How to fix wireless connection error/issue?

How to fix wireless connection error/issue?

Hi Jackless,

Having a wireless connection can be a useful tool to use in today’s busy world. Wireless mobility is the name of the game. To achieve this, one must be aware of the power, and at the same time limitations of having wireless networks. There are several ways of looking into wireless connectivity problems. Let us count the ways.

• You’ve mentioned that your wireless connection has been flaky for you and it doesn’t take you more than 15 minutes to be disconnected. Please check your wireless signal. It’s a gradually increasing bar on the lower right hand corner of your desktop for Windows, and the upper right hand corner for Linux and Mac. How many bars does it have? A one bar WiFi signal is considered low or weak. Try moving your laptop to spot where there is a stronger signal. Now try connecting from the strong spot. Test to see if it disconnects you.

• Going to the source of your wireless signal is the first thing to do when troubleshooting WiFi connectivity problems. Check the wireless router settings first. Has anything changed? Make the necessary changes and apply the settings. Check the router antenna as well. There are certain add-ons that boost the signal strength of the wireless signal. You may want to check them out. Last check is to get another laptop, go to the same spot where you had your problem, and see if it reproduces the same issues for you. One quick fix that solves frequent dropouts is to turn the wireless router on and off repeatedly to see if it regains normalcy.

• Try out a firmware upgrade for your wireless router. Signal drop outs causing connectivity problems are usually solved by upgrading router firmware. Locate your particular router model underneath or on the sides, go to the manufacturer website and follow the steps required for a successful firmware upgrade.

• Unplug the modem cable to the wireless router and power off the DSL modem. Leave it for at least a minute or so before switching on and reconnecting again. Doing so sort of flushes or resets any data it has from the router. Go through the router setup as a final procedure just to be sure.

• Connect your laptop directly to the DSL modem. Internet checks out OK I presume. Now try changing your wireless router with another one (different brand or make perhaps), reconnect and configure. Proceed to test your laptop with the new router. Did it work? Note your conclusions.

• On the software side, try changing your WEP and WPA settings if you are using one of them. Use the routers configuration page to switch to WPA if using WEP and WEP if using WPA. Try not using wireless encryption as well. Test to see what works for you. If turning off encryption works for you, securing the network can still be done via MAC filtering, allowing specific computers identified by their MAC addresses to connect to your wireless network.

• If all the above procedures have been exhausted, it’s time to look at your laptop. A quick test involves the use of a Linux Live CD. Mount the CD on your drive bay, start the laptop and follow the prompts needed to load the operating system (make sure your wireless adapter is supported first before trying this out). You should see a wireless indicator icon on the upper right hand corner of your desktop. Choose your preferred wireless network to connect to. Did it work? If it does, then it’s an operating system problem (reinstall Windows), and if not read further.

• If the laptop behaved exactly the same way as before, it’s time to look at the wireless network adapter as the source of our problem. Unscrew the bottom plate of your laptop to locate your wireless network adapter, unlatch and replace with same type and model. Power up to test for changes. This is the last step when all else fails. It usually solves the problem for 50% of laptop connectivity problems.