Solved Network Connectivity Problems

[jag3498]

For the past week I have been experiencing issues while on the web with my newer laptop. I have my laptop connected via WiFi to our network. From my room upstairs the signal strength is normally fair. However, every once in a while ( Like once an hour at least, 5 min apart at worst) the internet drops to very low signal strength and I cannot connect to the internet. Windows also notices the problem and alerts me that I have limited or now connectivity. It then works again within 1 minute. It is very annoying, especial since I stream a lot of music and do a lot of VoIP calls. I have restarted, rebooted the router, reset the router, and turned my wireless card on and off. And the strange part is that my computer connects fine to other networks and stays connected. And even stranger is that no other computers or devices on the network are having that problem. There are 4 laptops connected not including my notebook. There are also 3 phones, a tablet, a printer and a Wii connected via WiFi. There is also a desktop, a server, and a blue-ray player connected via Ethernet. The router is the Actiontec MI424WR Verizon FiOS Router. Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Jack

 

[chev65]

For the past week I have been experiencing issues while on the web with my newer laptop. I have my laptop connected via WiFi to our network. From my room upstairs the signal strength is normally fair. However, every once in a while ( Like once an hour at least, 5 min apart at worst) the internet drops to very low signal strength and I cannot connect to the internet. Windows also notices the problem and alerts me that I have limited or now connectivity. It then works again within 1 minute. It is very annoying, especial since I stream a lot of music and do a lot of VoIP calls. I have restarted, rebooted the router, reset the router, and turned my wireless card on and off. And the strange part is that my computer connects fine to other networks and stays connected. And even stranger is that no other computers or devices on the network are having that problem. There are 4 laptops connected not including my notebook. There are also 3 phones, a tablet, a printer and a Wii connected via WiFi. There is also a desktop, a server, and a blue-ray player connected via Ethernet. The router is the Actiontec MI424WR Verizon FiOS Router. Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Jack

This type of problem usually relates to the wireless channel is overloaded, this is usually because your neighbors are using the same channel or close to the same channel as your router. Channels overlap because they use part of the bandwidth from other channels in order to put out a signal.

It's best to scan the area using a WIFI scanner then look for a channel that either isn't being used or one that is furthest away from the channels that your neighbors are using. This is especially true when trying to stream movies.

You will want to use WPA2 and AES encryption if possible. If your still having problems you can post a screen shot of the results here. Sometimes it's obvious which channel to use, other times you have to just pick and choose to find the right one.

Xirrus WIFI scanner works well for this.
Wi-Fi Inspector | Xirrus

 

[jag3498]

I used the scanner, but it only sees my network. Here is the screenshot:

 

[chev65]

I'm guessing that you can't use 802.11n for some reason? In either event you should try using WPA2 with AES encryption as it tends to work much better with drivers that are made for Windows 7.

 

[jag3498]

The router only supports 802.11g. Switched to WPA2 AES and the signal strength instantly got better. Have not had a drop out yet, but it has gone this long before so I am not going to say it fixed it yet. I will update the status after I have used my computer for a while.

Update:
Still doing it, but not as bad. It now is back in a few seconds. But still annoying while streaming. Any more thoughts?

 

[chev65]

No surprise about the security and encryption working better.

I would definitely install the latest drivers for your Samsung, lots of 2012 drivers there that might help.

Support - Notebooks NP305E5AI | Samsung Laptops

As for streaming with wireless G, I wouldn't expect too much as it's limited to 54Mbps although the newer driver might help.

Upgrading to a wireless N router at 300Mbps would be a big improvement although the driver needs to work with wireless N as well.

 

[jag3498]

I should have all the 2012 drivers. I did a fresh install of 7 Ultimate when I got the notebook in march, and downloaded all the drivers from there. The strange thing to me is that the wireless worked perfectly and then all of a sudden I am having issues.

 

[event3horizon]

switch out of channel 11 to another channel and go into your router settings and set preamble length to long instead of short.

Also, definitely check your power options settings on the laptop, and the advanced category to make sure the laptop is not limiting your WLAN card in any way. Turn off power options on the WLAN adapter in the device manager too.

 

[jag3498]

Switched to channel 6 and set the preamble length and have not had a problem since. I also changed the power settings so it would not limit the card. Thanks very much to chev65 and event3horizon.
Jack

 

[event3horizon]

Well excellent!! Glad we can help out.

 

[jag3498]

Well it was fixed for a day. Got up this morning and it started happening again! No clue why. It was perfectly fine. Also the router signal strength has gone from good to fair. Any ideas. Again?

 

[chev65]

Well it was fixed for a day. Got up this morning and it started happening again! No clue why. It was perfectly fine. Also the router signal strength has gone from good to fair. Any ideas. Again?

There are a couple more problems this can be but you will need to post a screen shot of your ipconfig/all so I can see what's going on here. Looks like the picture below.

 

[jag3498]

Ok. Here is the screen shot. It turned up more, but that was all virtualbox adapters.

 

[chev65]

Ok first disable all the virtual adaptors you can find in device manager, they can cause endless connection problems. Only enable those if you need to use them. Also a fully expanded ipconfig would help here, I need to see the rest of it.

Instead of using IPv4 properties window for your DNS you should remove the entry there and go into your routers set up page and type in two DNS servers there instead.

 

[event3horizon]

darn back again eh?

I just had an idea you can turn of IPv6 in the adapter. May cause problems.

 

[chev65]

darn back again eh?

I just had an idea you can turn of IPv6 in the adapter. May cause problems.

I think I have this handled thanks. Turning off IPv6 should not be an option.

The Argument against Disabling IPv6.

It is unfortunate that some organizations disable IPv6 on their computers running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, where it is installed and enabled by default. Many disable IPv6-based on the assumption that they are not running any applications or services that use it. Others might disable it because of a misperception that having both IPv4 and IPv6 enabled effectively doubles their DNS and Web traffic. This is not true.
From Microsoft's perspective, IPv6 is a mandatory part of the Windows operating system and it is enabled and included in standard Windows service and application testing during the operating system development process. Because Windows was designed specifically with IPv6 present, Microsoft does not perform any testing to determine the effects of disabling IPv6. If IPv6 is disabled on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or later versions, some components will not function. Moreover, applications that you might not think are using IPv6—such as Remote Assistance, HomeGroup, DirectAccess, and Windows Mail—could be.
Therefore, Microsoft recommends that you leave IPv6 enabled, even if you do not have an IPv6-enabled network, either native or tunneled. By leaving IPv6 enabled, you do not disable IPv6-only applications and services (for example, HomeGroup in Windows 7 and DirectAccess in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are IPv6-only) and your hosts can take advantage of IPv6-enhanced connectivity.

Read more. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m....cableguy.aspx

 

[jag3498]

Ok. Disabled the adapters and removed the dns from my computer.

 

[event3horizon]

darn back again eh?

I just had an idea you can turn of IPv6 in the adapter. May cause problems.

I think I have this handled thanks. Turning off IPv6 should not be an option.

Are you kidding?

 

[chev65]

Ok. Disabled the adapters and removed the dns from my computer.

Can you show me an expanded view of your ipconfig?

 

[jag3498]

Ok. Here it is: