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Original poster

why does my laptop keep losing its internet connection?

16 replies

basildonbond · 04/12/2010 19:58

I've got a new Toshiba laptop for work and it's having trouble connecting to the internet. It says it's connected to my wi-fi and the signal is a full 5 bars - but it'll take ages to load an internet site and then the connection drops out. My home mac is fine and my iphone and ds' ipod have no problem connecting via the same wi=fi - so any ideas?

OP posts:

indigobarbie · 04/12/2010 22:48

Sorry, just to check, is this a work laptop that you've brought home to try and connect to internet at home?

Original poster

basildonbond · 05/12/2010 09:50

it's a laptop which I bought for work (v small business) not a 'work' laptop iyswim - is that a bit clearer?

OP posts:

BadgersPaws · 05/12/2010 13:27

Are you sure that it's connected to your WiFi network and not someone else's?

SuePurblybiltByElves · 05/12/2010 13:28

Don't know if it's just me but my interweb has been eye wateringly slow since Friday afternoon. Could it be that?

Original poster

basildonbond · 05/12/2010 15:54

badgers - it says connected to 'basildonbond' home network so am presuming it's mine

suePBE ... it's been like it ever since I got it 2 weeks ago so suspect not ...

OP posts:

LostArt · 05/12/2010 16:23

Are you using battery or mains? I know my connection is hit and miss if my batteries are low.

Original poster

basildonbond · 05/12/2010 21:07

tried both - it's sitting right next to the wifi

OP posts:

ilsalund · 05/12/2010 21:22

Has it been set up to connect via a proxy? I know when I bring my work laptop home I have to untick the proxy box before it will connect- it recgnises my wifi, but won't load tha pages until I change the setting

indigobarbie · 05/12/2010 21:33

Hey Basildon, was just asking re the work as was checking you weren't set via a 'work' proxy server - which you won't be, so thanks for answering that.

Is it slow on all web pages or only certain ones? Also can you tell me 'when the connection drops out' is it the actual wi-fi on your laptop telling you that it's lost signal, or do you mean you get an internet explorer error?

Original poster

basildonbond · 05/12/2010 21:50

indigo thanks - it's worse on gmail (which is a pain cos that's pretty much all I want to access on it!)

it's one of those annoying intermittent things - the wifi connection seems to be fine but I'll get a message "firefox can't find the page ..." and then, usually but not always, I get a yellow warning triangle over the wifi bars which means it's dropped out completely

and thanks islalund but it's not a proxy problem as it's not a 'work' laptop, rather the one I use for work (sorry to be confusing!)

OP posts:

indigobarbie · 05/12/2010 22:00

My first thought was that it might be losing the connection due to the passphrase or the encryption type maybe not being set right, when you set up the wireless did it do it automatically for you, and, did you have to enter the password? It can be common to lose the connection frequently if this isn't right.
How are you with checking your router?

indigobarbie · 05/12/2010 22:04

Just also a thought - do you know how to check how many DHCP addresses are available for lease on your router? It might be that one of your other wireless devices is grabbing the IP address that your laptop is trying to use and that's what's kicking you off, but you should probably get a windows IP address conflict message with that.

I'll let you check my first post first, but when it drops out can you right click on the wifi icon near the clock and do a diagnose and repair? Might be worth letting windows try to fix it for you.

lazydog · 06/12/2010 01:47

Newer Toshiba laptops are absolutely notorious for having crap wireless connectivity while on battery and good connectivity while running off the mains. Maybe this is a related problem? What tends to help in those cases is to get the latest wireless driver from the manufacturer's website (wireless card manufacturer, not laptop manufacturer - so atheros, intel, broadcom, whoever) and replace the one it shipped with...

Original poster

basildonbond · 06/12/2010 13:25

right .. I think it's the battery problem - it's been on mains all morning and not dropped out once

next daft question - how do I find out which wireless card I have??

OP posts:

lazydog · 06/12/2010 17:05

Look under network adapters in Device Manager. Are you on Win7? I don't have a Windows 7 PC here at the mo but I think you should be able to go via control panel -> system and security -> system -> device manager (or probably easier still - just type device manager in the search box, LOL!)

crazycat18 · 06/02/2011 22:30

Thanks for your assistance with this. I bought a new Toshiba laptop and wi-fi worked fine first night, but not next day or day after. Quickly realised it worked fine with power cord in and not without, kept losing internet access (alert symbol over internet connection bars). But followed the above advice, installed new driver for it and it has worked fine since. So def recommend and thanks.

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