Keep connecting/disconnecting from wireless network

mcctwist · 21 Feb 2013

Hello,

I'm sure this isn't a unique problem by any means, but this is the first time this has happened to me, and a quick google search didn't turn up too much. Today, out of the blue, I started having trouble connecting to my wireless network. It seems to be stuck in an endless loop of attempting to connect to the network. It will reach the "identifying" stage of attempting to connect, stay there for 5-10 secs, then disconnect. This process then repeats ad nauseum. There were no major system or software updates of note, and I even did a system restore (after other attempts to fix the problem) to a point a week prior when I did not have this issue. Currently, I am able to connect to the internet fine via a wired connection, and other devices are able to connect fine to the wireless network (ipad, iphone, roommates computer, etc).

I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. My laptop is an HP Pavilion dv6 series. I went into the device manager to look at my network adapters, and I have 4 listed: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000, Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter (1 and 2), and Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. I have made sure all drivers for each network adapter are up to date, and I have tried disabling each adapter in turn, and the problem persists.

Running the windows network diagnostic tool turns up nothing useful. I do have another troubleshooter program entitled "Intel PROSet/Wireless Tools" ( I assume it came with the wireless card). It also has a network diagnostic tool, and I continually fail the "Association test", though I am not quite sure what this means.

At this point, and advice would be appreciated, even if it is just pointing me in the right direction.

Thanks.

MSchild · 21 Feb 2013

Well you have effectively isolated the problem. The router is fine, since you could connect via Ethernet, and the wireless access point on the router is fine, since other devices are connecting wirelessly. This isolates the problem to your machine. Since I seriously doubt there is a hardware failure with your WiFi card, that leaves something in the software. Since you can connect in some fashion (via Ethernet), Windows is not to blame. The isolates further.. Id say the problem sits between Windows and the physical card, i.e., the driver, the adapter settings/properties, etc.

Not that I think it's relevant, but I would disable the Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapters - I doubt you are using them (the Realtek GBE is your Ethernet). Also, I know you said your drivers are up to date, but are they Microsoft drivers, or Intel drivers? Make sure you have the manufacturers latest driver, not Microsoft's. Or maybe this is the case: I believe Windows Update gives updates to drivers the same way it gives all other updates, so perhaps it is that you have updated your wireless driver recently without knowing it? If so, try rolling back the driver, if possible. I have had to roll back my wireless driver on more than one occasion because there was a problem with it, and couldn't update it again until the manufacturer released a fixed version.

Make note of your Ethernet adapter's settings, then compare them to your wireless settings - not only the IPv4 Properties dialog, but also look over the tick boxes on the adapter settings, where you see IPv4, IPv6, Link-Layer Mapper and Responder, etc. Also, and I probably should've led with this, if you have any Intel (or any other 3rd party) wireless utility running, close it. If it is a 3rd party connection utility, I strongly recommend uninstalling it.

(As a note, the Association of a wireless card with a WiFi network is part of the connection process, taking place after the Probe Request/Response exchange [the Probes are basically just the router and computer making sure each other are there and are talking about the same network]. Anyways, the Association is what gives your computer a status with the router in which the router will start listening to what you send its way. In WPA networks, as well as modern WEP configurations, Association is dependent upon the exchange of credentials [WEP key, pre-shared key, etc.]. Thus, if the Intel diagnostic utility is to be believed, and your wireless password in your wireless network profile is correct, your wireless card would seem to be having problems communicating on the 802.11 [WiFi] standard, further suggesting a driver issue.)