HELP! Wireless network dropping out!

[BettyofKent]

There's very little metal in the room, just door/drawer handles & a fireguard.
I have a small desk lamp, one of those with a bendy neck & metal shade.
The router is on a shelf under the desk.
Oh, the wonders of Wi-fi

Betty

Have you got any metal in the room Betty? The PC I usually use  is always about 80% and it's on the floor above and the opposite side of the house.

Or, I suppose,  it could be a channel thing 

Gadget

[Nick29]

Have you got any metal in the room Betty? The PC I usually use  is always about 80% and it's on the floor above and the opposite side of the house.

Or, I suppose,  it could be a channel thing 

Gadget

The problem is that although wi-fi can travel a mile or more in free air, it doesn't travel through solid objects very well.  What happens in a room is that signals get reflected by objects in the room (and the walls themselves), and these reflections come back "out of phase" with the original signals, and they cancel each other out, causing the apparent signal strength to drop.  BettyofKent says that she has very little metal in her room, but I bet she has more than she thinks - televison sets, radios, phones, window frames, and the electrical and phone wiring supplying the room - all contain metal !  Of course, the main problem is that wi-fi routers are such horrible ugly things that we all tuck them away out of sight, so we don't see them, and they are rarely in the place where they would work best.  I live in an old Fenland farm-house - the external walls are 19" thick double-brick, and the internal walls are 9" thick single brick & plaster.  I get such terrible wi-fi coverage in my house that I have two wi-fi networks (one at the front, and one at the back), and both on the same channel incidentally !   

[Gadget]

Nick

It didn't work 

I had to do a right click-repair again.


Gadget

[Nick29]

All I can suggest is that you place the offending computer closer to the wi-fi base station (or the station nearer the computer), and see if it drops out then.  It could be that at some time during the day/night, the interference is stronger than the wanted signal.

[Gadget]

but it's worked perfectly for 7 months and I can't really move it - I'm not sure a bathroom or a staircase is the right place for a PC 


Gadget

[Nick29]

Just to clarify - what sort of wi-fi interface do you have on the offending computer ?  (Make & Model)

Is it one of these USB "wi-fi dongle" things ?

[Gadget]

I'm not sure. It's a Belkin usb adapter that looks like a little microphone or telephone on a stand and it's fine after I click Repair - no probs at all. It comes on fine with a Restart but when I turn the machine on in the morning, it needs a repair job.  OH has one exactly the same and the same settings but his is fine.

I think it must be something to do with the Start up - maybe the settings have changed.

I'll leave it as it is - at least I can Repair it. If I go fiddling around,  who knows what will happen.

Thanks for your help.

Gadget

[Nick29]

My motto entirely !  "If it ain't (completely) broke, don't fix it" 

[downside]

You might want to compare which services startup as both computers power up.

Firstly, check msconfig:

Start >> Run and type msconfig in the dialog box and hit OK.

Click on the Startup tab and you should see a list of startup processes.

Compare lists of both computers and see if there are any differences.

Secondly, check the services that are started:

Start >> Run and type services.msc in the dialog box and press OK.

The status of a service can be disabled, manual or automatic.

Basically you are looking for a network service that may be set to manual instead of automatic.

It might be worth checking in Event Viewer to see if there is an error about some service not starting.  Double click Administrative Tools in Control Panel and check the System section in particular.