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Wi Fi

Discussion in 'Questions and Answers' started by dolfan22, Apr 23, 2018.

  1. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    A question for any very computer savvy people here.

    The other day lost wi fi connection on the laptop I use most. Internet signal was received by other devices, phone, tv and another laptop. So it is the one laptop that can't connect.

    Problem with wireless adapter or access point is the message that pertains to the issue. I tried several fixes, was able to get one to work but then it lost connection in a couple of hours. The one that seemed to work was rolling back the network driver, that option has now become greyed out.

    Running Windows 7, not the wireless key, tried to disable then enable it but to no avail. Any help most welcomed, thanks!
     
  2. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I don't have any great answers, but I can tell you that it happens to me too.

    At my own house (before I moved in with relatives while my new one is being built), I think that the issue has been due to having satellite internet. There have been plenty of times that the laptop will not go online, but I can on my cell phone, or my wife can on her tablet. There are also other times where my laptop(s) have just decided to disconnect, and I've had to tell it go go back online.

    At my parents house, they have cable, but there are times where its the same. Lightening fast on the cell phone, but the laptop will barely crawl along.
     
  3. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    Have you tried hardwiring your laptop and seeing what it does?
     
  4. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Yes, it is the wi fi connection. Can do it with this laptop and like I said my tv is non cable just internet fed and my phone also gets the signal.

    I got it connected yesterday by doing one of the steps found online but it lost the connection an hour or two later. The option that seemed to work was to roll back driver , that option is now greyed out and not able to be selected.

    Tried command prompt, disable/enable but to no avail.
     
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  5. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Thanks, as I can get signals to multiple other platforms I don't think it is the internet signal or strength at all. It jus stopped a couple of nights ago and thought a reboot the next day would get things back, but not the case.

    Not sure if there is some hardware that can or may have simply worn out or died? Thanks.
     
  6. JDelenne

    JDelenne Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Does it see the WiFi? or does it not register at all?
     
  7. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    It shows connections, just can't connect. Get the "problem with wireless adapter or access point" message.
     
  8. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Possible the chip responsible for WiFi inside just went bad/malfunctioned?
     
  9. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    You mentioned rolling back your driver. Have you tried updating it? I'd also try forgetting your home network to reinitialize it.

    https://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-281.html

    Also try connecting to a different network..hotspot, McD's, Starbucks etc.. this would help rule out your home network.
     
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  10. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Not to hijack the thread, but what would you suggest if a PC can connect to other networks without problem, but has trouble at home, while other devices have no trouble at home? Could one device and one router just "not like one another"?
     
  11. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    It's usually channel interference that would cause it. I'd recommend switching from Auto which most routers default to, to a channel like 11.

    There's phone apps you can download that will recommend a channel as well based on surrounding networks.
     
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  12. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    OK, thats cool. Thank you, and I'll try to remember that when I get my own setup again. When my house is finished, there won't be any other routers around to interfere with at all, but then again there weren't at the old house either.
     
  13. mnfinfan

    mnfinfan Active Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Yeah i use WiFi Analyzer to test the network, Netgear has an Android app netgear wifi analyze that gives channel recommendations on both 2.4Ghz channels and 5Ghz channels you should use; as Byroan says I would go into the router and set it for a specific channel that has the limited amount of chatter.

    One thing though as Byroan mentioned Channel 11; that is for 2.4GHZ networks, if you have a router and network card that are connecting on the 5GHZ band you might be running into an issue with how your wifi is setup; 5Ghz gives greater speed but has a shorter distance that it works well on; depending on your house and where the router is, the quality of the WiFi chip in your laptop, etc you might be getting inteference on the 5GHz network if that is what you are on. I would test by forcing your laptop to only use the 2.4Ghz channels and see if that makes a difference.

    The issues with the 5Ghz range is why so many companies have come out with Mesh devices; currently I use AmpliFi mesh routers but I have seen many friends use the Google Mesh routers successfully.
     
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  14. mnfinfan

    mnfinfan Active Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Dolfan22, what message are you getting? Do you have a screenshot? Are you getting this message after running the MS Troubleshooter?

    The reason why your ability to roll back the network driver is grayed out is likely due to there being no further gens to roll back to.

    I have seen a few issues with Win 7 and Wifi lately so a recent update might have farked things up. Send me a screenshot and I will do some more digging.

    PT
     
  15. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Thanks for the reply.

    I get the "problem with wireless adapter or access point " message. I see connections available but connecting will not complete.

    Yes, I have run MS Troubleshooter. I'll get some screen shots and forward them, have to see if I can get them on a flash drive as I have no connection on that laptop. Thanks.
     
  16. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    There's always the hodgepodge of commands you can run in command prompt to reset the network stack as well. Hit enter after each one.

    netsh winsock reset
    netsh int ip reset
    ipconfig /release
    ipconfig /renew
    ipconfig /flushdns
     
  17. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Possible, I do get a message saying device is working properly though?
     
