Signs of a failing network adapter?

guar

Hey everyone, I have a problem.

About a month ago, we had a pretty bad thunderstorm that knocked the power out on the entire block. Ever since then, my laptop has been having connection issues. Fairly regularly, I'll lose my connection and then it will take anywhere from a few minutes up to 10 or 15, sometimes even longer, for it to reconnect. If I try to reconnect manually, it will say it can't connect. Diagnosing the problem produces the message, "Wireless association failed because Windows did not receive a response from the wireless router or access point."

Back when this first happened, I tried hooking it up via hardwire and found it was my router that was the problem. I reset it to its factory defaults, updated the firmware, then set it up again to do secure broadcasting. But it's still happening, and I'm pretty sure it isn't my router. I have 2 other PC's hooked up directly to the router, and both connections are stable.

I've tried a few things. I tried updating my adapter's firmware, but that didn't help. I tried uninstalling it, then letting Windows detect the hardware again for a reinstall. That didn't help. I read somewhere that I could try changing the channel that my router uses to broadcast, but I couldn't find any option to adjust the channel in my router configuration.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. It's still happens and it's getting pretty frustrating. I'm probably not under warranty anymore, so I'm looking to you all for advice. Help me, please!

Bartholamue

Did you unplug it and leave it for a day or two and plug it back in? I had this problem and leaving it like that has helped.

Mugsley

Which router do you have? It's possible a slight surge could have damaged the wireless radio in the router; although unlikely.

Can your laptop connect to other networks easily? As in, say, a coffee shop? Do you have any issues if you use a direct connection vs. wireless? (Answers to these should rule out your laptop's wireless card)

Also, try reconfiguring it as an open wireless network (i.e. remove security) and see if you can easily connect. The updated firmware or possibly some internal setting could have changed/reset.

guar

The router is a Linksys WRT310N. It and my modem are behind a surge protector.

I haven't tried connecting to any other networks, though it works fine through a direct connection.

That_Guy

If it is just the wireless that is not working, try connecting something else to your wireless network. If you can isolate the issue to the laptop, I would recommend reinstalling the drivers (from device manager). If that fails run the following commands through command line.

netsh int ip rest resetlog.txt

netsh winsock reset

Reboot after running both. These commands will cripple some of the driver level functionality of any firewall software you have installed, though.

If you have isolated the issue to the router, just get a new one. You can find a nice cheap Netgear router for around $45.