Connection Problems On Laptop Only

[djb102993]

My laptop has an extremely unstable connection and I can't seem to find a way to fix it. The connection speed will constantly drop to near zero or just completely disconnect. This is most noticeable when gaming, it occurs on all games and with all downloads so I atleast know it's not specific to a certain game/program.

I've had this problem before but managed to disable some things here and there and fix it, but I had to completely restore my computer so what I did was wiped out now I can't seem to fix it again.

 

[RealBeast]

You need to troubleshoot your wireless signal -- it is either too weak to reach the place that you are using the laptop or there is too much interference from other radio signals (it can come from wireless phones, speakers, headsets, baby monitors, other networks, microwave ovens, etc.).

I would download inSSIDer on the laptop and see what other signals are present and how strong your network signal is, could be as easy as changing your wireless channel (1, 6 and 11 are the best non-overlapping available and it depends what others around you are using).

inSSIDer is free and you can get it here: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

There are also other options like adding a wireless access point or bridge to your router, and/or using a better USB wireless adapter.

 

[djb102993]

I've tried using my laptop inches away from my router (closer than my desktop, which has no connectivity issues) and has the same problem. I connected via ethernet cable and had no problems.

Before I had to recover my computer, I had the same problem (which I fixed at one point) so I know it has something to do with some configuration of my laptop. The only problem is what I did last time didn't work this time.

 

[RealBeast]

The additional information is quite helpful, next time you have an issue, you might want to provide more information in your initial post.

Why did you have to restore? Just the connection issue or something else, virus, malware, something else?

What OS are you running?

If you previously did a restore, not knowing the laptop model, you may need to do a repair install or at a minimum uninstall your wireless adapter and reinstall the drivers using the latest version, unless you can troubleshoot a wireless connection, depends on the OS also.

 

[djb102993]

I had to restore due to my computer overheating/freezing, the cooling fan stopped working so before I went and bought another I just did a restore, since that worked, I assume some malware I couldn't detect altered something or was preventing it from coming on.

Windows 7 OS and I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling/updating all drivers related to my network card.

 

[RealBeast]

First thing to do is back up any important data. Often a restore doesn't really do the job. Your fastest alternative is probably a repair installation. That saves your data and programs and only requires that you redo all the Windows updates.

Here is a good tutorial on repair installing Windows 7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

If you don't have a Windows 7 SP1 install disk for your particular version you can download one, a trial version and use your product code to activate it: http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

 

[djb102993]

I repaired Windows and updated everything, the problem is still there though.

 

[RealBeast]

If you did a complete repair install of Windows, not just a startup repair, then either your wireless radio on the router or your wireless adapter in the laptop is broken.

Check your wireless radio signal with another device, and if it works get a USB wireless adapter for your laptop.