Wifi and other problems

badger09

Hope someone can help as I think I have multiple problems and don’t know where to start

Dell Inspiron 5721 bought October 2013; Battery & motherboard replaced by Dell December 2013. Windows 8.1
Cisco Linksys WAG160N modem router bought January 2010.
ISP Zen (Lite)

We live at very edge of small market town, max download speed ever achieved on wired Ethernet 9.6 on old Dell PC in 2011, and 8.43 on 31 March on this laptop. Max wifi download speed on laptop/iPhone 2.07.

For over a year I’ve been having wifi problems, which got much worse over the last couple of months. The most common pattern is, web pages are slow to load, followed by loss of internet on laptop. Very often wifi is ok on iPhone/iPad for another few minutes, but sometimes it drops at the same time as laptop, and sometimes it isn’t affected at all. Usually, all the lights on the router are stable, but sometimes they flicker.

Sometimes the problem fixes itself without intervention, sometimes shutting down and restarting the laptop works, sometimes switching the router off and on again works. Sometimes the laptop internet icon shows Not Connected Connections Available, but then says Unable to Connect to *networkname*

I’ve worked through lots of possible fixes, and run complete system checkup, which showed no issues. Recently I spent 90 minutes on the phone to Zen who were very helpful. Told me the line data was perfect but could see router had been dropping IPP? Basically, phone to modem/router ok but router then dropping session, something was causing the router to recycle the connection. He thought problems could either be a software or driver problem on the laptop, or problem between router and laptop. On the following day I tried laptop & iPhone on a friend’s wifi; laptop managed 16.29, iPhone 13.21!

Just by writing this, I think I need to replace the modem router, but can anyone suggest anything I’ve overlooked?

Also in the last couple of days, the laptop screen dims and then brightens again for no apparent reason. When the battery charger is plugged in, the battery icon alternates between
xx% remaining
xx% available
xx% available plugged in charging (with battery logo filling up)
xx% available plugged in charging (with battery logo static)
xx% available plugged in not charging

which I assume means there’s a problem with either the charger or the battery? Any suggestions?

Apologies for the length of the post, and thanks to anyone who is still awake and can point me in the right direction.

imho

Is there a update for your modem ?
Is your neighbours speed as bad as yours ?
What does your wifi provider say your speeds should be where u live ?

macman

If it's Ok on ethernet but dropping on wi-fi, then the obvious first fix to try is to change the wireless channel.

badger09

imho wrote: »

Is there a update for your modem ?
Is your neighbours speed as bad as yours ?
What does your wifi provider say your speeds should be where u live ?

1) No idea. Would this be done automatically?
2) Again, no idea. We're all fairly spread out. Nearest house has been empty for over a year since the old chap died, and next nearest are on holiday in USA
3) In theory (on ADSL2+ which I upgraded to after phone call to Zen) should be up to 14.

To be honest, I'm much more concerned about the all too frequent dropouts.

badger09

macman wrote: »

If it's Ok on ethernet but dropping on wi-fi, then the obvious first fix to try is to change the wireless channel.

Did that during phone call with Zen.

imho

Update for your modem

But see if u get any other replies before updating and do a back up of your modem settings.
Is your phone line clear ? No crackling ?
I would get in touch with your wif provider and see what they suggest.

badger09

imho wrote: »

Update for your modem

But see if u get any other replies before updating and do a back up of your modem settings.
Is your phone line clear ? No crackling ?
I would get in touch with your wif provider and see what they suggest.

Thanks for the link. I have the relevant UK one :cool:

Phone is perfectly clear.

As I said in my 1st post, I've already spent over 90 minutes on the phone to Zen. They have tested everything and say there is no problem with internet to my router.

imho

My low speeds and drop outs were to do with Talk Talk but took them months to realise it was their fault.They did something with my Modem settings by doing it their end and i got my speed back.I was getting 0.50 mbps and they tried to tell me it was my problem!