I'm having trouble with my laptop Internet connection. It's patchy at best and resets or freezes a lot. The signal strength is also random. I thought it might be a driver issue but now I don't know.
- Three other computers using the same wireless network run well.
- I've switched out wireless routers so I don't think it's the router.
- I thought it might be the laptop's internal wireless card but I just bought an external USB network card and I'm still having problems.
Specs
Lenovo T-60p
Windows 7 Ultimate Edition
Patches/drivers are up to date
I only use one of the below at a time, disabling the other:
- Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG v. 13.3.0.137 (Internal wireless)
- Medialink Wireless-N USB 2.0 Adapter (USB wireless)
Any ideas on what might be the problem?
Best Answer
I've generally had poor experiences with wireless LAN. It just seems to be a slightly ropey technology.
One of the major problems is that the 2.4 GHz spectrum it uses is highly shared, with interference from (an example subset only):
And those are just a few off the top of my head. There's more.
It may also be that you see this only in some locations - inside buildings the attenuation of wireless signals is highly variable (factors of 20-30 dB... which equates to signal strength variation factors of 100x to 1000x) are quite normal.
You may be in a localized black spot in your building, but there may also be an interferer from a neighbor, or other device such as those listed.
If you find that moving the machine around in the building makes a difference then interference is the most likely culprit.
If moving around makes no difference then it may be something to do with the machine, its wireless adapter, or (co-incidences do happen) it may be that AND ALSO the new plug in adapter is also a bit dodgy.