Broken Wi-Fi?

OK, well... this problem has been going on ever since I got Windows 7.

I know my broken hard drive isn't helping, but even before it started acting up I had this issue.

My Wi-Fi card is a Ralink 2860 internal one. Windows 7, unlike Vista, actually comes with the drivers for it - as when I set it up at home it automatically found my LAN and asked for the WEP key. (I can't do that here as you need to login first, which will inherently make Windows setup say the connection failed).

Well, that's all well and good, until I turn Wi-Fi off. My laptop has a button for it that is the equivalent of plugging in and unplugging the Wi-Fi adapter. When I'm in my dorm room I use the wired Ethernet as it's 10x faster, and I turn off the Wi-Fi to not cause interference. Well, the next time I turn ON the Wi-Fi (and I do it right after pressing power, too), Windows says there's no wireless networks, period. It just refuses to see anything. I've restarted the WLAN config, nothing.

The fix I found was to install Ralink's driver package. That works fine, until I turn it off and on again. Then I have to REMOVE those drivers, etc etc.
Like, Windows just doesn't like non-permanent Wi-Fi cards.
And more recently, it'll connect and then disconnect 30 seconds later, and I have to install and uninstall drivers for 5 minutes to re-connect it for 30 seconds, etc.

Anybody have any ideas? It worked fine in Vista, it's just Windows 7 that isn't liking this thing.

DRS

Hey there

Does win 7 support WEP? have you disabled the IPv6 in sharing and networking?

Ken

It supports WEP, sure... but that's what we use at home.

Here at the university, it's either unencrypted (but it redirects to a login page each time you use it), or WPA-Enterprise, where you have to login with your username and password.

And I haven't touched the ipv6 stuff... so whatever it is by default.

drfsupercenter said:

It supports WEP, sure... but that's what we use at home.

Here at the university, it's either unencrypted (but it redirects to a login page each time you use it), or WPA-Enterprise, where you have to login with your username and password.

And I haven't touched the ipv6 stuff... so whatever it is by default.

IPv6 has been known to cause random hangs, and disconnects. Its enabled by default but isnt used yet.

ken

How do I disable it, then?

drfsupercenter said:

How do I disable it, then?

sys tray>open>change adapter settings>pick adapter>right click>properties>un check IPv6.

Argh, now I'm really getting frustrated!!

Since re-installing Windows on the new hard drive, everything has been working perfectly. Except the stupid Wi-Fi.

It worked FINE the first time I installed it, as I had the Wi-Fi "turned on". (My laptop has a button that turns it on and off - as far as I know it has the same effect as unplugging and plugging in a USB adapter)
I left it on for my classes and it connected 100% perfectly, no questions asked. I even turned the IPv6 off while it was working in case that caused problems.

Well then I plugged it in with Ethernet, so I turned the Wi-Fi off since I wouldn't need it and it wastes power.

I turned it back on immediately after pressing the Power button, before it even loaded the GRUB bootloader. Windows booted up and refused to see any Wi-Fi connections whatsoever. I had to do what I did before - install the Ralink Wi-Fi drivers, DESPITE the fact that Windows already has them. (yes, I did restart the WLAN AutoConfig service)

That worked for about 10 seconds and then I got disconnected. Now every time I go to class I spend a good 20 minutes installing, uninstalling, reinstalling, re-uninstalling, and finally reinstalling the Wi-Fi drivers before Windows actually cooperates with me and connects to the darn network. I would blame the routers in the classrooms but I seem to be the ONLY one having problems... most people just connect once and they're set.

Does anybody know why I keep having problems? I never knew Windows to be picky about unplugging network adapters - on my desktop I use Wi-Fi too, and on Windows XP if I unplug the adapter and then plug it back in it IMMEDIATELY reconnects without even asking me. On Windows 7 it just isn't so.