Wifi Problems

terencemc

Hey all,
My old XP laptop (not sure what wifi card) used to lose the wifi connection in my house for no apparent reason and show "Cannot find connection". I usually restarted my computer or tried to repair connection and this usually worked. It's now happening with my Italian house mate's computer. Is there anything to do to solve this problem? Both laptops run XP but are different makes....

mossyj

If the problem is happening with more than one laptop/pc then its more than likely an issue with the wirless access point or wireless router.

I would firstly make sure that the router/access point is not near equipment which might interfere with its signal (things like cordless phones)

After that, i would go into the router settings ( if you are familiar with this ) and change the wireless channel to a different number.

If all else fails, it wouldnt hurt to get a firmware upgrade for your wireless access point/router and apply it.


Best of luck m8.

terencemc

Thanks for the quick reply Mossy.
I should have pointed out that this problem happened in both Ireland and Australia on networks that work fined with other computers.

mossyj

Ok then, to be completely thorough i would download the latest driver for your wireless network card and install it. If you go into your device manager you should be able to see what make your network card is, ie broadcom, intel etc etc. You might also be able to get the latest driver for it by going to the manufacturer web site of your laptop be it HP, Dell or whatever. Also make sure your windows updates have been applied.

You can also go into the config of your wireless network card in the device manager and change its wireless channel to a different number to see if it helps make the connection more stable.

try the above and see how it goes.

Oh and a point of advice - if you are changing a lot of settings, make sure to make a note of what they were originally just in case you make the situation worse and need to change back

terencemc

Where exactly do I find the type of wireless card i have? I couldn't see a device manager in the control panel...

Cheers.

aidan_walsh

Right click on My Computer and select Manage from the menu. The Device Manager is on the left hand side, about half way down.

runswithascript

In case you don't know your WLAN NIC will be listed under network adapters in the device manager.

If you're changing the wireless broadcast channel on your router via ethernet cable you may need to disable autochanneling, which on router boot scans through the possible channels to try and find the one most free of interference, to force the channel you set manually.

What router do you have?

Before doing this, does your modem have a reset button?

Can either laptops detect any WLANs?

What operating system?

Have you tried removing the WLAN and attempting to re-add it afresh?

I know there are two laptops but are you certain WiFI is turned on both of them? Can you confirm this by a light or a switch?