  18. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Thanks, I can connect with another laptop, my phone, tv so it isn't the home network. I have updated it and the message I get is that it is the latest version available.
     
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  19. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    I did those as well, and it didn't seem to resolve the issue. Thanks.
     
  20. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    How can I attach screen shots I took and put on a flash drive here so they can be viewed? Didn't see an option in the conversation message. Thanks.
     
  21. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    Did you follow the steps of forgetting the network?
     
  22. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    Upload them to www.imgur.com and paste the URL's here.
     
  23. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Will do thanks.
     
  24. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    I did not do that, I'll check to see how to do that and try it.

    Have been able to connect with the affected laptop for a long time. I was online and then it went offline and thought it was an issue with the router, just rest and ready to go. It wasn't as I could and can connect other devices with zero issues. Unpugged and rest just in case though, but to no avail.
     
  25. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    It's rare but it's possible an internal component failed. Especially if you didn't make any changes and it just stopped working. You can't trust the device manager when it says that it's working.
     
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  26. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Here are some screen shots url's. Tried unfollowing but no change.









    Thanks all,
    Rick
     
  27. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Thanks for all the expert info, guys! I downloaded the Netgear app and found that the network where I'm living now is garbage, lol. I'm hoping to be able to set one up in June in my new house that will cover three floors well.
     
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  28. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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  29. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    3 floors? Look up Google Wifi or Linksys Velop.
     
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  30. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    Main level, basement and upstairs kids room. My plan is to have the modem amd router in the pantry, which is close to central for the whole house, and close to directly above where my downstairs tv and ps4 will be.
     
  31. danmarino

    danmarino Tua is H1M! Club Member

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    Download "Greenshot" for free. It's great for copying and pasting screenshots.

    upload_2018-4-26_8-50-6.png
     
  32. mnfinfan

    mnfinfan Active Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Welcome! Using that app will help you build out the WiFi network in your new house, as I use it in addition to the tools the router provides for coverage mapping.
     
  33. mnfinfan

    mnfinfan Active Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Depending on construction, you may have some dark zones, especially if it is in Pantry and htere are food items (cans) etc in with it. You have the app so at least you will be able to see your coverage, but like Byroan said you may want to try a mesh configuration like Google Wi-Fi, Amplifi, velop or others to get full coverage.
     
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  34. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I'll experiment with what I've got once I set it up. The reason I'm thinking of putting it in the pantry is that the main level won't have an entertainment center. We're going to mount the TV directly to the wall. Do you think that putting the equipment in the basement, and getting a really strong router, would be a better call? Or is the mesh equipment the better way to go?

    Its all very exciting for me, because I haven't had broadband in my home since 2005. I got giddy when the Comcast guy was at the telephone pole in front of where the house is being built yesterday, lol.
     
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  35. byroan

    byroan Giggity Staff Member Administrator Luxury Box

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    I think you'd be a lot happier with the wifi coverage with the mesh system. I wish they had it when I installed an access point in my basement.
     
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  36. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    OK, thanks. I've been out of the loop for a while. I worked at Office Depot selling networking equipment for years, but a lot has changed since I was last working in 2013.
     
  37. mnfinfan

    mnfinfan Active Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Yeah, a lot has changed in the last 5 years. Mesh is the way to go, especially as we have so many devices connecting, from TVs, phones, gaming devices and maybe a Laptop if we can get that working lol! I used to use all sorts of tricks to manage my WiFi network now I have a base, a couple of Mesh devices and my house which is a multi level house with a lot of interference works like a charm. At any time I have 4-5 phones on, 3 gaming devices and a TV or two and all connected to my mesh devices. Now if it wasn't so damn expensive for broadband I would be really happy!
     
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  38. Deerless Dice

    Deerless Dice Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Dolfan22, It sounds like your current wifi adapter is failing or one of the radios in your access point is failing. Your best bet is to take your laptop to a Starbucks or somewhere with public wifi and see if you are having the same issues there. Taking it to another network will help you diagnose it.

    Can you log into your AP and see what band and protocol your other working devices are connecting at? Your laptop adapter is a A/G/N which can connect on A at 5 GHz or G/N at 2.4 GHz. N can connect at 5Ghz but some of the earlier N adapters can only connect at 2.4 GHz. Make a note of which band/protocol your devices are connecting to see if a trend forms.

    What is the model of your AP? Is it an all in one router/modem/AP combo?

    Your solution is going to either buy a new wifi adapter for your laptop or a new AP for your house.
     
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  39. Deerless Dice

    Deerless Dice Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Also the Marvell Yukon is your wired ethernet port. Try to update the driver on the Intel 5100
     
  40. dolfan22

    dolfan22 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    Thanks for the suggestion. I typed in the model but the results came up as no downloads available.

    Now that the draft is done, hoping to see if I can resolve this issue. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
     

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