HELP! wireless disconnects every 5 minutes

Please help me.

I have a Packard bell Easynote TX86 with a broadcom wireless card. There are 2 other laptops in the house and both can connect without hassle via wireless from the lounge downstairs. The router is upstairs and i am able to connect, it just keeps disconnecting and reconnecting at random intervals.

sometimes i can be online for 1 or 2 hours and then it randomly stops and says identifying network, and sometimes connects to a public network, and wont connect to the internet and then after a while loads and reconnects to the wireless. its very strange and annoying.

Its very urgent as i am leaving the country soon and need 2 replace it soon if that what needs done.
HELP !!!!
thanx .

does it make any difference whether the other PCs are turned on or not?

It only connects so some other "public" network because at some time in the past you have asked your computer to do that. It now remembers the settings. If you look through the list of "known" wireless networks and delete the "public" one then it won't connect again.

It sounds like your broadcom wireless adaptor could be faulty; either that or the wireless signal is weak where your Easynote is sited. For something like £20 you could buy a plug-in USB wireless adaptor and see if that makes any difference.

It doesnt matter if the other laptops are on or off.

but ive never connected to any other networks. my laptop is brand new and the wifi hasnt worked properly since i got it 3 days ago..

1) More than likely the signal strength from router to the laptop
2) You need to call the shop you purchased the laptop from if its brand new and ask them to check the wireless card it working as it should explain the problem you are having it will be under warrenty.
3) Maybe its your router also check the settings in the router this where is your laptop getting an IP from !!!
4) Could also be the DNS you may need to manualy set them to allow the internet to fully work all the time for you if the router is not doing it correctly for you..
5) If the router is old and you have seen the shop you bought it and the card is fine buy a new router, routers only have a few years life expectancy on them usually
6) Ask someone who understands wirless networks to look at the settings for you this could also be the issue..

Hope all this helps

Kayleigh's advice is good

However other points to remember are that you could be suffering from interference that only happens to affect your machine (different wireless cards can be affected to greater or lesser extents)
Any of the following can be a problem
Plasma TV
baby alarm
Wireless TV sender
microwave oven
garage / gate renmote control
If you have any of these, try to eliminate them in your checks

Hi,

thanx for the advice.

I took it back to the retailer (currys) and they are not very helpful at all. it works on their wireless internet fine and so i thought it might be compatibility issues with my grandmothers ( where im stayn in the UK ) router but then i tryed it at mcdonalds as they have free WiFi and encounterd the same problems as i do at home,, grr, Currys are unwilling to replace it as it works fine there and so i took a screenshot and took it back 2 them and they said they will contact Packard Bell.

I will try many of the above things u mentioned. i hope i fix it before i go back 2 South Africa..

thanx :)

thinking about the symptoms further, I'd guess that the ariel (it runs around the screen) is not plugged into the wifi card. If that was the case it would only pick up a strong or local signal, but could easily lose it
Ask Currys to open the inspection hatch for the card (don't do it yourself - you may invalidate the warranty) and get them to check if the two leads (remember that TWO) are both connected.
They're usually thin black ones, with a very tiny round push-on connector at the end


As an off-topic aside, this illustrates in a good way the pitfalls of buying electronic gear from outside your own country. I strongly doubt that Packard Bell / Acer in South Africa would carry out a warranty repair on it if it does prove to be faulty

If the laptop is only a few days old, it will probably support 802.11n wireless standard. Most routers only support the older 802.11g standard. It may be that your laptop is searching for an "n" signal, and is finding a weak one from one of your neighbours and trying to connect to that.

On the laptop, set the wifi to connect at "g" only, and not to search for other networks. You can always change this back if you get a router which does "n".