Atheros AR9285 constantly disconnecting/reconnecting

[MillsyUK]

Hi there,

I have an HP DV7 4010-TX bought from Australia roughly 4 years ago, I am now residing in the UK. For the past few days I have been having problems with my wireless card (Atheros AR9285) constantly disconnecting and reconnecting to my network as well as timing out whilst loading websites etc. This seems to be getting progressively worse; started off every half hour and now every two minutes. I have also noticed that the signal strnegth is now only good compared to excellent before.

So far I have uninstalled and reinstalled my card using the latest drivers as well as some previous ones, reset my internet protocol setting using command prompt and tried to use the windows troubleshooter which finds no problem as the network connects again before it detects that there is no internet connection. All other devices in the house using wireless work fine, xbox 360, other laptops and mobile phones. The computer has been on the same desk for two years with the router in the same place with no real problems.

Is there anything further that I can try or does it look as if my wireless card is dying? If so can anyone recommend a suitable replacement for me. If there's anything I have missed out please let me know, little new to this kind of stuff.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

Cheers,

Millsy


System Specs


Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

CPU
Intel Core i7 720QM @ 1.60GHz 50 °C
Clarksfield 45nm Technology

RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1449 (CPU) 50 °C

Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1600x900@60Hz)
VX2239 SERIES (1920x1080@60Hz)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (HP) 50 °C

Storage
596GB Western Digital WDC WD6400BPVT-00HXZT1 (SATA) 29 °C

Optical Drives
DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device
hp DVDRAM GT30L

Audio
ATI High Definition Audio Device




Network



You are connected to the internet
Connected through Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
IP Address 192.168.1.76
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway server 192.168.1.254
Preferred DNS server 208.67.220.220
DHCP Enabled
DHCP server 192.168.1.254
External IP Address 91.125.177.81
Adapter Type IEEE 802.11 wireless
NetBIOS over TCP/IP Enabled via DHCP
NETBIOS Node Type Hybrid node
Link Speed 0 Bps

Computer Name
NetBIOS Name MILLS-PC
DNS Name Mills-PC
Membership Part of workgroup
Workgroup WORKGROUP

Remote Desktop
Disabled
Console
State Active
Domain Mills-PC
EH-Tcp
State Listen

WinInet Info
LAN Connection
Local system uses a local area network to connect to the Internet
Local system has RAS to connect to the Internet

Wi-Fi Info
Using native Wi-Fi API version 2
Available access points count 1
Wi-Fi (PlusnetWirelessB394D0)
SSID PlusnetWirelessB394D0
Frequency 2412000 kHz
Channel Number 1
Name PlusnetWirelessB394D0
Signal Strength/Quality 42
Security Enabled
State The interface is connected to a network
Dot11 Type Infrastructure BSS network
Network Connectible
Network Flags Currently Connected to this network
Cipher Algorithm to be used when joining this network AES-CCMP algorithm
Default Auth used to join this network for the first time 802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK

WinHTTPInfo
WinHTTPSessionProxyType No proxy
Session Proxy
Session Proxy Bypass
Connect Retries 5
Connect Timeout (ms) 60,000
HTTP Version HTTP 1.1
Max Connects Per 1.0 Servers INFINITE
Max Connects Per Servers INFINITE
Max HTTP automatic redirects 10
Max HTTP status continue 10
Send Timeout (ms) 30,000
IEProxy Auto Detect No
IEProxy Auto Config
IEProxy
IEProxy Bypass
Default Proxy Config Access Type No proxy
Default Config Proxy
Default Config Proxy Bypass

Sharing and Discovery
Network Discovery Enabled
File and Printer Sharing Enabled
File and printer sharing service Enabled
Simple File Sharing Enabled
Administrative Shares Enabled
Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts Classic - local users authenticate as themselves

Adapters List
Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Connection Name Wireless Network Connection 2
DHCP enabled Yes
MAC Address C2-46-19-13-25-35
Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Connection-specific DNS Suffix lan
Connection Name Wireless Network Connection
NetBIOS over TCPIP Yes
DHCP enabled Yes
MAC Address C4-46-19-13-25-35
IP Address 192.168.1.76
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway server 192.168.1.254
DHCP 192.168.1.254
DNS Server 208.67.220.220
EasyTether Network Adapter
Connection Name Local Area Connection 2
DHCP enabled Yes
MAC Address 02-00-54-74-68-72
Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Connection Name Bluetooth Network Connection
DHCP enabled Yes
MAC Address 70-F3-95-53-9C-01

Network Shares
Users C:\Users
HP psc 1600 series HP psc 1600 series,LocalsplOnly

Current TCP Connections
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe (11460)
GeekBuddyRSP.exe (1320)
lsass.exe (644)
postgres.exe (2428)
services.exe (636)
spoolsv.exe (1536)
svchost.exe (1080)
svchost.exe (3240)
svchost.exe (396)
svchost.exe (648)
svchost.exe (928)
System Process
System Process
wininit.exe (560)
wmpnetwk.exe (3600)

 

[chev65]

Have you tried starting up in safe mode with networking? If the problem seems to go away in safe mode then you can be sure than an installed program or software is causing the problem.

