Solved Difficult internet access

[Aardvarkly]

I was having trouble with my wifi signal on another PC and received various suggestions for fixing it. The bottom line appeared to be that the onboard wifi adapter was dying. I bought a new PCI wifi card of the same brand as the motherboard. There seemed to be a slight improvement in signal strength but still way below what my new PC is managing (with the exact same model wifi card). So in the same room we are using a laptop and a newly built tower that have full connectivity with the router which is another room. I have noticed that I can get my emails with Mozilla Thunderbird without any problem. I have three browsers that all have the same issue. Intermittent connection with only one or two "bars" on the little indicator bottom right of the desktop. I have checked/updated the drivers for both the onboard and seperate wifi adaptors and have tried them both together and with either one disabled. Apart from the access to the internet problem the PC works fine and runs various software normally.

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[samuria]

Have you got an Android. phone? If so get WiFi tester with that you can get exact signal strength walk around the room slow checking strength do it at different times as well . It's often a big difference even ft away mains,TV, game console all can block signal. Radio is also polarised so router and PC should be the same is vertical or horizontal antenna

 

[Aardvarkly]

HI and thanks for your input. The PC I am using for this query is less than one metre away from the PC with the problem so I don't think its a case of relative positioning to the router. Exactly the same distance away. Both antenna stubs are oriented the same. I was wondering if it is the motherboard itself that is dying, not just the wifi adaptor.

 

[samuria]

Do the test with wifi checker it will give info and not guessing a cable even someone sitting close can effect it

 

[Megahertz07]

As any radio device, the signal depends on the antenna.
Laptops has two antennas, one at each side of the monitor. The desktop should have one antenna.

Also, WiFi can have two frequencies, 2.4G and 5G.
What frequency is your desktop and laptop using?

Download and run (doesn't need to be installed) WifiInfoView v2.60

 

[Aardvarkly]

OK guys. I have no idea what band the lappy is working on. The two desktops I mentioned above are side by side on a desk. Both have identical add on wifi cards (Asus PCE-N15). An Android wifi analyser app shows we are on the 2.4ghz band, Channel 3. It gives a decibel reading (?) of -81 to -85 holding the phone just above the back of the PC where the twin antennas are located. It shows a reading of -76 to -81 held in the same position over the troublesome PC. The readings are not static, they are always shifting. The two sets of antennas are exactly 37 inches apart. Do the db readings mean anything? Is it possible there is some interaction between antennas and nearby monitor, UPS, or PC sound system?

 

[Aardvarkly]

I have tried the wifiInfoview as suggested above. It only seems to confirm what the lightweight App on the phone says. A little more signal getting to the dud PC. After shifting it around a little I can get the little indicator up to 3 occasionally 4 bars but no different to performance. Totally unable to get Chrome, Firefox, or Opera to get as far as a home page. And now even Thunderbird cannot retrieve my emails.

Is it possible that the Bitdefender or Windows Firewall is blocking everything?

 

[Megahertz07]

The signal on a cell phone doesn't mean much.
Run WifiInfoView on the two computers.
What is the signal seen by the one computer and the other?

 

[Aardvarkly]

Signal quality on the good one is 49/50 and the other is showing 48/49.

 

[Megahertz07]

Is it possible that the Bitdefender or Windows Firewall is blocking everything?

Yes, it can. But I don't think it is the case as you have some signal. Firewall block doesn't attenuate. Is 1 or 0

Signal quality on the good one is 49/50 and the other is showing 48/49 means they receive same (weak) power.
It's not the WiFi. It's something else.

 

[Aardvarkly]

I just noticed a pop up. It said Bitdefender update has failed. Clearly nothing is getting access to the internet today.

 

[Megahertz07]

Open Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center
You should see something as bellow:
Is your router set as Home Network?

 

[samuria]

50% is low and will get drops or Terry's you need 79+ ideally so with phone stand by router should be 100% then move towards PCs were does it drop is there a wall, TV,power cable were it drops that's doing it?. It may be a pain but one next to router does it work there ok if so it proves PC is fine something is blocking signal

 

[Megahertz07]

Samuria, I agree that the signal is weak but one computer work and the other, just on the side, doesn't. It's something else.

 

[samuria]

That's why it needs to close to router as a test if it's ok it's signal if it's still had we have illuminated signal and then need to try other things

 

[Aardvarkly]

Open Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network and Sharing Center
You should see something as bellow:
Is your router set as Home Network?

Yes, as in the image my router is shown as Home network.

 

[Barman58]

One thing to add, one of the main causes of WiFi comms issue is the common or garden Cordless phone ...

The standard frequency used for cordless phones is 2.4GHz worldwide, the UK actually regulates for this to have UK phone systems use 1.88-1.9GHz, specifically to prevent interference with 2.4GHz WiFi.

With the worldwide technology business that we see with the likes of Amazon & Ebay, it is not unknown for a DECT Phone designed to run on 2.4GHz to find it's way onto the UK market, (a change of the connecting lead to the phone line and Mains is easy to do as both are usually replaceable by design), and cause issues for a WiFi Router placed close to the Phone Base station

It's often the case that a phone and WiFi Router end up on the same side table or shelf, worth checking if the phone is too close to the Router and if it is set to use 2.4 GHz (some are universal and have a switching mechanism for frequency).

May be nothing, but worth a check

 

[Aardvarkly]

UPDATE:
I have 4 bars up on the little desktop indicator and it seems to connect to the internet OK this morning. Anti V and two browsers have updated normally and I can get to websites but they are loading a little slowly. Chrome browser tries to update and fails or gets halfway through and sticks. Opera and Firefox are fine.

I tried the little phone app again. The readings are the same as in post #6 and right next to the router it reads -28db. The numbers slowly increase as I walk away and go into the next room toward the PCs.

 

[Barman58]

The DB reading is the interference figure, (losses), so lower is better Ideally you should look for a figure between 65 and 67 DB for a usable signal

Why is almost everything negative in Wi... - Cisco Community

 

[Aardvarkly]

One thing to add, one of the main causes of WiFi comms issue is the common or garden Cordless phone ...

The standard frequency used for cordless phones is 2.4GHz worldwide, the UK actually regulates for this to have UK phone systems use 1.88-1.9GHz, specifically to prevent interference with 2.4GHz WiFi.

With the worldwide technology business that we see with the likes of Amazon & Ebay, it is not unknown for a DECT Phone designed to run on 2.4GHz to find it's way onto the UK market, (a change of the connecting lead to the phone line and Mains is easy to do as both are usually replaceable by design), and cause issues for a WiFi Router placed close to the Phone Base station

It's often the case that a phone and WiFi Router end up on the same side table or shelf, worth checking if the phone is too close to the Router and if it is set to use 2.4 GHz (some are universal and have a switching mechanism for frequency).

May be nothing, but worth a check

OK and thanks for the input. My router and cordless phone base unit are side by side on the only convenient surface near the incoming phone line socket. Here's what we've got. The router as supplied by Orange (France) is made by Sagem, called the Livebox Play. The phone is a BT8600 call blocker, purchased on ebay (UK). If interference is a possible issue it will be difficult but not impossible to separate them.