Internet keeps disconnecting

I just recently got a new laptop and I'm having issues with the internet. I'be been narrowing it down a lot but as you know, there are a lot of reasons why an internet connection could mess up.

Basically, I'm connecting my computer wirelessly to a router. Every 2-30 minutes, it will completely disconnect and re-connect after 30 seconds or so. I'm going to try accessing and heavily using another wireless connection tomorrow on my day off to check if its my laptop or if its my router. I tried using a wired connection to it though, and that had worked while I used it. I tried getting the latest drivers multiple times. I tried port forwarding. I ran a chkdisk to check for hard drive errors. If connecting to another wireless connection works with no issues, I'm assuming that the router would be to blame.

If it does this with all wireless connections (which i hope it doesnt...), what would I do next? And am I doing everything right here? Anything I'm missing? Thanks.

 

408Cali: What wireless card is in your laptop. What router are you using. Go into your wifi utility and make sure power saving is not enabled. Also put your power options on your computer at high performance. This may help. Post back with more info.

 

I'm not at home with my computer but I have an 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN if that's what you're looking for. Also, the router is a 2wire router/modem for at&t. I will try going into the wireless utility when I get back from work, but for the power saving thing I always have it set to high performance.

 

reb1 meant power saving for Wi-Fi card not general Windows profile.

 

Re-read his post. He said power saving in the wifi utility AND he said check power options for my computer. I addressed that I was going to check the wifi utility power saving.

 

Yeah you're right. And I'm right too
One thing is power options in your Wi-Fi utility, second is power options in advanced tab available through Device Manager and third thing is to check the advanced settings of your Windows power-plan.
It's hard to tell which one has higher priority so make sure that all are set to max performance.

 

Ok will do. I hope my laptop isn't defective. Is there anything else I can try besides power options?

 

It's possible that there a high level of noise- coming from Bluetooth devices, other 2.4GHz networks, microwaves, cordless phones etc. so you may want to use inSSIDer to check the Wi-Fi part of the equation and change your wireless channel to a better one.

 

I had thought of that but there's nothing really that would interfere. I'll try running that just in case.

 

Try updating your wireless drivers. That may help.

 

I already did.

 

Ok as Downloads stated. Go into device manager. To do this click on the start icon or hit the windows button. Start typing in Device Manager and as the selection appears select it. Expand the network adapters tree and you will see all your network adapters here. Go into each one and disable any power saving under the Power Management tab. You will also see the wifi card there. Mine is a Intel Wifi Link 5100 AGN. The reason I ask for this info is there are some known issues with some of the cards. And some of the more experienced posters here may be able to help you out more with this info. My wireless card is considered one of Intels screw ups but I have had very little trouble from it. I am a firm believer in the saying (If it Works Don't Fix It).

 

Under network adapters it has 3 items:

Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter

Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.



And I changed power settings on all of those to not allow the computer to shut them off to save power. I changed my channel to one that is farthest from everyone else, I checked my computers power saving advanced settings to set the wireless adapter to maximum performance (it was), and I changed my router's power setting from 9 to 10.

Hopefully this helps. Can anyone tell me anything about these network adapters here though?

Update: It's still happening after all the changes I made. I need some help...

 

And it could be that your wifi card is bad. AR9285 cards are <$15.00 on ebay so it's cheap and easy to try replacing it. I've got an AR 9287 and have a wireless disconnect / reconnect about once every 2 months. Just enough to make me notice, not enough to replace it.

 

How would you replace a notebook card? BTW, I just got this laptop so I could send it back in for a replacement. But If it's really <$15 on ebay then I may just get one on there. It's still up in the air if it's my laptop or the router though. I need to go on another wireless network to really know. But how would I replace a wifi card if mine was defective?

 

I may have missed it if it was already posted but is your network set to 802.11n or mixed?
These Atheros cards AR928X do cause problems when running 802.11n but not 802.11g (probably not all of then do that but the issues are common).

If that's the case you can either fall back to 802.11g (if you don't need LAN transfers and your Internet speed is below 20mbps) or replace the card with something better like Intel 5300 or 6200.
Replacing a card is an easy process- just like replacing RAM + connecting antennas.

 

Yep, and the Intel 6200 is $15.00 or so on ebay as well. Might as well upgrade while you're at it.

 

It says 802.11b/g

What does that mean?

 

This is what type of signal your wireless card is currently setup to pickup on.
Your previous question :
Under network adapters it has 3 items:

Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter: This is how you pick up the signal from your router without an ethernet cable. Your wireless card.

Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter: This is a virtual wireless card, making windows think that instead of one, you have two or more cards installed on your system. It allows me to use my wireless card to both pickup and transmit a wireless signal. My laptop is also an access point with this feature.

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller: This is the non wireless controller. Such as when you put a cable from your router or your ISP to use the web.

 

If it says that and you're connected @54mbps (see connection status in system tray) you're not using 802.11n.
Still that doesn't change the fact that your W-Fi card is not the best although your router may be at fault too. Routers and especially combos (ADSL modem+ wireless router) provided by ISPs are usually cheap crap.

Test your notebook on another network before you decide what to do.

Also check if your connection is secured by WPA2+AES, if IP lease time is not too short and what is the WPA Group Rekey Interval (it may be too short- set it to 3600 seconds or 0- which means infinite)

 

I'm going to another wireless spot in a bit. I'll let you guys know what happens.

 

It worked. It's not a problem with my computer. I'm going to buy a new router and try it out.