Wireless Network Connectivity Issues happen randomly

Question

I am experiencing connectivity issues pretty randomly on one of my laptops (other devices seem to be working fine).

I've done some troubleshooting but so far, no definite answer to what's causing this. Here are my specs:

System: Win 8.1

Adapter: Ralink RT3290 802.11bgn Wi-Fi Adapter

Wireless Router: R1000H - Wireless N Gigabit Ethernet Router

I've checked the following:

• checked whether IP4 obtains IP automatically
• pinged default gateway, sometimes I get two timeouts and then I get connected
• disabled power saving mode (Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power)

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cd94:285:fae9:6672%3

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.14

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

Tunnel adapter isatap.{60B49854-9D32-4920-9DFC-13603B070B70}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:90d7:10b2:16de:3f57:fdf1 Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::10b2:16de:3f57:fdf1%6 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

Pinging 192.168.2.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.2.1: bytes=32 time=36ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.2.1: bytes=32 time=308ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.2.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.2.1: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.2.1: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 308ms, Average = 98ms

Any tips how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance! :)

Answer 1

Since this seems to be isolated to just one device I'd suggest seeing about buying or borrowing a USB wifi adapter. If that works without any issue then it may be that your existing wifi adapter is failing. If you still have the same issue then it's most likely something going on with that specific computer.

One thing you can try is download a tool like inssider or netstumbler and get a look at the channel usage in your area. It could be a case where other routers in the area are all operating in the same area, causing interference. If you see this you can change the router's channel to something less populated. However, given that this is isolated to one device only I suspect this isn't the case here.

Using those tools you can also see signal strength. You can use that to see if maybe you're just in a bad location for receiving a good signal. The usual culprits for interference are strong motors (like in elevators), electrical panels, solid layers of construction (like a brick chimney), and so on. But again, I suspect this isn't the case given the isolated nature of the problem.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Super past-due, but I recently had a very similar issue that ended up being an issue with my network adapter. So in case anyone is combing through threads looking for an answer, then this is worth a shot:

Windows 10

1. Open Network and Sharing Center (Can find it in Control Panel)
2. Click the hyperlink after Connections:
3. Go to Properties and take note of the name the adapter under Connect Using:
4. Next hit Winkey+X and click Device Manager
5. Find the name of the adapter from step 3 under Network Adapters, right-click, and uninstall it. Do not tick the box to delete the driver software.
6. Finally, right click and Scan for hardware changes and it'll automatically reinstall the network adapter.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future.