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I need help, my computer keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi.
The connection is always right there, I can connect right again, but in seconds it will do it again. Sometimes when im on my phone I will get "X connection is Unstable" so I dont know if that is helpful
Here is the problem, It is only when I try to watch videos. I can Browse DakkaDakka for HOUR and it never disconnects, but the second I do it does.
And I swear it happens during certain times of the Day. From 11-4 during the day and from like, 11-2 in the evening.
I need help, I dont have TV and I watch all of my entertainment online. Please help.

What's your wireless card?

What's your ISP wireless router?

Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter

And my router is At&t U-verse? I cant seem to find a name for it.

Try connecting to your U-verse account on your computer and rebooting your router. They do minor updates all of the time and sometimes it doesn't take.

What operating system? Sorry... that's important.

Edit: most common problem that I've seen is that Windows is configured to turn off the wireless after 'x mins' to save power.

Windows 10
I have everything on Max power because im not more than 5 feet away from my power cord. But I have yet to see that option, where can I find it?
But how would that explain it only when watching videos?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Windows 10
I have everything on Max power because im not more than 5 feet away from my power cord. But I have yet to see that option, where can I find it?
But how would that explain it only when watching videos?

First thing you may want to try is:
At the command prompt, run the following commands in the listed order, and then check to see if that fixes your connection problem:
Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
Type netsh int ip reset and press Enter.
Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.

That flushes your IP settings and force the wireless to reconnect in a clean slate.

If that doesn't work:
Find your Wifi profile and Click on properties--->Configure--->Power Management
Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

The various Power Management settings in Windows has always been my bugaboo for things like this on laptops.

Have you tried turning it on and off again?

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Windows 10
I have everything on Max power because im not more than 5 feet away from my power cord. But I have yet to see that option, where can I find it?
But how would that explain it only when watching videos?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Windows 10
I have everything on Max power because im not more than 5 feet away from my power cord. But I have yet to see that option, where can I find it?
But how would that explain it only when watching videos?

I had a problem with the wireless randomly disconnecting when I downgraded to Windows 10. When you install, it sets all your usb connections to a power save mode which will shut off if it detects what it thinks is a lack of activity even though you think you are using it. If you go into your device manager and look for your usb hubs/connections right click on each one and go to properties and then power management. Make sure that all of them have power saving off. It might help.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I need help, my computer keeps disconnecting from Wi-Fi.
The connection is always right there, I can connect right again, but in seconds it will do it again. Sometimes when im on my phone I will get "X connection is Unstable" so I dont know if that is helpful
Here is the problem, It is only when I try to watch videos. I can Browse DakkaDakka for HOUR and it never disconnects, but the second I do it does.
And I swear it happens during certain times of the Day. From 11-4 during the day and from like, 11-2 in the evening.
I need help, I dont have TV and I watch all of my entertainment online. Please help.

what type of internet connection do you have? cable, dsl, satellite?

do you share bandwith with your neighbors?

have you called your provider?

during the day it's probably sun spots, there's a lot of solar activity going on this year. during the evening your neighbors are "choking" your bandwith

When I first moved into my college dorm I had all sorts of issues with my connection dropping off despite it saying there was a good signal, and available internet. You'd be online fine for a bit and then it'd just randomly freeze or completely disconnect. After a week of constant frustration we had the cable company come out and they figured out that it was the building's cable splitter. Too many boxes were tied into the same line and the signal would become too weak if multiple people in the building were trying to go online at the same time. This impacted both the stuff that was directly lan connected or wireless and was particularly annoying since any checks we ran were telling us we had a solid connection until the moment we tried to use any data.

Given the hours that you are experiencing black out I'd think it's largely impacted by the user load, ie those are primetime hours for students doing their online activities. It's likely that the local connection is overloaded by the bandwidth demand.

Im not a student anymore. I graduated. Im literally the only one using this connection

Doesn't scream hardware to me. Beyond what's been said re: software:

- Check the distance from the modem
- Disable the DHCP Broadcast Flag
- Update wireless drivers (uninstall them entirely with Windows 10 and then install from a local copy > Win 10 may be using dummy drivers by default)
- Change the Wireless channel
- Boost wireless signal with a wireless adaptor
- Check in a hotspot
- Flash the BIOS - where applicable
- Reseat the wireless card/ antennas
- System Restore

There's the super generic fixes. Though its sounding like the connection itself is shaky, so I'd advise trying a known good network at another location where possible.

How close are you to your neighbours?
Do they have Wifi?
What channels are they using? What are the power levels of their networks when measured at your PC?
Get InSSIDer or something, and it will show you the channels and strengths of the networks around you:
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html
Turns yours off to see what is around you.
If your network overlaps too much, change the channel to a 'quiet' area. Only use channels 1, 6 and 11, as they spread 3 channels either side, as you'll see.

Try to keep a constant Ping going to a known site, such as Google: "ping -t 8.8.8.8"
When you drop, check the Ping, and see if it starts wobbling before dropping off.

Whatever happens, try cabling into the router. Wifi is far less stable than ethernet. If only to see whether you drop when doing that, too.

 Whirlwind wrote:
a power save mode which will shut off if it detects what it thinks is a lack of activity.

Such as when you are watching a video? (Interesting...)

Have you tried using the internet somewhere else? If it works okay elsewhere, but not at home, that might help you to isolate the problem. I had a problem with my Xbox continually disconnecting and being slow, it was a real PITA trying to play games online, or watch Netflix. Could never pin down what was causing it. I spent ages fething about with the settings at all three ends (I have cascading routers at home). Eventually, I decided to try a different router to see if the problem persisted. Everything has been perfect since then, and in retrospect it was probably the easiest and cheapest solution.

So, it stopped doing it, I think the stop disconnecting thing I did worked.
I hope. Unlike my fmily, my computer is the only way I watch TV.