Wireless drops, wired still works

Hi all, I am in the DC metro area using Comcast. These are times, usually at night, when I assume internet traffic is high, when my wireless connection would drop, but wired connection still works. At first I thought it was my router, but the problem persists are replacing it with a brand new one. Has anyone else had these issues, if so, what can I do to correct it?

 

It could be your wireless adapter or it could be interference. If you are on 2.4 GHz and you can switch to 5 GHz try that.

 

Some quick googling seems to show that changing from 2.4 to 5GHz simply involves changing the "channel" number on my Netgear router. Most say 30something or 150something, but mine only goes up to 11 channels.

 

That means you have a single band router - one that works only on 2.4GHz band.
You can try to change the wireless channel to a different one - possibly less overcrowded.

 

I downloaded Netgear's wifi diagnostics app and chose a channel that only had 1 user/bar/things. Will upgrade to a dual-band router if problem persists!

 

I got a new TP-LINK TL-WDR3500 dual band router, but when connected, I can't access the internet. I can log onto the router's set up page. When I use the quick set up option on the router set up page, it auto detects IP, subnet mask, default gateway, primary dns, and secondary dns to be all 0's. What should I do?

 

How did you connect it and to what? If there is a modem ISP provided you need to either bridge the modem (if that's possible) and let the TP-Link handle the routing or set the TP-Link as an Access Point.
Either way that needs to be connected and configured properly.

 

You never mentioned what Wifi adapter you have in your laptop...

Did you update to the latest drivers from the OEM/vendor?

The Killer Suite had a recent update to fix disconnects on Windows 10 for the 1535 Wifi adapter, if that is what you have, update the drivers here:

http://www.killernetworking.com/support/driver-downloads/item/killer-suite

Otherwise, look up the latest drivers you can find for your Wifi adapter on the maker's site, not just your support download area for your laptop - they are often behind a number of revs.

 

Hmmm, so you do know this is a TP-Link router, not a Netgear?

The WNDR series from Netgear has a similar name but it's a different brand.

Make sure you download the latest firmware from TP-Link

 

I just plugged it into the modem. I have no idea what any of the rest means. The quick set up on TP Link doesn't work, as the first step was to auto detect those addresses (and it returned all 0).

I have Intel dual band AC7260. My previous router was up to date.

Yes, the Netgear diagnostics was on my old, single band router. The new one is TP Link.

 

The new router is up to date too on firmware?

My last few new routers all needed a firmware update to work correctly.

Unfortunately getting to know "what any of the rest means" is going to be helpful for getting it all to work... use the help menu's in the router, but also download and read from cover to cover the routers user manual(s).

Read it all once, learn it, and reap the benefits for life.

The automated software is always failing, I never try it any more. For the rare times it has worked it hasn't done as good of a job as doing it manually, and it took longer

You should also update your 7260 drivers from Intel, they were problematic in the same way for a very long time, recent drivers - the last year or so - have worked ok.

What OS are you using, Windows 7, 8.1, 10?

 

I'm running Windows 7 Pro. I think the issue is with the router and not my laptop because when wireless drops, the wireless connection on my other laptop, Galaxy S6, and iPhone 6S all drop.

I reset my modem and tried it again and now the router set up is able to automatically detect everything. 5GHz is up and running! I will report back if wireless connection drops again!