 5).

When you login to your pc: run the enable.bat
(if you haven't done so before, after this bat file runs, you will have login to your wireless network. It will then remember your network and credentials from here on out)

After it connects to your network and you have internet access, run the disable.bat

Note: You must run enable.bat and disable.bat as Administrator. In order to do this, right click on the file and choose "Run as administrator".

I've tried the fix and can confirm it does work. I'm currently using it on Vista Home Premium 64bit with the Netgear WN121T adapter. It is a pain having to do it, but at least the PC is usable whilst I wait for updated drivers.

[Pulse]

hmm im having the same problem but on my 32bit version laptop, or least i think its the 32 bit, but builtin wireless rather then a usb adapters

[djavionics]

WARNING!! THIS DAMN USER SHOW A COMMAND THAT DAMAGES YOUR SOUNDCARD FOREVER!!

I've found a fix for the problem! Well, sort of. The fix requires running two bat files each time you boot into Windows. It's a bit of a pain, but it beats having to unplug your wireless adapter to be able to listen to music or watch video properly.

I've tried the fix and can confirm it does work. I'm currently using it on Vista Home Premium 64bit with the Netgear WN121T adapter. It is a pain having to do it, but at least the PC is usable whilst I wait for updated drivers.

Because that bat files now the sound stuttering is present even when using wired lan!!! i've formatted system partition and the sound stuttering is still present when you connect to internet and even when you unplug the rj45!!! YOU DAMN BASTARD!! I HATE YOUU! MY NOTEBOOK IS WINDOWS XP SP2 DIAMOND V3 ACER 5315 2847 and now i have to use the recover dvd and use guarantee to change the entire notebook. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

[Jiff Lemon]

So you seriously think enabling and disabling the autoconfig on your laptop has damaged the soundcard? You'll also notice that the entire post is about a problem that happens on Vista 64bit, not XP SP2, so why did you think it'd would fix whatever issue you had?

In short, running the batch file hasn't caused you problem. Now, how about a nice mug of calm down juice?

[this_is_gav]

WARNING!! THIS DAMN USER SHOW A COMMAND THAT DAMAGES YOUR SOUNDCARD FOREVER!!



Because that bat files now the sound stuttering is present even when using wired lan!!! i've formatted system partition and the sound stuttering is still present when you connect to internet and even when you unplug the rj45!!! YOU DAMN BASTARD!! I HATE YOUU! MY NOTEBOOK IS WINDOWS XP SP2 DIAMOND V3 ACER 5315 2847 and now i have to use the recover dvd and use guarantee to change the entire notebook. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

1) Rant at yourself for not creating backups

2) How can a fix which has nothing to do with the soundcard affect the soundcard? It changes the wireless config, and nothing to do with the sound config or drivers.

3) How about taking a few lessons in how to conduct yourself around others?

[Funkstar]

Well I vote post of the year, and it's only the 3rd January