Hawker
Android Expert
Do not rely on "check for updates" in Kies itself. This only gets invoked on an actual version number change. This isnt unreasonable I hear you ask, but curiously, Samsung update kies quite frequently WITHOUT bumping up the version number. 
For example, the current version is 2.0.31182_152_4 (Sept 29th) This means this is the FOURTH version of 2.0.31182_152, so its worth a manual check.
So my advice would be to log into the samsung website every few days or so to check manually.
Now this is the "interesting" bit.
Since I installed the _4 version above, I've not had a single connection drop out on my PC. Previously, I would be lucky to get 20 minutes out of it without giving up the ghost. It's early days I know, but if more of you can give this version a try, it will be interesting to see how its performing.
Note, I uninstalled Kies FULLY before installing this latest build. See guide here (if you dont do the ccleaner part, then at the very least run the uninstall.exe in the usb drivers folder after uninstalling.
For example, the current version is 2.0.31182_152_4 (Sept 29th) This means this is the FOURTH version of 2.0.31182_152, so its worth a manual check.
So my advice would be to log into the samsung website every few days or so to check manually.
Now this is the "interesting" bit.
Since I installed the _4 version above, I've not had a single connection drop out on my PC. Previously, I would be lucky to get 20 minutes out of it without giving up the ghost. It's early days I know, but if more of you can give this version a try, it will be interesting to see how its performing.
Note, I uninstalled Kies FULLY before installing this latest build. See guide here (if you dont do the ccleaner part, then at the very least run the uninstall.exe in the usb drivers folder after uninstalling.