 

[MillsyUK]

Hi,

Have just tried safe mode with networking, exactly same problem.

Where do I go from here? I am happy to buy a replacement wireless card if that is the most likely cause. I am not sure what card to order though as from what I have read the bios on my computer will only work with certain cards? Not sure if this is correct but I would like to upgrade the card instead of a like for like replacement if possible and don't want to order something that isn't compatible. Is there an easy way of determining this?

Is there anything else to try before giving up and ordering a new card?

Thanks for your help.

 

[chev65]

Hi,

Have just tried safe mode with networking, exactly same problem.

Where do I go from here? I am happy to buy a replacement wireless card if that is the most likely cause. I am not sure what card to order though as from what I have read the bios on my computer will only work with certain cards? Not sure if this is correct but I would like to upgrade the card instead of a like for like replacement if possible and don't want to order something that isn't compatible. Is there an easy way of determining this?

Is there anything else to try before giving up and ordering a new card?

Thanks for your help.

Yes try running the following command in an elevated command prompt, this is just to check if the system files are not corrupted which is a common problem.

sfc /scannow

 

[boohbah]

this may sound daft, but can you right click on the wifi icon on the systems tray, select "open network and sharing center"

to the left of the window that opens click change adapter settings.

then right click on your wifi adapter when it shows.
click disable then when its disabled right click it and select enable.
i used to have trouble with the same card.
this would help.

i also used to update the drivers from here

Station-Drivers - Qualcomm-Atheros (Wireless)

 

[MillsyUK]

Thanks for your replies.

Chev:

Did sytem scan, appears no problems -



Boohbah: I have tried about 4 different driver versions, currently using a set that fixed the same problem for several people, I'm unable to find the forum thread again though. They seemed to solve it for me for a day or so but the problem has now returned. Tried disabling/enabling, same results as before. I'll give the ones from that site a go.

I don't know if the following screen using Xirrus wifi inspector provides any information. Had it on my computer so felt may as well put it on here.



Anything else I can try?

Thanks to both of you for your help.

 

[chev65]

Thanks for your replies.

Chev:

Did sytem scan, appears no problems -



Boohbah: I have tried about 4 different driver versions, currently using a set that fixed the same problem for several people, I'm unable to find the forum thread again though. They seemed to solve it for me for a day or so but the problem has now returned. Tried disabling/enabling, same results as before. I'll give the ones from that site a go.

I don't know if the following screen using Xirrus wifi inspector provides any information. Had it on my computer so felt may as well put it on here.



Anything else I can try?

Thanks to both of you for your help.

Well it's not a system file problem however, the signal strength I'm seeing here is very unlikely to create a reliable connection. You might try using a different channel for the wireless like 11 or 6 but with this low signal strength you should expect a non reliable connection.

 

[MillsyUK]

The signal strength always used to be stronger, it would say excellent whereas now it says fair. There are about four other networks nearby that used to show up as well but my computer can no longer find them. Is this an indication that my card is slowly dying? Neither my laptop or router have moved. Maybe best thing is to just buy a replacement card, they seem fairly cheap from what I have seen.

OK. If I change the channel do I have to change this on devices in the house or will they just connect as normal?

Last question, sorry! If the card dies before I have a replacement will I still be able to use a wired connection with my laptop in the meantime? I do half of my work from home and use the internet heavily for this.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[chev65]

The signal strength always used to be stronger, it would say excellent whereas now it says fair. There are about four other networks nearby that used to show up as well but my computer can no longer find them. Is this an indication that my card is slowly dying? Neither my laptop or router have moved. Maybe best thing is to just buy a replacement card, they seem fairly cheap from what I have seen.

OK. If I change the channel do I have to change this on devices in the house or will they just connect as normal?

Last question, sorry! If the card dies before I have a replacement will I still be able to use a wired connection with my laptop in the meantime? I do half of my work from home and use the internet heavily for this.

Thanks for all your help.

The channel is changed on the routers WiFi settings. You may also see better performance when using the 802.11N Only setting versus the Mixed WiFi settings.

Yes the cards aren't very expensive but I'm not sure why it would suddenly lose signal strength. Resetting the router may help in this case. The wired connection should still be fine, completely different connection for that.

I'm not sure what the Easy Tether network is but if it's used to create a secondary access point then it may be causing problems with your wireless connection.

