Wifi losing internet connection - Dell laptops / Win 10

Sinbad

Sinbad

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Hi bright people

So both my wife and daughter complain that their Dell laptops running latest win 10 keep losing internet connection. I'm pretty sure they're both b/g/n networks - ie, not 5ghz.
They remain associated to the IP, but their laptops report no internet connection. Cycling the wifi switch on the laptop resolves the issue (temporarily)
The APs are Unifis running the latest firmware. Laptops are up to date, device manager shows no updates available for WLAN card drivers.
"Allow windows to shut down device to save power" is disabled.
My other wifi devices (there are currently 16 on the network) don't exhibit this behaviour.

Any ideas would be welcomed.

Thanks
 
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Sinbad said:
Any ideas would be welcomed.
Click to expand...

I think I may have a solution. First try this, go to network adaptor settings, disable the wireless adaptor and re-enable it. Did the connection reestablish itself? Yes? Okay then as I suspected. Go to the Dell website and download the manufacturer supplied driver for the adapter. This *should* solve the issue.

We had a similar problem at work with a bunch of Dell all-in-one pcs, but with the wired network adaptors. Did some googling and found that it was a common frustration. Turns out it had to do with windows 10 updated drives not being 100% suitable, the outdated manufacturer drivers were perfect.

May or may not work for you but give it a shot.
 
Another issue when we had this a lot.

Go into BIOS and enable LAN / WLAN auto switching.
 
I have the problem with 5ghz on my asus router. Every week it just drops. For no reason, logs don’t show any error. But for some reason it just stops accepting connections and then everything drops to 2.4ghz
 
Maybe also try setting the channel on your WIFI router to 1, 6 or 11.
 
Sounds like the same issue my old Dell XPS 13 used to give me, then loaded the drivers from Dell's site and that solved it, still use that laptop as a spare, permanently connected to wifi for 7 weeks now and no disconnects
 
jouda said:
Maybe also try setting the channel on your WIFI router to 1, 6 or 11.
Click to expand...

Absolutely not, because that will be the channel everyone else on the internet is using.

Besides he is running a Ubiquiti network, this will not be the issue.

My advice is also just to use Dell's stupid driver.
 
who.dat said:
.


I think I may have a solution. First try this, go to network adaptor settings, disable the wireless adaptor and re-enable it. Did the connection reestablish itself? Yes? Okay then as I suspected. Go to the Dell website and download the manufacturer supplied driver for the adapter. This *should* solve the issue.

We had a similar problem at work with a bunch of Dell all-in-one pcs, but with the wired network adaptors. Did some googling and found that it was a common frustration. Turns out it had to do with windows 10 updated drives not being 100% suitable, the outdated manufacturer drivers were perfect.

May or may not work for you but give it a shot.
Click to expand...
irBosOtter said:
Sounds like the same issue my old Dell XPS 13 used to give me, then loaded the drivers from Dell's site and that solved it, still use that laptop as a spare, permanently connected to wifi for 7 weeks now and no disconnects
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will update with Dell drivers

UrBaN963 said:
Another issue when we had this a lot.

Go into BIOS and enable LAN / WLAN auto switching.
Click to expand...
I will take a look if the driver update does not help

Gothan said:
I have the problem with 5ghz on my asus router. Every week it just drops. For no reason, logs don’t show any error. But for some reason it just stops accepting connections and then everything drops to 2.4ghz
Click to expand...
This is not a 5ghz problem at all
HeftyCrab said:
Random question. Do you run a pihole? I had a similar issue since updating to the latest version (was behind for a while), and just switched it off for now. Doesnt even affect all my devices, only some of them. I see its affecting others as well:

https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/issues/2483
Click to expand...
Negative

jouda said:
Maybe also try setting the channel on your WIFI router to 1, 6 or 11.
Click to expand...
Nope. It's not a channels issue. All my other 2.4ghz devices are rock solid. My unifis pick the bestest channel anyway.
 
Dell for some reason really skimps on their WiFi cards
 
Dell's support site is fkn useless.
Put in the service tag
It pops up a Wireless card driver.
Download...
Driver is not compatible with installed card.

wtfudge.
 
First do the same with Bluetooth. It is now a part of Wifi module, synchronise these drivers to the latest revision. 2. Disable BT and see whether it helps.

Go to the Dell website region where notebook was purchased, i.e. EU or US, you may get a right script running. It happens that Dell shows drivers for many WiFi cards, you must chose a right one, so know your hardware, see below.

Find out a WiFi card model number by PIP/VID and google. Download drivers directly from the manufacturer's site.
 
I'm actually ready to just buy a couple of USB wifi dongly things
 
who.dat said:
Just out of curiosity, would the ones embedded on motherboards be any bigger? I thought the opposite would be true.
Click to expand...
Yes. Antennaes are typically built in the display panel. A larger active elements are possible and have a better placement for effective propagation (not close to the desk surface).
 
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