Wifi dropouts on laptop

[GrandOiseau]

I have a laptop that is frequently dropping the wifi connection.

Sometimes it seems to reconnect automatically, sometimes I have to force it.

What would be the steps to diagnosing the issue?

[Midsmartin]

If you haven't already done it, restart both the laptop and your router.

Assuming Windows, check for Windows updates. Then check the laptop manufacturer's website for driver updates for the wifi adapter.

In device manager, find the WiFi adapter, right click and uninstall it. Then from the file menu select "check for new hardware"and it will reinstall.

If that doesn't help then you could try the website of the WiFi card manufacture for a driver. Thats a bit trickier.. You may need to rummage about in device manager to find the hardware id of the part. Let us know.

You could also try looking for a firmware updates for your router. Most often there aren't any but you never know. To do this to need to log into your routers web interface, and find it's current firmware version, and then try to find if that's the latest one. BT for one claim to update theirs automatically though

I have come across one or two of these issues where the only solution was to buy a usb WiFi adapter. Sometimes manufacturers (thanks, HP) issue drivers that are a bit buggy or not quite compatible with some other bit of hardware.

[mc2fool]

Yes, reboot both the laptop and router.

If that doesn't fix it, is proximity a factor? How far away is the laptop from the router, and does the problem manifest itself more when it's further away?

Is this a sudden new problem or one that's been around for a while? Did it used to work perfectly well? And if so, what might have changed since?

Do you have any other WiFi devices? And do they exhibit the same issues? Oh, and how frequent is "frequently"?

[Sobraon]

I had similar problems a while ago on my old Dell laptop. The solution for me was to 'roll back' the Intel Dual band Wireless AC 7265 driver. Not optimal I am sure but it connects, stays connected and works well with the repeater and at the speed I expect.

On occasions when I have had wifi network issues its been caused by a Dell/Windows update which has 'helpfully' installed the latest driver, I just roll it back.

[Peltiq]

You could also check in Device Manager under Power Management that the box labelled "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" isn't ticked. If it is ticked, untick it.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 3793e22b1e

Karen

[GrandOiseau]

Cheers all. Will let you know how I get on.

Did a bit of a clean up today and some updates. More to check/do tomorrow.