Win 10 - internet connection problems started

JohnB47

Further update. All OK for a week, then on Sunday, problem back. Tried many things then reset the router, which worked. Now to try the suggestion to make 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands have different SSID. 

So, a question - can I leave the SSID name, as is, for one band and just change the name for the other? Or do I have to create two new names? Also, I have now downloaded inSSIDer, which looks good but I'm not sure how it will help with my situation - it can't actually tell me anything when i don't have a wifi connection. Any suggestions as to how it can help in my case?

Another question - when I look at the signal strength from time to time in inSSIDer, I see that sometimes the 2.4 and 5GHz strengths stay really constant - a flat line in each case. Then, on other occasions, they're jumping around from -50Db to -58db. This is always with the router and laptop in the same position. Why is that?

debitcardmayhem

I would put "-2" on the 2.4 band (since most newer things work on 5ghz happily and it saves you having to reconnect those, you will still have to  change the 2.4 ones) the strength will fluctuate normally but -50 to -58 shouldn't cause any drop outs

Jenni_D

As I mentioned previously, I've found it's better to make the change by adding a prefix rather than a suffix. Per the above, work out which band most of your devices connect to and change the other one. (Or change the one which is easiest to update on the devices - some devices may be a PITA to try and change the WiFi details on).

JohnB47

Thanks both. I think I'll go for changing the 5GHz name, as this is used only by my laptop (occasionally) and one other device. I'll let you know how I get on.

JohnB47

OK, that seems to have gone OK. I renamed the 5GHz band by putting 5G- in front of the existing name. Powered off/on the laptop and saw that everything was now connected to the 2.4GHz band (including the laptop). Connected the laptop to the 5GHz band and its connected OK. Lets see how we go from here.

One odd thing - all the way along my router has been saying 'no devices connected' to both Ethernet and USB (I took photos). But now it is saying COM-MID1 against Ethernet. Any ideas why that is? Edit: had the laptop in standby for a few minutes. Now I see that Ethernet is back to showing 'no devices connected'. Odd.

Biggus_Dickus

@JohnB47  If it happens again rather than re-setting your router which can take a while (mine takes about 12mins) try changing the ‘Preferred Band’ (in your wireless adaptor properties ‘Advanced’)  from ‘5G’ to ‘2.4G’ or ‘no preference’

That should (hopefully???) quickly re-establish your wireless connection;...change it back to 5G as and when required. It won’t get you any closer to nailing the original problem but it will get you back online be a bit quicker....maybe.  I did note that you’d “tried many things” so apologies if you’d already tried that.

‘InSSIDer’ can be very useful but I don’t think it will help much with your particular bugbear.

If you switch the signal strength monitor ‘on’ and set the ‘Timeframe’ (in ‘View’) to 10-mins you can observe the strength fluctuation graphs of both signals, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The amount of fluctuation varies constantly because of (amongst other things) interference from neighbouring routers. It’s perfectly normal but the fluctuations shouldn’t be too extreme;...yours look ok. You’ll probably see that the 5GHz signal is a bit more stable and generally suffers less fluctuation than the 2.4GHz signal.  

[Deleted User]

Just want to add something about signal strengths, Inssider only tells one side of the story - the strength the signal it reports is as laptop sees it from the router - this is always the highest reading. The signal back from the laptop to the router will be much less powerful and the router will see a much weaker signal.

Currently for my laptop
Laptop sees router as -35dBm - router is seeing my laptop as -50dBm - (front to back of house through one wall)

Moved my laptop to get similar signal to OP
Laptop sees router as -59dBm - router is seeing my laptop as -79dBm - (outside house and through 3 walls)

Not all routers will tell you this info easily, might need to go digging into wireless log files.

Also, difference between -59dBm and 79dBm in my second example in real terms is 100 times less powerful signal from the laptop to the router than the other way.
-20dBm = 0.01mW
-30dBm = 0.001 mW
-40dBm = 0.0001 mW
-50dBm = 0.00001 mW
-60dBm = 0.000001 mW - anything above this is a good signal
-70dBm = 0.0000001 mW - anything lower than this is considered a poor signal
-80dBm = 0.00000001 mW
-90dBm = 0.000000001 mW - unusable

What does this mean to the OP?
Probably nothing, I don't think the problems are related to signal strength, just thought I'd share something I have learned for the fans of Inssider.

What would I do if I was the OP?
Bang a brand new Wifi module in the laptop for £20

JohnB47

Much obliged for these responses. I've had the laptop set to 'prefer' 5GHz for a week now, athough I've noticed that it often doesn't make any difference. The wifi module idea looks a bit too scary for me but thanks for the info. This problem only started a couple of weeks ago, so maybe it will settle down. Curious as to why it started though.

Biggus_Dickus

@[Deleted User] Excellent  post that;...if the OP’s problem persists and all the ‘tweaking’ fails  then a new Wi-Fi card is the next step,...if the fault becomes sufficiently annoying that is.

I’ve never had to replace  a faulty laptop Wi-Fi card but I’ve removed/replaced them on many occasions when accessing other components. Usually a simple job if somewhat fiddly (assuming it’s easily accessible),...but take it gently with those aerial  connections!

JohnB47

OK, an update. Problem still there but not as bad. I can now reconnect easily, whereas before I had to reset the router.
Here is an list of wifi events. My highlights show when I put the laptop in sleep mode last night and then, this morning, when I woke it up and had to reconnect. No sign of why the laptop had difficulty connecting this morning. Why so much activity (every hour?) when the laptop is asleep? (sorry about the line spacing - I can't seem to control that). Any further suggestions welcomed.

10:30:33, 23 Feb. ath10: STA 78:0c:b8:91:e0:3d IEEE 802.11: Client associated

10:02:29, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

10:02:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

10:02:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

07:42:26, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

07:42:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

07:42:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

06:42:26, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

06:42:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

06:42:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

06:32:28, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

06:32:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

06:32:11, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

05:42:29, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

05:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

05:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

04:42:28, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

04:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

04:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

04:24:53, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 50:dc:e7:f2:e0:6f IEEE 802.11: Client associated

04:24:51, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 50:dc:e7:f2:e0:6f IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

03:32:28, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

03:32:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

03:32:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

02:42:25, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

02:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

02:42:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

01:32:25, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client associated

01:32:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated

01:32:10, 23 Feb. ath00: STA 9c:fc:e8:cd:26:07 IEEE 802.11: WiFi registration failed

21:53:06, 22 Feb. ath00: STA 04:d3:95:04:66:6e IEEE 802.11: Client disassociated