Windows – Low wifi signal on Windows 10 and HP laptop without no apparent reason

laptopwindows 10wireless-networking

I'm using an HP laptop with both Windows 10 (upgraded from windows 8) and Ubuntu 14.06.

Ubuntu is loading from an external hard drive (so not dual boot installation was required).

Now I'm getting a very low wifi signal on my laptop when using Windows, even though I'm very close to the router and other laptops/cellphones in the same area pick up a very strong signal. Occasionally my laptop also disconnects itself, maybe because the signal is too low (on some diagnositc I find it to be as low as -90dB) which, again, is very weird since the other machines seem to work fine.

When using Ubuntu 14.06 the wifi connection works fine (I get almost full signal) so I would rule out any problem to the hardware and focus on Windows 10.

How can I fix this?

Best Answer

I fixed the issue myself by simply downgrading the wifi network adapter driver.

The procedure I followed was:

  1. Open device manager
  2. Right click on the network adapter and select "Update driver"
  3. Click on "Look for the driver in the computer"
  4. Click "Choose from available driver"
  5. Then select the one you wish to install/downgrade to.

It worked, now I get mid-full signal. I think the problem should be some kind of compatibility between the new driver and Windows 10. My two cents anyway...

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