PC disconnects from wi-fi

gordon99 · 17 Aug 2017

My wife's PC has the annoying habit of occasionally not making wi-fi connection to the internet at switch on and sometimes disconnecting from the internet for no apparent reason when everything is up and running. Following online advice I have tried downloading from the internet and installing a new network adapter driver. I have also switched off the network adapter power saving mode. The PC has a newish wi.fi USB dongle and the hub is in the same room as the PC.
Is there anything else I can try or is it some inherent fault in the PC causing the problem? My own cheapy laptop, which is 6 years old, gives no trouble in this regard. My wife keeps threatening to dump, what seems to me, a perfectly good PC because of this problem. I should add that getting the PC to connect / reconnect is not a problem.

ICIT2LOL · 17 Aug 2017

Gordon have you got a few specs please on your wife's machine mate - personally I do not like dongles I think a board wifi card is a much better option and they are not usually that expensive.
But the budget and choice is yours of course.

I am assuming any settings on the machine are up to date and that she is using 10??

gordon99 · 18 Aug 2017

Dear ICIT2LOL, I am uncertain how much inf. would help but perhaps I should firstly explain that the PC was not 'off the shelf' but made to a selected standard. It operates on Windows 10 64bit with all the updates. The Motherboard is an ASUS P8H61-MX series and its spec. summary shows Realtec 8111F-VB cg Gigabit LAN controller. Now I assume, but I may be talking through my hat, that that means it does not have an inbuilt wireless network controller. It was the case that the PC was connected to a router by Ethernet cable but some months ago our ISP - Plusnet - supplied us with a new HUB which I placed near the master telephone socket. As the Hub is about 12 feet away from the PC I bought a Dynamode Dual-Band 600Mbps 802.11AC Wireless USB adapter which includes a High Gain antenna. All this to have a wireless connection and avoid untidy lengths of cable. This may be irrelevant however as I seem to remember my wife complaining that the PC internet connection was dropping out even before the wireless connection was set up.
I hope the above information helps. I could probably provide more PC spec. if it would be of assistance.

ICIT2LOL · 19 Aug 2017

Ok Gordon mate that is quite an older board and the very latest drivers for it can only be had up and including 8 there are no drivers for 10, plus no it doesn't have an onboard wifi device.

Personally I am not sure of what to do now but I still would try a wifi card direct to the board and use the software for it. When I fist started playing with computers I often found that eve the LAN connections would not work until I installed a LAN card to the machine.

Now my brother lives in the UK and he uses Amazon a lot for gear and looking at their site there the cost of one of these cards is next to not much at all and I personally like the TP-Link stuff have a look at these mate as playing around with Realtek I have always found very frustrating and for the cost of one of these cards no worth the grief. However the budget and choice is yours of course.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PCI-Cards/b...node=430541031 the middle one on t top line would be my choice being mid priced and ahs three high gain aerials and are so very easy to fit. Now I don't know how you feel about doing it yourself but her is a YouTube to show you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWIa3GSEFss and it s for Windows 10 too and oh I meant to add get a card that is dual band that is 2.4GHz and 5GHz the 5GHz is better because it is less prone to interference form other things around the house but is less penetrating than 2.4GHz

gordon99 · 22 Aug 2017

Sorry I have not replied sooner ICIT2LOL but I was away for a long busy weekend. I had a read of the Amazon website you suggested and the mid price TP-Link costs about £27 which is not bank breaking. I will have a look on You Tube, but my wife may prefer to take her PC along to a qualified repairer so I will give her the choice. Thank you very much for your guidance with this problem. At least I now know what the options are now. Regards Gordon.

Samuria · 22 Aug 2017

One should look at wireless stations close and see if there are any on the same channel as that would cause it are using 2 or 5 gig? 5 gig is better but limited range compared to 2 gig. The other thing is there a source of interference between router and pc

ICIT2LOL · 22 Aug 2017

Ok Gordon you do what you think it best just remember mate the part is not going tot be the cost it is the labour which can be quite outlandish at times.

Now Samuria pointed out something I should have done earlier and that includes all mobile devices, microwave ovens, cordless phones, some remote controls indeed anything that uses the 2.4GHz frequency that will "clutter" the frequency range within your house including anyone who lives maybe next door or across the road. That is why 5GHz is better but less penetrating although that can affect the reception in your own home. For an example the main laptop I use in my dining area really only works well on 2.4GHz because the room is a solid brick construction whereas the top end of the house is all timber so the 5GHz signal has a job to get to this machine - most of the time.

gordon99 · 22 Aug 2017

There is a base and cordless phone close to the PC but I don't have a clue what frequency it operates at. Maybe that's something else I should look in to.

Samuria · 22 Aug 2017

Run this and see if there are routers close on same chanel inSSIDer Office - WiFi Troubleshooting and Optimization from MetaGeek

gordon99 · 24 Aug 2017

Hello Samuria, My Hub ( Modem+Router) is about 12 feet from the Cordless Phone base and my understanding is that the frequency at which cordless phones operate is somewhat less than wifi frequency. That being the case, my limited knowledge of these things leaves me to believe there should be little or no interaction between the phone and the Router.