Ive been having connectivity problems with my laptop for a long while. Itll work great half the time then either not connect to wifi or run really slow the other half. Ive tried 2 different routers that were junk as I had to reset them all the time. Now Im on my xfinity wifi and its the same thing. On the other 2 wifi routers it would kick me off the internet all the time but on xfinity it shows Im always connected just the website Im on just will refresh for a while or say it cannot connect right now then minutes later its fine. Im tired of this as Im on my laptop a lot so what can be done? Is there setting on my computer that I need to change?

I've had people when I did IT support with the same issue. Try changing the channel bandwidth setting on the wifi card from 20mhz to auto. It's worked most of the time.

Where do I do that exactly? Im not computer savvy. 

Where do I do that exactly? Im not computer savvy. 

 

There are a million different answers to that depending on your operating system and hardware.

 

The first thing I would do is make sure you have the latest driver.

 

Go to the mfg website, support, enter  your model and find the Wireless driver.  It could be any number of things...Broadcomm, aetheros, Intel, on and on.  Download the driver, most are installers so you just have to run it.  Run it, restart, see what happens.

Wait - the wireless network you're using is XFinity Wifi?  That's their public wifi that they throw in and let you access - usually access to those hotspots works but can be spotty in terms of speed and reliability.  If this is what you're using, there's no way around it.

 

If you have actual Comcast XFinity internet service, you should have a cable modem and a router in your house.  You should be able to access the router through a webpage - check your user's manual.  You can go into the wireless settings and change the channel it's on - if there's a lot of wireless networks in the area and most are using the same channel, it can cause a ton of interference.

As state above It could be a couple of things, it could be the environment such as getting booted off an already overcrowded channel, the wireless card drivers are outdated or your wireless client software. Judging from what you said sounds like it’s the laptop itself if I had to guess. I know in the past I’ve seen other vendor’s wireless client management software like 3Com & Dell Wireless management software drop connections continually. Are you using Windows and is you wireless network adapter is being managed by Windows or some other vendor’s software?  If it is not being managed by MS Windows look for a setting within that vendor’s software to allow your wireless adapter to revert back to being managed by Windows.

You should also look into channel interference.  Do you live in an apartment building, condo, or townhouse?  Somewhere where your neighbors are close to you?  What happens is when you have multiple routers in close proximity using the same channel you will run into interference problems and your laptop can get stuck in a search loop and not connect to any router if it sees multiple routers using the same channel.  Try playing with the channel setting on your router, most likely in the advanced wireless setting, depending on your router brand.

Thanx for the replys. Yes im using the router from my comcast xfinity system. No there isnt anyone else around me although it does pickup 2 other wifis and i still have my other wifi hooked up. Also my laptop os a little older running vista.

Thanx for the replys. Yes im using the router from my comcast xfinity system. No there isnt anyone else around me although it does pickup 2 other wifis and i still have my other wifi hooked up. Also my laptop os a little older running vista.

 

Well, you've identified the problem.

download an app on your cellphone WIFI ANALYZER. This app will show you other your neighbors WiFi connection and what channel they are using. If your are broadcasting on the same WiFi channel as a FEW others, you may want to change your channel.

 

Try a search on YOUTUBE on how to change your channel of your router. 

Also if you're using the Comcast supplied router (unless you've got phone through their router), I would switch out to a 3rd party one that you can control better.  

Before doing anything (since you say you're not computer savvy), I would try something simple and try to duplicate the issue with a non-VISTA machine. If the problem persists, then you can look at changing the chanel settings as discussed above and troubleshooting the issue on the networkign side of things. If you can't duplicate the issue, if the other machine doesnt randomly disconnect, etc, then focus your energy into replacing the Vista OS as soon as possible. I would also try locating the latest drivers for your network card but good luck finding anything for Vista these days.

 

Vista is absolute garbage.

Everybody hates on vista but I spend 4 hours a day on this computer and Ive had it for 10 years and besides the connection problem its been great. 

You guys are fricken awesome. I unplugged my other wifi and so far its running great. BUT I ran that wifi annalyzer and yup all the wifi are on th esame channel. Now I gotta figure out how to change the channel on the comcast router. 

