Windows 7 Network Problem: disconnected from time to time

Crisper

Senior Member
Hi there,

I've been using Windows 7 since November 2009.

Till now I encounter a very annoying problem:
My wireless connection disconnected automatically from time to time, and it cannot be reconnected again. If I click reconnect, a dialog with "Troubleshooting this network problem" shows, but as you can imagine, windows troubleshooting never solves problems. It could be repaired if I disable and re-enable the network adapter several times.

The thing is, I thought it could be the problem of the wireless card (TPLink Realtek RTL8168D, PCI, 300M), I bought another one (HAMA Ralink RT61 Turbo Wireless, PCI, 54M) to test. But it turns out that the problem stays and both cards encounter the problem. If the Realtek one disconnects, it will show a big red cross on the wireless icon in the tray, the Ralink one will not. If I disable one adapter and re-enable it, or I enable another, the connection could be repaired, but I never know which way will work, or how many times I must re-enable. Both of the cards have the latest driver. If the reboot the computer, the problem goes away for a while, but sometimes it happens right after the reboot, very weird...

I heard that similar problems happen, but no one knows why. Could some one give me some hint?

My computer has:
Windows 7 professional with the latest updates
Intel i5 750
4GB memory
ATI Radeon 4770 graphic card
Two wifi cards (both PCI):
TPLink Realtek RTL8168D PCI, 300M
,
HAMA Ralink RT61 Turbo Wireless, PCI, 54M

I'll be very thankful for any information on where I can look for solution and what I can check and so on.
Cheers
Charlie
 
Hi there,

I've been using Windows 7 since November 2009.

Till now I encounter a very annoying problem:
My wireless connection disconnected automatically from time to time, and it cannot be reconnected again. If I click reconnect, a dialog with "Troubleshooting this network problem" shows, but as you can imagine, windows troubleshooting never solves problems. It could be repaired if I disable and re-enable the network adapter several times.

The thing is, I thought it could be the problem of the wireless card (TPLink Realtek RTL8168D, PCI, 300M), I bought another one (HAMA Ralink RT61 Turbo Wireless, PCI, 54M) to test. But it turns out that the problem stays and both cards encounter the problem. If the Realtek one disconnects, it will show a big red cross on the wireless icon in the tray, the Ralink one will not. If I disable one adapter and re-enable it, or I enable another, the connection could be repaired, but I never know which way will work, or how many times I must re-enable. Both of the cards have the latest driver. If the reboot the computer, the problem goes away for a while, but sometimes it happens right after the reboot, very weird...

I heard that similar problems happen, but no one knows why. Could some one give me some hint?

My computer has:
Windows 7 professional with the latest updates
Intel i5 750
4GB memory
ATI Radeon 4770 graphic card
Two wifi cards (both PCI):
TPLink Realtek RTL8168D PCI, 300M
,
HAMA Ralink RT61 Turbo Wireless, PCI, 54M

I'll be very thankful for any information on where I can look for solution and what I can check and so on.
Cheers
Charlie

any conflicts showing in device manager ?

Is there a specific reason for running two wifi cards ?

do they both use there own connection utilities ?
 
any conflicts showing in device manager ?

Is there a specific reason for running two wifi cards ?

do they both use there own connection utilities ?

No conflicts,
The reason that I use two cards is that I wanna check if the first one has problem at the first place.
They both use the standard windows connection utilities.
 
No conflicts,
The reason that I use two cards is that I wanna check if the first one has problem at the first place.
They both use the standard windows connection utilities.

that in itself could cause a problem I would suggest use different cards to test but only one installed at any one time ;)
 
It seems that it doesn't help if I use only one card,
the connection still breaks from time to time...

Any other idea? Thanks!
 
It seems that it doesn't help if I use only one card.
The connections still breaks from time to time...

Any other idea? Thanks
 
It seems that it doesn't help if I use only one card.
The connections still breaks from time to time...

Any other idea? Thanks

for the purposes of debugging perhaps stick with the one card ?

which one are you going to be using and are you confident you have the latest driver for it ?

please download\run then post a screenshot of Xirrus Wi-Fi ?

what antivirus are you using and any third party firewall ?
 
Yes I sticked only one card now. But the connections still breaks sometimes...
I'm using HAMA Ralink RT61 now. I got the latest driver after I bought it.
I'm using ESET NOD32 Antivirus 64 bit (my windows is also 64 bit btw.) and the integrated firewall from Microsoft.
Attached is the screenshot of xirrus wifi inspector. I don't know what information I can still provide...

Thanks a lot!
 

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Yes I sticked only one card now. But the connections still breaks sometimes...
I'm using HAMA Ralink RT61 now. I got the latest driver after I bought it.
I'm using ESET NOD32 Antivirus 64 bit (my windows is also 64 bit btw.) and the integrated firewall from Microsoft.
Attached is the screenshot of xirrus wifi inspector. I don't know what information I can still provide...

Thanks a lot!

well your signal strength is shown in -DBM so yours shows as Excellent (green): -57 to -45 dBms (75 to 100%) but you are sharing a channel with another access point so it might be a good idea to go into your routers settings (using your browser) and change the channel to 3 ?

keep xirrus wifi inspector running after changing your channel and let us know how often if any dropouts you get ?

also for the purpose of debugging unninstall ESET NOD32 and replace with MSE :)
 
Well I changed the channel to 3 (See screenshot).
Could you explain a little bit why this is important?

I'll test for a while and if it doesnt work I'll try out MSE.
Many thanks!
 

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Well I changed the channel to 3 (See screenshot).
Could you explain a little bit why this is important?

I'll test for a while and if it doesnt work I'll try out MSE.
Many thanks!

mainly to avoid sharing the same frequency which can cause disconnects and reduces your bandwidth :eek:

If you look at your pic you can see your nearest competing access point has two users on channel 1 so you want to avoid that , and 3 for you isn't ideal but worth trying for now maybe experiment and go up to 12, the ideal channel is the furthest away from any other local channels ........

are you still experiencing disconnects ?
 
I borrowed another router to debug. It turns out that the old router is most likely the problem.
I'm using Fritzbox 7170 now, it hasn't dropped till now.
It's interesting because there is another laptop in the net, which also uses wifi and never disconnected (it uses Windows XP though). Otherwise I would consider to change a router much earlier.
I'm wondering what the reason was...

Thanks a lot for the help!
 
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