Lose internet access after a couple hours.

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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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Hello everyone, I have a problem that is perplexing me no end and was wondering if you could help...

I am using windows 8.1 on my acer laptop, and I have recently encountered a problem where after a couple hours of using it, it suddenly won't connect to the internet any more. Pages just will not load up on any browser (I mostly use firefox), and i'll have to restart my computer if i want to use the internet again.

When this happens the internet access symbol in the corner still shows full bars, when i go to "Troubleshoot Problems" of if a disable and re-enable the connection it just say that it is "Identifying" and never gets anywhere.

I also noticed that when this happens any programs/apps I have on my computer takes about 20x longer to load up...

Things to note:

- Other computers on the network work fine, and never experience this problem
- It makes no difference if i have a wired or wireless connection
- Malwarebytes/hitmanpro/avast/adwarecleaner/ccleaner scans have not made a difference
- It has happened every time I've used the computer since last Thursday without fail.
- I have the "Disconnect wireless to save power" box un-ticked.

Windows 8.1
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.50GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 8.00 GB (7.82 GB usable)
System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor

Any help would be much appreciated, Thanks.
 
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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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10,510


Thanks I shall try this, what exactly are the steps to do this?
 
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Fred Anderson

Fred Anderson

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Mar 20, 2013
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Go to your device manager, look for Network Adapters, expand it using the plus sign, and then Right Click your Wireless adapter, click uninstall... then again, on the device manager tab, click on the icon stating Scan for Hardware changes, and follow on screen instructions to install the software. Once installed, right click and click on Update Driver Software... Reboot your PC and see if solves !!
 
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johnbl

Polypheme
Nov 4, 2012
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your wireless adapter is just going into a low power link state and not going back into a high power mode.
(It will do this when the system goes idle for some time period)
just go to control panel
Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Power Options->Edit Plan Settings
select change advanced power settings, find your wireless adapter settings
and change the power saving mode: from maximum power saving
to a higher level option like Maximum performance.

each level will kick up the power to the wireless transmitter and will increase the range that you get so your machine can talk to the router without errors or being disconnected.

(low power is for very close to the router say 5 feet)
Note: you can also update your wireless driver, many of them don't handle the power state transitions correctly (sleep mode/ 4 power modes)
 
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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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Thanks for the replies, i will try both options. Sadly due to the nature of the problem i want know if it will work until a few hours later, will post back when I've tested them.
 
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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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I tried this and not only does the problem still persist but i am now unable to connect to the internet wirelessly, The wi-fi icon in the corner has a little red "x" and does pick up ANY connections (Whereas before it would pick up about 10), even though the adapter settings show that wi-fi is enabled. unistall/reintalling it didn't fix the problem, nor did ipconfig /release & /renew. Ethernet cable works fine (though original problem still exists).
 
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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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I tried this and it made no difference, the reasons i don't think this is the problem are:
- My laptop was not in low power mode
- My laptop is always plugged in
- The problem can occur right when I am in the middle of surfing the internet so i am not idle
- The problem still occurs when i have an ethernet cable plugged in

Any more ideas will be much appreciated, thanks.
 
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Onthedock

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Feb 3, 2014
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I tried this and though it didn't help in restoring my wireless, I managed to update some other drivers that seemed to have sped up my system a bit so thanks for that!

Whether or not it fixes my initial problem only time will tell... fingers crossed.
 
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johnbl

Polypheme
Nov 4, 2012
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you can still try
- disable your firewall software on your local machine
- change your security protocol method connecting to your router
(disable the encryption on your router to see it is the cause)
- update your router firmware

all else fails you can run network monitor and do a sniffer trace leave it running until you disconnect. stop it and look to see what caused your disconnect (if it was initiated by the client and for what reason). A wireless card could be expected to disconnect. Your hardwired Ethernet cable to your router should not.

it is common for routers not to handle ipv6 traffic correctly and that could cause your router or some portion of your ISP service to reset your connection. Windows 8 changed the DNS to use IPv6 as the default and that may be the root of a disconnection.
- I would go to your protocol bindings on your network adapter and remove the IPV6 bindings and see if your problems still happens. That would force it to use IPV4 which is what the other working devices would most likely be using. If your router or ISP had issues with IPV4 they get noticed very fast because most devices use it.





 
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Onthedock

Honorable
Feb 3, 2014
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The original problem doesn't seemed to happen any more, (Though I tried so many things i don't actually know what fixed it! thanks for all those suggestions)

But I still have a big problem being that my wireless does not work anymore, I had this problem after I uninstalled and reinstalled the wireless card driver using the instructions Fred suggested above.

Couldn't come at a worse time as I'll need it for a seminar on This week end, seems like there's an obvious solution I'm missing... Can anyone help? Should I start a new thread?

Things to note
- Wireless shows as ENABLED (if tried disable/re-enabling it to no avail)
- Driver is updated
- Wireless shows no networks at all even though there are many in the area
- Other wireless laptops in the house on the same network work fine.
- Ethernet works fine.
- The wireless symbol is grey out with a little "x" in a red circle
- There is no manual switch on the laptop for wireless
- Ipconfig release/restore comes up with an error about not being connected t the internet.

Thanks, Dock.
 
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johnbl

Polypheme
Nov 4, 2012
10,072
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-I assume that you don't have the ethernet and expect to use the wireless at the same time. (if that is what you are doing, their are settings you have to make) (windows can select a high speed connection and disable a slow speed one)

what is the actual wireless device that you are using? and what is the name,date and time stamp on the driver?
I ask because you can have several drivers installed for one device and you have go through special efforts to get the one you want to be running.
for example, I have 9 different drivers on my machine for my network card the last time i looked using the
pnputil.exe /e
sometimes when you install a new driver it is not activated by default.
(people often indicate that they installed but nothing changed. it is a indication that they have to go select it manually)


command to enumerate the list of third party drivers I have installed on this machine.
 
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