Windows 8 wifi randomly disconnecting

[Gargalhar]

Well do you know a good upgrade that would be suitable (I currently have Dlink DIR-655)

 

[chev65]

Well do you know a good upgrade that would be suitable (I currently have Dlink DIR-655)

Ok, you should be having no problems at all with the DIR-655, same router I have and still one of the best on the market. I have the latest firmware installed and it works fine for me. I can't imagine that you are having problems with this router unless it's not set up correctly or something.

It might help if I could see a screen shot of the manual wireless set up page from the DIR-655. Windows key plus print screen key works for me for screen shots.

I'm assuming that you changed the channel to 11 or 1, other channels may work for you but don't use anything near channel 6. It can help using the 802.11n Only setting, preferably with channel bonding turned on which is the 20mhz-40mhz setting.

In order to get to the correct wireless set up page go into the 655's firmware page, click set up, then wireless settings, then choose the manual wireless set up at the bottom. Take a screen shot of that page if you can and post it here.

 

[Gargalhar]

The nice packie man on the phone told me to go to channel 9.

 

[chev65]

The nice packie man on the phone told me to go to channel 9.

It's best to attach the picture rather than hosting it somewhere. I can't expand the picture enough to read it.

Use the Go Advanced button then browse to the picture and attach.

Channel 9 is neither here nor there, nothing special about it in my experiments.

 

[Gargalhar]

Sorry I didn't know I could upload photos to this forum

 

[chev65]

The settings look good other than the "enable auto scan" which needs to be turned off, that setting will scan the channels and change the channel which you don't want. I would definitely try using different channels and testing to find the best one. With this weak signal it may actually work better to turn off the channel bonding.

Other than that I can't see anything wrong besides the rather weak signal strength. My router will completely cut out in certain parts of my house because of big metal heaters and a large thick cement fireplace. Wireless isn't like magic, and it won't go through many walls like people seem to think. I installed the DAP-1522 D-link dedicated access point to allow for a good connection anywhere around my house and to cover my entire yard and garage.

I'd also say that in general terms, a single router can't cover an entire house even in the best situations.

Working in the yellow signal strength can go either way, I personally would never expect a reliable connection unless it was in the green and that's the reason I installed the access point.

The fact that your machine came with Windows 8 indicates that this can't be a driver problem and most likely has more to do with weak signal strength.

 

[Gargalhar]

Well I have a rubbish laptop like 2 feet away from my desktop and it's staying connected easily. The problem is this laptop is rubbish so I can't use it for much.

 

[chev65]

Well the other more obvious and less expensive option is to install a USB wireless NIC on the new PC and see if it works any better for you.

You can purchase the D-Link DWA-140 for less than 20 bucks and try it out.


The DWA-140 is the same one I use out in my garage and it works flawlessly, I get 300Mbps with this one and the price has really come down because of the newer 802.11ac hardware which is just now coming out.

Amazon.com: d-link dwa 140

 

[Gargalhar]

I bought the closest I could dwa-160 and best buy says that it might just be a fault with the wireless card. I'm going to use this see if it works then if it does they said I could take back my computer and the dwa-160 to get it fixes

 

[Gargalhar]

So this wifi dongle has seemed to solve my problem. I'm wondering if it's worth taking my computer back to be repaired. Is the DWA-160 better than my built in wifi card?

 

[chev65]

So this wifi dongle has seemed to solve my problem. I'm wondering if it's worth taking my computer back to be repaired. Is the DWA-160 better than my built in wifi card?

I'm glad my suggestion to add the USB NIC worked.

The deal with wireless is that it's only as good as you make it. The DWA-160 isn't really better, it's just a dual band version of the DWA-140. You can't use the 160 unless you already have a dual band router and your DIR-655 is single band only.

The problem with most PC's using any type of built in wireless adaptor is that the antenna is inside of the metal box and because it's a PC is usually shoved against a wall or under a desk, so right from get go you are hurting reception with this type of arrangement. At least with the USB adaptor the antenna part is outside the box where it can get a better signal.

In this case I'd say there is nothing wrong with your Dell PC, other than it's position in this particular room is not optimal for creating a reliable connection with your router. No blame on anything really, this is honestly typical wireless behavior.

In fact, this PC is a very good deal from what I've read about it.

You can mark this as solved if you want.

 

[nosferatu]

I know it's abit of a past thread, but as of recent I have purchased a brand new Win 8 laptop for my workplace. I have had it now for 3 months and all I get is random disconnections. I have read MANY sites pointing to Win 8 to be the culprit. I have 2x Win 7 PC's, 2 Win XP PC's, 1x Win 7 Laptop and 1x Win XP Laptop... ALL of which don't disconnect ever! I have changed channels multiple times and even used a wifi scanner to detect the least busy channel. I have enabled only N mode which has reduced 1 laptop (XP) from connecting (old card I think). Other than that the laptop STILL disconnects and is driving me insaine. Also to add insut to injury, the network all the machines are connected to have a center LAN drive which all connect without trouble; Every time I go to the LAN drive on my Win8 heap of rubbish the network is apparently not available so I have to open up the "My Computer" click the network tab on the left and refresh the panel till it see's the LAN drive and other connected machines.. hey presto it will now work until I leave it 30 mins and need it again.. Let me remind you that NO other PC does this on the network the router is a brand new TP-Link 802 N dual band running at 20 -40 Hz range.. I have locked the range to just 20 to see but still does the same thing. I have locked the win8 card to 20 only but that also seems to do nothing, I have disabled the wifi device config manager in the device manager area and that does bugger all too. So im back to square one. I have reset to factory defaults in windows 8 and lost all my work to try and solve this.. So now the laptop is back to defaults, no installed programs other than a fresh copy of 8. It still disconnects and is more than frustrating, considering I need to use it for AutoCAD 2011 CNC programming. I can safely say anyone willing to bet its the router.. your wrong. I will buy a wifi dongle and see if it works. But as of yet Windows 8 seems to be the fail of latest computing.