 

[boohbah]

i would be inclined to ring the isp to check the connection to the router from them.
Depending who it is
they will have a load of info and even go so far as to remote connect and check things out.

 

[MillsyUK]

EasyTether is used to connect my android phone to my computer and use it as a wifi hotspot. I had an idea of connecting my phone to my computer and using it instead of my wireless card while I solved the problem but unfortunately it can only use mobile data and can't connect to wifi whilst acting as a hotspot, useless as I get no network coverage in the house!

There is also another wireless network called Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter, not sure what this is?

Have reset the router several times which hasn't helped. The router itself is just a cheap router that my broadband company provided. It's a Thomson TG585 v8, you can tell by the reviews here its not a great piece of kit - Thomson TG585v8 Reviews | Thomson Gateway TG585 v8 Wireless-G ADSL 2+ Router. To be fair though I updated the firmware on it about a year ago and haven't really had many problems before this. My local exchange is also 3 miles away (I live in a small village in a rural area) which is supposed to have a very negative effect.

OK, will try and play around with the router settings and see how that goes. Thanks for your quick and detailed responses, you've been very helpful.

 

[MillsyUK]

Boohbah - My ISP is Plusnet. I'll give them a call in the morning, they've corrected some faults on the line before. Thing is, it only seems to be my laptop with the problem, for example my brother has been playing xbox live for around 2 - 3 hours today using a wireless connection and hasn't has any problems at all.

Cheers

 

[boohbah]

ok, thats a good point that the connection is fine for your brother, nevertheless they may help troubleshoot for you.
i have had some brilliant tech support from BT.

just out of interest you havent put a new electrical item anywhere near your laptop since having the problems, or something that may interfere with the signal to your area of the house.

it may be worth trying the laptop in different areas to see if there is a pattern to the drop out or if it is in a fixed location it does it.

 

[MillsyUK]

I set up a Devolo Dlan 500 kit which uses the ringmain to give a wireless network in parts of the house where the wifi signal won't reach. It worked fine without interfering with my conncection but I have had it unplugged for a few days now whilst trying to solve this problem. Apart from that nothing else has changed.

 

[chev65]

EasyTether is used to connect my android phone to my computer and use it as a wifi hotspot. I had an idea of connecting my phone to my computer and using it instead of my wireless card while I solved the problem but unfortunately it can only use mobile data and can't connect to wifi whilst acting as a hotspot, useless as I get no network coverage in the house!

There is also another wireless network called Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter, not sure what this is?

Have reset the router several times which hasn't helped. The router itself is just a cheap router that my broadband company provided. It's a Thomson TG585 v8, you can tell by the reviews here its not a great piece of kit - Thomson TG585v8 Reviews | Thomson Gateway TG585 v8 Wireless-G ADSL 2+ Router. To be fair though I updated the firmware on it about a year ago and haven't really had many problems before this. My local exchange is also 3 miles away (I live in a small village in a rural area) which is supposed to have a very negative effect.

OK, will try and play around with the router settings and see how that goes. Thanks for your quick and detailed responses, you've been very helpful.

The Msoft WiFi miniport is used to set up a WiFi hotspot, it's part of every Windows WiFi WHQL driver package so you really did not need the easy tether or the easy tether software for this. There are netsh commands and connectify software made just for this.

I'm not familiar with this Develo Dlan 500 kit so can't give advice on that but if it's working so well why can't it amplify the signal for this machine?

I would consider disabling the Bluetooth driver and the Msoft miniport, and also uninstall the software for the tethering, just for testing, you should also test this machine closer to the router with 5 bars signal strength, I'm pretty sure you won't be having any type of disconnection problems with a stronger signal.

As is the signal strength is in the yellow with poor signal strength, this according to Windows, when you see yellow color and anything past three bars is considered to be a poor signal and will therefore be unreliable at best unless something changes.

 

[MillsyUK]

The Devolo device is upstairs at the end of the house so the signal won't reach here. It doesn't amplify the signal it basically creates a new wireless network in another part of the house, one device plugs into the router and a power socket and sends a signal through the ring main, another device is plugged into a wall socket elsewhere and picks up the signal and creates a wireless network.

Anyway, I think my card is dead, I can't install any drivers anymore and get the following. Have tried all of the drivers that I have on my laptop. Am now using a wired connection which is working fine.



So I guess all I can do now is buy a replacement card?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[chev65]

I'd be more inclined to believe that the easy tether is causing the problem rather than the card just dying. That is why I said it should be removed or deleted from the system.

 

[MillsyUK]

Hi Chev,

I have disabled both the bluetooth and the easytether.

I'm still getting the same error message no matter which set of drivers I try and install.


Edit: Now completely removed the easytether from my system, no change.