# WI FI Problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421 "2018-12-20T14:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/1 "2018-12-20T14:08:42Z")
I live in a place where the wifi signal is not the greatest (I get it free with my rent) and I have a Lenovo G50. Whenever the wifi signal goes out for just a short time, I have to reboot the computer even when the signal returns. My phone re-connects with no problem but the Lenovo must be rebooted and then it re-connects. IS it a driver problem with the computer? Any ideas where I don’t have to Re Boot every time with the computer? Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/2 "2018-12-20T14:12:00Z")
You should be able to go to Network Properties, Network Adaptor settings, then just disable and then enable the Wifi adaptor. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/3 "2018-12-20T14:26:36Z")
That, or try disconnecting from that wifi, and reconnecting. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/4 "2018-12-20T14:41:46Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > You should be able to go to Network Properties, Network Adaptor settings, then just disable and then enable the Wifi adaptor. > [@Bullitt](#): > > That, or try disconnecting from that wifi, and reconnecting. Many laptops even have a button (wifi or airplane mode) right on the keyboard somewhere that you can do that with. Even if they don’t, you can probably click on the wifi icon in the taskbar to bring up an Airplane Mode toggle switch. ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/5 "2018-12-20T14:44:29Z")
I have tried all that, turning off the wifi, turn it back on, only rebooting seems to work ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/6 "2018-12-20T14:54:45Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > I have tried all that, turning off the wifi, turn it back on, only rebooting seems to work Nuke it from orbit with the second option [mentioned here.](https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-tip-solve-network-problems-with-a-one-click-reset/) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/7 "2018-12-20T15:46:41Z")
If you haven’t already done so, update the BIOS on the PC, as well as the network card firmware and driver software. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/8 "2018-12-20T15:54:54Z")
Find the part of your apartment where the signal is the strongest and put a repeater there and have your computer connect to the repeater’s wifi. Since the repeater’s wifi signal will presumably be strong, even if the main wifi goes out, the computer will still be connected to wifi. (It won’t be able to reach the internet while the main wifi is still out.) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/9 "2018-12-20T16:19:10Z")
Does your laptop have an Intel Wifi chip? I had a cheap Lenovo laptop with Intel Wifi that continually dropped packets, even though I was 5 feet from the router. I could ping [Google.com](http://Google.com) and watch it at ~12ms for 10 pings, then timeout for 10, then ~12 ms again, back and forth. After a lot of research my eventual solution was to buy a USB Wifi adapter that used a Realtek chipset, internet is rock solid now. ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/10 "2018-12-21T15:35:57Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Find the part of your apartment where the signal is the strongest and put a repeater there and have your computer connect to the repeater’s wifi. Since the repeater’s wifi signal will presumably be strong, even if the main wifi goes out, the computer will still be connected to wifi. (It won’t be able to reach the internet while the main wifi is still out.) Thanks! I will try that today since nothing else works ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/11 "2018-12-21T15:48:16Z")
I was wondering about that. Can you install a repeater for a wireless network you’re not in charge of? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/12 "2018-12-21T15:52:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I was wondering about that. Can you install a repeater for a wireless network you’re not in charge of? Yes, all you need is the ability to connect to it, just like a computer. ---
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/13 "2019-01-18T20:57:49Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Does your laptop have an Intel Wifi chip? I had a cheap Lenovo laptop with Intel Wifi that continually dropped packets, even though I was 5 feet from the router. I could ping [Google.com](http://Google.com) and watch it at ~12ms for 10 pings, then timeout for 10, then ~12 ms again, back and forth. > > After a lot of research my eventual solution was to buy a USB Wifi adapter that used a Realtek chipset, internet is rock solid now. I bought a ALFA Long Range USB Adapter and it now works great! $24.99 at Amazon Thanks for the advice! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wi-fi-problem/826421/14 "2019-01-20T03:38:14Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > I bought a ALFA Long Range USB Adapter and it now works great! $24.99 at Amazon > > Thanks for the advice! Glad that fixed your problem but very sorry to see another case where the Intel Wifi doesn’t do it’s job. Not sure if it’s a hardware or software problem. I’d suspect software.