Comment 20 for bug 657508

Same problem on an ASUS Eee PC. I noticed that when I run iwconfig while on AC power my bit rate was 5.5 Mb/s, and on battery it would change to 54 Mb/s. When I go back to AC power, the rate drops back to 5.5 Mb/s. Perhaps the problem is that the driver is selecting a speed that is not compatible with the current signal to noise ratio when on battery power.

You might try running iwconfig while on AC power to note the bit rate, and when on battery power use iwconfig to set the rate correctly. This might fix the problem.