 

[chev65]

Does factory default also include all the preinstalled bloat ware that was originally installed on this machine? What is the actual manufacture and number of this wireless device?

You should be able to obtain this information in Device Manager>Network Adaptors.

Have you tried to turn off the power saving feature for this NIC at the Device Manager>properties of this NIC, power management tab.

Have you tried making any adjustments to the Advanced Settings of this wireless NIC?

 

[nosferatu]

It does, but I have uninstalled most of it (mainly anything to do with WiFi, which was very little. Only Toshiba updaters etc). Bearing in mind the drivers are up to date and windows 8 is set to configure WiFi connections, as there is no auto config like a WiFi connection manager from toshiba. It's randomised for when it wants to have a laugh and drop the WiFi connection, could be once in a 20 minute period or 5 in 2 minutes.

 

[chev65]

It does, but I have uninstalled most of it (mainly anything to do with WiFi, which was very little. Only Toshiba updaters etc). Bearing in mind the drivers are up to date and windows 8 is set to configure WiFi connections, as there is no auto config like a WiFi connection manager from toshiba. It's randomised for when it wants to have a laugh and drop the WiFi connection, could be once in a 20 minute period or 5 in 2 minutes.

Have you tried to update the system using an Ethernet connection? Windows updates etc. ?

It's important to note that pretty much all the bloatware can cause connection problems, especially any type of third party anti virus software that was preinstalled, you may need to look carefully in Add/Remove Programs to find this.

How many bars signal strength and the type of security and encryption also matters, you should be using WPA2 security with AES encryption here.

Have you disabled the power saving feature in Device Manager for this wireless NIC?

 

[nosferatu]

The encryption is AES and WPA2 password. The updates are all current and the signal strength is good/excellent range 4 bars. But its regardless of the range when I can be next to the router and it still does it.. yet no other of the 5/6 pc's (when the old xp laptop is working) suffer this situation.. shouldn't have to be this temperamental. The power settings are all on max performance for the card and the only third party stuff now installed is the mouse pad drivers/software and the Toshiba user manual which also was a fat load of good..

 

[chev65]

The encryption is AES and WPA2 password. The updates are all current and the signal strength is good/excellent range 4 bars. But its regardless of the range when I can be next to the router and it still does it.. yet no other of the 5/6 pc's (when the old xp laptop is working) suffer this situation.. shouldn't have to be this temperamental. The power settings are all on max performance for the card and the only third party stuff now installed is the mouse pad drivers/software and the Toshiba user manual which also was a fat load of good..

I agree about the suffering although your complaints may have more weight if they are voiced at the Toshiba support site.

 

[GrantS]

I agree about the suffering although your complaints may have more weight if they are voiced at the Toshiba support site.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's a Toshiba and everything to do with the fact that Windows 8 is the OS. I just bought an HP laptop with 8 on it and am having the same problem. A quick Google search reveals this is an extremely common problem with 8. I have installed all updates, made changes to my power settings, tried different things with my network adapter, etc, etc and STILL have disconnect issues every 10-20 minutes. VERY frustrating!

 

[chev65]

I agree about the suffering although your complaints may have more weight if they are voiced at the Toshiba support site.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's a Toshiba and everything to do with the fact that Windows 8 is the OS. I just bought an HP laptop with 8 on it and am having the same problem. A quick Google search reveals this is an extremely common problem with 8. I have installed all updates, made changes to my power settings, tried different things with my network adapter, etc, etc and STILL have disconnect issues every 10-20 minutes. VERY frustrating!

Yes the preinstalled bloatware that every manufacture installs is also common among Windows 8 users who have this type of problem.

IN fact I had the same type of problem on my wife's Windows 7 Sony laptop, wireless cutting out for no apparent reason, uninstalled all the preinstalled Sony bloatware which took a considerable amount time, practically all day,...problem solved and I've seen this work many times in the past.

So because of this, I mention that it's best to uninstall all bloatware and especially the preinstalled A/V software, then instead of following my well tested advice I hear complaints that would be better directed towards the manufacture of the device instead or blaming Windows 8 which is ridiculous, I don't see how blaming the Op system will magically fix the problem.

IMO a clean install of Windows 8 is the ONLY way to go here, the problem is getting people to understand that the bloatware is the source of the problem, not Windows 8.

At the very least using Decrapifier to uninstall all bloatware would work and this should actually be done on every single system with any type of preinstalled bloatware, after that you would need to run CCleaner to remove the registry entries temp files left over from this bloatware.

 

[nosferatu]

Windows 8 is **** mate.. don't defend it.. I have a clean install of 8 and now NO bloatware.. and still get this DC rubbish. There is obviously something wrong with Win 8 as it doesn't .. I stress again .. DOESN'T happen with every other work machine in the building.
I have even gone to the step of manually grabbing the drivers from the cards website and not through Toshiba. If they were testing their laptops why in gods name would they send them out knowing there bloatware would be the cause, it's almost the same story that you can't blame Toshiba because there well known.. or HP .. on the grounds that Microsoft make an amazing OS system with no start bar because there trying to be cool and hip, so therefore it can't be any company to blame .. but an act of god.. well now we've got that clear I shall direct my angry letters to god .. it's to old git upstairs that's making my card drop obviously.. :/