Posted 20 December 2023

Laptop WiFi Issues

Firstly, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this,.

Hi, I`m hoping to tap into the Techie knowledge on here, hopefully someone can help. My laptop has started having Wifi connection issues to just OUR router over the last few days, it finds all the other available wifi signals from our neighbours it will even hotspot off my mobile phone, therefore I guess the wifi capabilities of the laptop are working ok, but just recently it will not find our Vodafone SSID even when login details are input manually and even using the WPS button. All the other wifi enabled devices in the house do not have any issues, ie mobiles, another laptop and a smart thermostat.
The problematic laptop connected fine on Sunday ( never any previous issues), the problem started on Monday with no connection to again just our Vodafone internet, I switched it on again on Tuesday and it worked perfectly fine without me having to do anything, then again today no connection, but again it finds the neighbours and will hotspot.
I am not a techie in anyway, I have tried all the trouble shooting on the laptop to no avail, at one point on Monday I got an error 506 or 516 message I think it was but cannot be totally sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as it is the laptop I use all the time an HP pavilion g6, just in case this is relevant, I think an update came in on Sunday evening, could this have any bearing?
Many thanks
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  1. tardytortoise's avatar
    On the face of it, you appear to be suffering the exact opposite from a bug following a recent windows 11 update.
    gbnews.com/tec…ifi

    There is a sort of fix theregister.com/202…ue/ but as I say your issue is an exact opposite of what others have reported.

    You can do little harm by looking at your windows update logs and uninstalling any recent updates. If that doesn't fix things you can always reinstall the updates.

    I'm saying the above assuming you are running windows11 and assuming you haven't a recent windows restore point.
    granitelad's avatar
    Author
    Hi, thanks for your reply, I am still using Windows 10, I looked at a windows restore point but it stated as I hadn`t made a restore point in the last 10 days, this could not be done. Will consider uninstalling the recent update as you state. Will have a look at all the other advice as well
  2. freakstyler's avatar
    The only thing I can think of is your router has automatically changed channels into an upper range ISM band on the 5Ghz WiFi and the WiFi adapter in your Laptop cannot pick it up. I have a similar issue here with certain Xiaomi Phones that cannot detect the WiFi network I use specifically for IP Cameras, neither can an older Dell Laptop with a Broadcom WiFi Card for that matter.
    devshib's avatar
    It could be your wifi channel changing that could cause the same problem, check you wifi settings on router to see what channel its on if auto, fix it to a mid range number. See how that works
  3. C0mm0d0re_K1d's avatar
    Wi-Fi can sometimes be a tricky thing. The signal can be effected by a lot of other things like the walls, floors, fridge, microwave, cordless phones and other things that can block or interfere with the signal.

    If it was working fine, then suddenly stopped. You need to figure out what happened or what you did or changed by a process of elimination.

    I would still recommend getting a Wi-Fi analyser to check channel congestion. You may be able to improve your overall Wi-Fi.

    If your laptop is seeing the Wi-Fi signal from the router (the ssid) or other Wi-Fi networks . Then the wi-fi adapter is probably working. However that is not 100% guaranteed as I have seen Wi-Fi or network cards that can see things but won't connect or can connect but only work at very slow speeds. Due to them being faulty.

    TT does know what he's talking about. But can be a bit short or rude if your not very technical. A lot of us techs don't suffer fools or ignorance gladly and come across as a bit rude or arrogant to non techies. I'm the same, but also have a lot of experience of providing end user technical support.
  4. 001Cisco's avatar
    No idea. But I assume you already try the trick of unplugging the router for couple minutes and restart?
  5. C0mm0d0re_K1d's avatar
    Have you tried power cycling your router (switch it off and back on again) or checked the wi-fi settings if you know how, and what they should be set to?

    It's highly likely you haven't changed any of the default settings on your router. You could be on a congested wi-fi channel. Are you trying to connect to a 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz network?

    You can download and install a Wi-Fi analyser on a phone or tablet to view all the wi-fi networks around you, and see what channels their using. Set yours to the lest congested or auto if available. (edited)
    granitelad's avatar
    Author
    Hi, thanks for your comment C0mm0d0re_K1d , at the moment I am attempting to follow the advice of one of the posters above, not easy when you have no idea what you are doing lol. I tried the power cycling as you say, as mentioned previously it is only 1 device that will no longer pick up the Vodafone SSID every other device is ok. I discovered today following the advice of the poster above that my router is using both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz both on AUTO with 8 devices ( not all connected at the same time) equally spliton each frequency but the laptop that is not connecting to the Wifi is not listed under either frequency not even ghosted. I am hoping the poster above who has been very helpful manages to assist further. All advice gladly received, best to be given in idiot fashion though lol
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