Laptop Disconnects constantly

Acoshla

Toshiba Laptop

Got laptop last Saturday.
First connected to network at home and it worked fine, moved it to where I'm living now and it was working fine in the sitting room (which is the room nearest the router) up to last night.
Moved it to the bedroom and it stopped connecting.
Moved it to the kitchen this morning and it did connect but disconnected just as quick and proceeded to do that every time I connected it.
Moved it back to the sitting room and it is connecting and disconnecting just as quick.
It will not reconnect automatically.
The sitting room now has the door open and is no more than 6 feet away from the router and it is disconnecting and reconnecting every few seconds.

Followed troubleshooting but to no benefit.

Anyone have similar experience and how did you go about fixing the problem.

Forgot to mention that have desktop connected to router and it works perfectly, and my previous laptop which I was using up until last week (also a Toshiba) worked fine in every room of the house.

thenightrider

It is down to the type of password you have on your network i am almost sure of it if you take your password of just for a while to test it you will know for sure.

Acoshla

Thank you for the reply but I should have said internet instead of network, if that makes a difference, sorry.

I'm no the best with computer-y things so any help appreciated, am hoping it is something that can be sorted pretty soon.

Thanks

thenightrider

If your laptop is still staying conected to the network and you keep geting
limited or no connectivity it sould not make a differense.

To start i would just turn of the password on your network even for 10-15 min just to see if it stays on line then take it from there no point in geting you to do this that and the other if it is something else.

Ps what type of password do you have do you know wep wpa wpa2 etc.

Acoshla

Thanks, it's my boyfriend's house, it's a WPA, he doesn't know how to turn off the password? So I in turn don't know how to

Ok turns out he hasn't a clue what he's talking about, he said all he knows is the security key for the router...

Thanks in advance for any help.

Overheal

what type of router

Acoshla

It's a Zyxel router.

Acoshla

Just updating this with more info if anyone else can help.

It worked fine all day today but has started doing the same thing again this evening, so irritating. A friend said it's a Windows 7 related problem and quite common, he directed me to a Toshiba help forum and one post in particular that he thought would help, but I can't for the life of me find what it tells me to, it says basically to be sure that you are using latest WLan driver, I did this, it says I am, then:

Change the WLan channel
Disable the power saving for WLan card in Win 7 Power Management and in control panel -> WLan card Properties -> Advanced tab
There you can change also other options which could improve the WLan functionality

Plugging the charger into it stops it disconnecting, I have just discovered, what the hell?

Any help really appreciated.

Thanks

ChickenBalls

I know what's wrong - your neighbours must have the same channel set on the router as you - they probably have the same problem too!

You need to change the channel on your router.
I found this which could be similar to your manual
http://us.zyxel.com/upload/download_library/P330W_QSG_V13%20(2)(2).pdf

Goto Page 7 and follow the guide to log into the router using Internet Explorer browser.
Now on page 11 of that guide you'll see a picture with channel field - this is where you need to change it.
I know this is part of a wizard in the guide but if you look around the menu items on the left you'll find it.
Simply apply the new channel you've selected and all should be good!

Acoshla

Thanks Keith, will try it, but would the problem not have been occurring with my other laptop before and the pc now too? It's just this new laptop that is affected, we've had 4 other computers go through here in the last few years (two were still working as of last week) and it's only happening now with this one? Like I'm using the pc now and it's fine, but the laptop won't connect.

ChickenBalls

If your other computers are near the router they would be ok. Give it a try anyway and let me know how it goes.

Allyall

Hi, was having the same problem, and Tried this

Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Manage Wireless Networks.

Then Right Click on your Network ID and choose Properties.

Make sure "Connect even if the network is not broadcasting its name (SSID)" is ticked.

Then apply and see if that makes a difference.


Also Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is available HERE
My problem has stopped since i applied both of these.

Acoshla

Thanks Allyall, the SSID thing doesn't work, might try the other later. It's meant to be going back to the shop it came from on Monday for "diagnostics" but apparently someone else brought back theirs with this problem and as it didn't disconnect while they were checking it for 40 minutes they handed it back, sigh, hope that doesn't happen with mine.

Allyall

I found this while i was trying to find the fix for mine, maybe it could be helpful for you? - LINK

It's from the Toshiba forums

~ and this is what Microsoft have to say about wifi and Windows 7 or Vista - LINK

dilallio

Hi Spadina,
If the problem doesn't occur when the laptop is plugged in - this indicates that the issue is to do with the power management.

I'm using Vista and I know you're using Windows 7, but assuming that there's a similarity, I would do the following (in Vista):

In Control Panel, select Power Options.

Whichever Power Plan you are using, Click on Change Plan Settings.

Click on Advanced Power Settings, and under Wireless Adapter Settings and then Power Saving Mode, ensure that Maximum Performance is selected for both 'On battery' and 'Plugged in'.

Acoshla

Dilallio thank you for explaining that to me because finally someone got it, everyone I ask (in real life!) keeps saying it's the network/router etc but I knew it wasn't, I followed what you said to do and it didn't work but then I followed the link Allyall put up, in it someone else had the same problem and had another step onto what Dilallio mentioned, it's running on High Performance now and Max Performance, thanks very much everyone, I really really appreciate all your help, I couldn't have afforded to pay for it to be fixed if the place it was bought didn't see the problem.

Thank you.

Spadina