connection to wifi router from laptop intermittent

Richard58 said:

I have a desktop and a laptop, both Windows 7 Home 64 bit, using Internet Explorer 11. The desktop is Ethernet connection, the laptop is wifi, the DSL router is wifi provided by AT&t. I really don't recall seeing the problem with the desktop, and I get it a lot with the laptop. But I don't use the desktop nearly as much.
The problem: a lot of times I will open IE 11 and click on one of it's news articles or something I want to see and it will not connect to the article or web site. I get a notice such as "The 2Wire 2701HG-B gateway does not currently detect a DSL signal". When I look at the lower taskbar where it shows wifi connections, it shows my 'handle' and says 'connected'. I'll have to close the browser, try to open it again, and after a bit I can usually get it to connect, but it sure is annoying. Occasionally I will right click and then click to open it in another tab and sometimes I can get it to open. But it seems like I have to keep fighting the connection issues. I have rebooted the router several times, it keeps happening. I'm running McAfee on the desktop, Microsoft Security on the laptop. This has been going on for months, I'm finally getting tired of it --any ideas to help is appreciated. I'm not that experienced with computers so it could be something simple and I just don't know about it. But any help is appreciated.

If it's the browser you can always set it back to default through the Internet Options > Advanced Tab although I'm not completely sure that is the cause of the problem.

I'd have to see a screen shot of InSSIDer in order to get a picture of the wireless landscape in your area. You could have channel crossover problems or something else. :)

inSSIDer for Home ? Discover The Wi-Fi Around You | MetaGeek

Richard58 said:

I did some reading of other posts this morning, and saw one that mentioned they downloaded MalwareBytes, and it solved their problem. So I deleted cookies and everything in the Internet Options, then downloaded MalwareBytes, and ran a full scan. It found about 12 issues, I checked all, including a couple of registry ones, and an ad program in Program Files X86, and clicked 'fix all'. I've been using the laptop this morning and am surprised at how much faster it is and that I have had no problems so far.
So thanks for the help, but give me some more time to play with it and see if I have any issues. If the problems persist, I'll be back. But this may have solved it.
What I do find strange -- why weren't issues found when I ran my Microsoft Security Essentials full system scans? What good is it if it doesn't help.

I'm a bit surprised that Security Essentials didn't pick any of those up but I always run scans with Malware bytes and it never finds anything. 12 virus type bugs will causes problems that's for certain.

I think that more than half the machines that end up in Networking forum are here because of viruses or system file problems rather than actual networking problems.

And some of the times after I have troubles, I first get this notice from my AT&T Gateway : "The error has been successfully resolved. Please close down your browser and restart it to continue browsing online.". And I get that notice without going through any troubleshooter steps, it just connects, I close everything down (very annoying), then have to reconnect up.

I connected the laptop to my Ethernet cable to the DSL router and ran it for awhile. And I disconnected my wifi connection. I went in and out of web sites, and ran into a problem only twice, which was quickly and easily resolved by clicking 'refresh'. I didn't seem to have the same degree of problems I have when using wifi. Will keep trying and see if malwarebytes solved most issues

Richard58 said:

And some of the times after I have troubles, I first get this notice from my AT&T Gateway : "The error has been successfully resolved. Please close down your browser and restart it to continue browsing online.". And I get that notice without going through any troubleshooter steps, it just connects, I close everything down (very annoying), then have to reconnect up.

I connected the laptop to my Ethernet cable to the DSL router and ran it for awhile. And I disconnected my wifi connection. I went in and out of web sites, and ran into a problem only twice, which was quickly and easily resolved by clicking 'refresh'. I didn't seem to have the same degree of problems I have when using wifi. Will keep trying and see if malwarebytes solved most issues

After the virus scans you might want to run a system file cleaner like Download CCleaner 4.08.4428 - FileHippo.com which is what everyone around here uses.

You should also run a system file scan because those viruses may have wrecked some havoc with system files. The command is sfc /scannow type or pasted into an elevated command prompt.

I did call them about a month ago, and they said it was the fault of my browser, not their router that I paid for. But you know how big corporations are, it's always someone else's fault. Maybe I'll call again and see if I get someone different, maybe I'll get a different answer. How could it be the browser fault -- then wouldn't most people be experiencing the same problem I am? I guess I should ask them that.

Richard58 said:

I did call them about a month ago, and they said it was the fault of my browser, not their router that I paid for. But you know how big corporations are, it's always someone else's fault. Maybe I'll call again and see if I get someone different, maybe I'll get a different answer. How could it be the browser fault -- then wouldn't most people be experiencing the same problem I am? I guess I should ask them that.

Typical ISP.

Although it's worth checking those system files etc. just in case.