Wireless issues

[mauve]

Time for another edition of Mauve Knows Nothing About Computers!!

This past week my wireless connection has been absolutely terrible. (Even more so than usual!) Whenever I'm on youtube, the connection will drop to Local Only, and then to Not Connected. This is usually followed by a notification after a few minutes saying that a network has been found but my network specifications do not match. After a few more minutes, it drops that notice and connects back up. This becomes a never-ending cycle.

Now, I have a pretty shitty wireless connection to begin with. The phone lines out here are extremely old and I usually get a really weak signal from the router, even though the router is two rooms away. This recent issue, however, is worse than usual. It happens even when absolutely NO ONE is online aside from me. Plus I live in the middle of nowhere with very few neighbors, so it's not like there's sixty people using the internet at the same time.

I don't THINK it's router-related, as my sister has been online at the same time as me and doesn't appear to have this problem. Similarly, the indicator lights on the router itself show that everything is functioning, as far as I can tell. No one has changed any passwords or settings on the router, no one has moved either the router or my external antenna for the wireless card, and apparently my wireless card's drivers are all up to date. In addition, I've scanned my computer and my antivirus program says everything looks okay.

The card itself is probably 3-4 years old. It's a NetGear RangeMax Next Wireless-N Notebook Adapter. ....not entirely sure why I have a Notebook adapter in a desktop PC, but whatevs.

Anyone have ideas on how to figure out what's going wrong here? I'm doing some online college classes with this computer so it'd be really nice to get this resolved as soon as possible without having to drive the 50 miles to take it to the closest repair place (which is, sadly enough, a freaking Best Buy).


EDIT: Welp, it just dropped the connection again and I'm not even on Youtube right now. And it's 2 in the morning so it's not like anyone else is online.

[Bells]

Sorry i can't be of much help, i'm far from an expert on wireless stuff... however...

Can you run online tests to verify your Ping, Latency and internet speed? What they tell you?

Antennas. Silly as all hell, but are they properly placed and firm? Have you tried the pringles test? I know it sounds stupid but i've actually seen it work.

Just google wifi pringles can signal booster

That's just a cheap way to see if maybe it's just weak signal dropping in and off.

Even though there is very little distance between you and the router, do you have any eletronics or pretty much any big power source between you too? I'm not going to bet on eletromagnetic interference of the signal or anything like that, but as a laymen, i would check everything...

as bigger solutions, can you try testing a Wired connection? Can you convert your system to wire for any reason? that could tell you if your issue is more wi-fi centric than connection-centric.

that's what comes to mind at first, hope it may give you a sparkle of solution

[mauve]

Thanks for the ideas, Bells! Sadly, the signal has to go through the kitchen to get to my room, so it has to go through the room with the most electronic appliances. I'll look up the pringles thing-- hadn't heard of that one.

I cleaned the dust out of the inside of the pc tower and then toggled the power on the router itself, and thus far, it seems to have solved the problem. Figures. Weird that my computer, the only one with an antenna, has the hardest time getting a signal and drops more often than the other wireless-connected pc in the house. Oh well, at least it worked.

[PyrosNine]

My internet has the same-ish problem, and I usually chalk it up to the time of the year, actually. Summer, which can mean that the router itself is overheating (which dusting it out and turning on/off can fix) or that the break of schooltimes means that all the busy little neighborhood internet bandwidth sucking student parasites are now free to play Xbox and PS3 and Steam like they couldn't before, and the problem will persist until the ISP does adjustments for the higher load.

Also mauve, If you want, I have powerline adapters (they send the network/internet signal through your electrical wiring) which can be used to get a cabled connection in a given room.

Course, I'd only be able to ship them to you after I get back from my cruise, so perhaps the problem will be fixed by the time I get back in a week or so?

Also, /ipconfig release and then renew on both the computer and the router itself fix every other problem with WIFI for me, usually.