# Why does my son's laptop kill my network? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364 "2011-08-11T18:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/1 "2011-08-11T18:36:01Z")
I recently bought a Dell laptop for my son. It’s Windows 7. Whenever he tries to get on my wireless network, it kills all other devices’ connections. I’ve tried hardcoding an IP address but that doesn’t help. My router is a Linksys WRT110. Any advice would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/2 "2011-08-11T18:57:19Z")
Is he running bittorrent? I had a wireless router once that choked when a computer made hundreds of connections to other computers simultaneously. That’s exactly what bittorrent does when it starts up, or when it detects a new Internet connection, so it sounds like a likely theory. The fix is to either upgrade your router, and make sure the new one doesn’t have a connection limit, or change the bittorrent settings to open fewer connections. (I think the default is 200? But it probably depends on the specific client.) Edit: I just looked up your router model, and it’s new enough that it should be able to handle bittorrent without any problems. Hm. Still, I’d wager the problem is caused by some piece of software on the laptop, and not the laptop hardware itself. You can try creating a new user account that on the laptop without any auto-running software, and see if that user account causes the same issue. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/3 "2011-08-11T19:08:51Z")
Not running bittorrent. I’ll try a new account. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/4 "2011-08-11T19:12:04Z")
I’ve seen this happen before, tho the laptop was a lenovo. I think it was because of the wifi drivers that win7 shipped with. (I assume this problem only happens with wifi? What happens if you plug the laptop into the router using ethernet cable?) If you happen to have a USB wifi adapter, try using that instead of the laptop’s built-in wifi just to test. If that works ok, then I would try to find an updated/different driver for the built-in wifi. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/5 "2011-08-11T19:22:53Z")
The new account didn’t work. It does seem to just be a wifi problem. Everything works fine when I use an ethernet cable. I’ll see if a new driver is available for the wifi. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/6 "2011-08-11T19:26:19Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > The new account didn’t work. It does seem to just be a wifi problem. Everything works fine when I use an ethernet cable. I’ll see if a new driver is available for the wifi. Then you’re beyond my expertise. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/7 "2011-08-11T19:32:31Z")
Thanks anyway **Blakeyrat.** Windows told me that I have the best driver for the wifi. ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/8 "2011-08-11T19:34:41Z")
You might have the latest drivers according to windows, but many times the dell site will have a different one. Go to the [support.dell.com](http://support.dell.com) and put in the service tag of your new laptop. Download the wifi driver they have there and try that one. It will probably be different from whatever win7 is using by default. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/9 "2011-08-11T19:52:11Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I recently bought a Dell laptop for my son. It’s Windows 7. Whenever he tries to get on my wireless network, it kills all other devices’ connections. I’ve tried hardcoding an IP address but that doesn’t help. My router is a Linksys WRT110. Any advice would be appreciated. Does your sons laptop work fine once its connected? What signs/symptoms are you recieving on the other machines? Do they dump their IP addresses? Do they say you have limited or no connectivity? Who is your ISP? Have you tried to shut off wireless security and see if you have the same issue when connecting unsecured? Hard reset of the router to eliminate any potential problematic settings? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/10 "2011-08-11T19:59:48Z")
How is he connecting? Through Windows 7’s network connections, or does the adapter have it’s own icon it connects through in the system tray? If the latter, see if there is an option in there to force it to use Windows. **arseNal** ’s suggestion of a USB adapter is just a good idea for someone to have on hand regardless. I have one that’s saved me multiple times. They’re usually $20 or less. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-sons-laptop-kill-my-network/592364/11 "2011-08-11T20:32:15Z")
Another thought–I have a recent Linksys, and Windows 7 laptops will occasionally try to use the autoconfig/zero configuration option even when the router is already perfectly happily configured with a WPA2 password and everything. I’d suggest deleting any saved connections and trying to manually add the connection in windows instead of letting it automatically negotiate encryption types and whatnot.