You guys are fricken awesome. I unplugged my other wifi and so far its running great. BUT I ran that wifi annalyzer and yup all the wifi are on th esame channel. Now I gotta figure out how to change the channel on the comcast router. 

 

 

in your browser, type  10.0.0.1 Pretty sure those xfinity routers are on the 10. subnet.   If no response you can try 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1.  Pretty sure it'll load on the 10. address.

 

The username is admin

the password is password

 

There's a wifi section in there.   You should be able to click edit and change the channel.  Set it to 11.

 

As for Vista...don't you just love how the disk just runs constantly for no apparent reason or that it takes 10 minutes to boot or shut down?  If all the machines I manage were vista, I'd seriously get into a different line of work.  It's just one slow frustration after another.

My computer boots up and shuts down in second and the drive never runs unless I want it to. 

And all the channels are already set to 11. Should I try another channel?

Well, go to the other end of the choice, 1.

 

As for Vista...you can't tell me that your hard drive light isn't only pretty much constantly.  I've never seen a Vista machine that isn't constantly accessing the disk.  Even machines with 8gb of Ram, Vista 64.

Vista... When your wifi stabilizes, try to get a copy of windows 7 on ebay.

So u guys are sayin that vista is the problem with my wifi?

So u guys are sayin that vista is the problem with my wifi?

 

Having done at a lot of upgrades for people from Vista to 7, 8, or 8.1, I've found that problems they used to have miraculously go away.  This does not mean there isn't a fix for your problem if a new driver and a channel change don't fix it.   There are other possible causes as well, including, but not limited to a problem with your wifi hardware, or even the cable to the antennae. 

 

Having said all that, you upgrade to 7 and Viola!  Everything works!   Of course, if your machine is 10 years old, it's quite likely that there isn't a full suite of drivers for Windows 7 although Vista drivers can generally be used in windows 7.   If you're running Vista x86 , get 7 x86 or Vista x64 get 7 x64 and chances are you won't have any driver issues.

Maybe I outta get a new laptop and use this one for tuning my cars and quads. 

Maybe I outta get a new laptop and use this one for tuning my cars and quads. 

 

This is my advice when people come to me with laptops that are 2+ years old with blown motherboards, cracked screens or other issues.   I can replace the board for anywhere from $80-$150 plus whatever they plan to donate to my gun fund but when it's all said and done that $100-200 goes a long way toward a decent entry level machine. I see sales for  $250-$300 all the time for perfectly good equipment. 

Do u guys have any recommendations for a new laptop? This old toshiba has been very good to me.

I like some Toshibas. The lighter models with a Core I5 cpu.

 

Also Asus, Lenovo and even some HP models.

 

I've built a lot of desktops based on Asus Motherboards. They make good equipment.

 

Have bought a few hundred Lenovo laptops for my company, including when they made IBMs ThinkPads. They are solid and have a lot of variations.

 

You can also consider a Microsoft Surface. Got a few of those. If you like a tablet, their newest model is very capable. One physical characteristic that could be annoying is the display / case/ keyboard is typically a loose "hinge". So sitting it up on your lap and using it isn't exactly doable. At least not without it flopping around. There are probably cases out that address it though.

 

Good CPU. Lots of RAM and a screen size you like. I'd start there and poke around your price point.

 

Www.newegg,com is a good source. Spent a lot there over the years. No regrets. Lots of reviews and info.

So u guys are sayin that vista is the problem with my wifi?

Vista is crap.

A new laptop would certainly help.  You say you've had it for about 10 years... Operational life for a laptop nowadays in the business world is about 4 years before replacement.

+1 on the above Krdshrk post. Surprised you got 10 years out of it.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

 

A new laptop would certainly help. You say you've had it for about 10 years... Operational life for a laptop nowadays in the business world is about 4 years before replacement.

Ha!!

We used to have automatic replacement of our work laptops ever 3 years. Then it was every 5. Now it's "if it breaks after 5". The only way you get a new one before then is if it's lost in a boating accident or it "falls" down the stairs.

 

Back on topic: yes. 10 years old? Time for upgrade.

Guess Im scared to get one that I have to learn all over and wont operate as well as this one has. We bought a nice HP desktop and have had nothing but problems.