# Keep losing wireless connection..Arrrggghh **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064 "2010-07-17T22:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/1 "2010-07-17T22:08:53Z")
I have an agreement with my neighbor. I pay for half his wireless service for access to it. It works well. Except Often I lose wireless connection; and it has to search for a while to connect back up to him. Right now As I type this, I’ve lost and regained connection 3 times. It doesn’t happen on my daughters computer, or my wife’s; so it must be my computer. It doesn’t happen on my computer with any other wireless (work, hotel, Starbucks, etc.) so it must be his router. Well that’s the conundrum. What can I check to try to stop this behavior. Is it my computer or his router…or some weird combination of both. The signal is always strong; it just drops off and spends a few minutes reconnecting. Sometimes it happens every few minutes, rarely I can go for a few hours without a problem. What can I check? ---
**Author:** ![NOLA\_Cajun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@NOLA\_Cajun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NOLA_Cajun)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/2 "2010-07-18T02:27:33Z")
You might want to post more info about your system and OS. It could just be something as simple as where your computer is located or something near it causing interference. How far away from the router are you? What’s between you and it? Is anything blocking your wireless card? I notice times when someone in my house is using the Xbox that I get knocked offline. There’s a lot of possibilities but you need to give more info. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/3 "2010-07-18T02:47:32Z")
Running Windows XP Professional on a Dell Latitude E6400. I don’t know any information about my wireless setup (how do I find out). I also don’t know what router he is using. Can I determine this from my computer? His router is on the far side of his house so I would say it is 30-40 yards away and going through a few walls including his and my external house walls. I don’t notice any correlation between computer or game use and my getting kicked off. He actually is gone for a week so I know he isn’t using anything like his PS3. ---
**Author:** ![NOLA\_Cajun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@NOLA\_Cajun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NOLA_Cajun)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/4 "2010-07-18T03:20:06Z")
In your control panel Network Connections is where you can find the info about your card. Try your computer in different locations in your house and see if it stays connected. You might be able to tell what brand of router he uses by whatever it is named on the network. Linksys, Belkin, etc. But I don’t see where that matters. If the other computers stay connected okay then most likely it’s just the location of your system. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/5 "2010-07-18T03:31:06Z")
I was having the same problem with my Mac laptop. All the other computers in the house and an iTouch had no problem with the Airport router; just the new laptop kept dropping out. I changed the channel to one specific channel (channel 9, if it matters) instead of leaving it on automatic, and the problem has cleared right up. Don’t know if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/6 "2010-07-18T03:45:26Z")
From the control panel I see it as “Dell Wireless 1510 Wireless-N WLAN Mini-Card” How would I change the channel to one specific one? I didn’t even know there was Channels. This happens anywhere in the house; any room, closer to the router (but still far away from his router) to the other side of my house. THe only thing I see on his wireless of note is WPA2 ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-losing-wireless-connection-arrrggghh/547064/7 "2010-07-18T04:35:58Z")
Set that router to “preferred” in network preferences. It sounds like a classic case of overlapping wireless signals.