Laptop not connecting to internet...

staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Any ideas how I get my laptop to re-connect please?
Hubby's work computer , his and my phone and printer are still connected to the Internet , but laptop has suddenly decided it can't connect since switching it on this morning.
( it's kept dropping out a few times this week, but has always reconnected manually)

I've tried the turning it back on again several times & no joy.

Ran the diagnostics help thingy that's popped up each time I've tried opening a previous email. It says it can't fix it.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
No I've checked that in settings. It says latest update successfully installed. Only thing it's been trying to get me to do is install Windows 11 which I've kept clicking ' not at this time'
I darent mess with the router while hubby is working ok on it.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Yay , Its suddenly decided to connect again .Coincided with the power cord falling out of the laptop as I went to pick it up to take around sons house to try on his network (mains plug was off at the time though) and connected just using the battery. And same time hubby , who's been constantly busy on the internet, coming downstairs to make himself a cuppa...........

I've just switched mains the power back on to it now (after getting everything done on it that my phone refuses to do)
 
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G

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Laptops tend to have a small card inside for wifi, about the size of an After Eight mint. Then there's an antenna cable (usually two, one for bluetooth as well) connected to that. The connectors can pop off and the cable can eventually snap after lots of repetitions of opening and closing the laptop.

So hopefully it was just a software glitch and not something with the hardware.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
gilesjuk said:
Laptops tend to have a small card inside for wifi, about the size of an After Eight mint. Then there's an antenna cable (usually two, one for bluetooth as well) connected to that. The connectors can pop off and the cable can eventually snap after lots of repetitions of opening and closing the laptop.

So hopefully it was just a software glitch and not something with the hardware.
Click to expand...
It's just gone again.

But the ' turning off & on again' has worked this time so far.....

Are we best leaving it constantly powered on overnight and when going out then?
It's been mis- behaving when we've put it back on in the morning ( all other devices in the house connected to same wifi have had no problems)

Disadvantage ....hubby keeps nicking my phone when it goes and his works computer isnt on., as I've got mobile data.

(Maybe this will persuade him to ask Santa for a proper contract phone with data included , instead of using my old phone with a PAYG sim , which he's had the same £10 on for years.)
 
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staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
Back to my phone again! Laptop's dropped out 3 times in last hour.

Guess we might be having to treat ourselves to a new one as a joint Xmas pressie.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
proactive said:
Have you tried restarting the router?
Click to expand...

I daren't touch that while hubbys works computer working ok on it. He's extremely busy at the moment and would be disastrous if he couldn't get back connected to it again in the morning. ( He has to go through all the IT support in germany to get any problems with his system sorted if he can't get into it as well and it's a mornings job at best most times.)

All the phones , printers etc have been working just fine on it .

When we had the full fibre install in August we first had probs connecting the modem once they'd left , and had to get TalkTalk to connect it to another platform as it wasn't working (despite Kelly Communications doing the install insisting "Give it half an hour and it will kick in...then buggering off quick) , so don't want hours of waiting in phone queues to Talk Talk and City Fibre again. . Now got the City Fibre box , as well as Talk Talk modem for the connections to work through and to go wrong...)
 
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
staffordjas said:
I daren't touch that while hubbys works computer working ok on it. He's extremely busy at the moment and would be disastrous if he couldn't get back connected to it again in the morning. ( He has to go through all the IT support in germany to get any problems with his system sorted if he can't get into it as well and it's a mornings job at best most times.)

All the phones , printers etc have been working just fine on it .

When we had the full fibre install in August we first had probs connecting the modem once they'd left , and had to get TalkTalk to connect it to another platform as it wasn't working (despite Kelly Communications doing the install insisting "Give it half an hour and it will kick in...then buggering off quick) , so don't want hours of waiting in phone queues to Talk Talk and City Fibre again. . Now got the City Fibre box , as well as Talk Talk modem for the connections to work through and to go wrong...)
Click to expand...
We quite often have something that won't connect to the internet when all the other devices in the house do. Restarting the router almost always sorts it out.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
proactive said:
We quite often have something that won't connect to the internet when all the other devices in the house do. Restarting the router almost always sorts it out.
Click to expand...
I'll have a go at that when hubby gets a bit quieter at work then . (Bound to be my fault if I start crawling to the modem under his desk and he then gets probs) At the moment , today, the laptop is coming back on again re-starting it each time.

Just worried to do a restart of the router while it's still working on everything else , incase it tries connecting to the previous platform (or whatever they called it ) and have to go through all that rigmarole again with someone over in South africa / India or wherever the call centre is.

Might take it around sons while he's at work and see if I have problems with it with his internet, which it's been ok with in the past
 
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BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
You got a wifi analyser on your phone ? WI-FI pro or something similar ? Presents you with a spectrum with WiFi signals labelled. Sometimes laptops can get a bit twitchy if a new strong signal appears from say a neighbour or new equipment.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
BobClay said:
You got a wifi analyser on your phone ? WI-FI pro or something similar ? Presents you with a spectrum with WiFi signals labelled. Sometimes laptops can get a bit twitchy if a new strong signal appears from say a neighbour or new equipment.
Click to expand...
Doing a trouble shoot on the 'network adapter' ( can't get it connected again at all this morning) it's saying cant fix as there's a problem with the wireless adapter on laptop.

Googling says I should have a wifi analyser app on Windows 10 . Laptop not letting me into it as saying I need a connection.

Hubby needs the Ethernet cable to his works desk top ( not wifi enabled) so can't nick that to try.. don't think laptop has anywhere to plug that in anyway??
 
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BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Pity. Using an ethernet cable would definitely put the fault on the WiFi circuitry. I don't normally recommend people going into laptops (unless they're really easy.) Lots of screws and unclipping of the case. The aerial often loops around inside the lid of the laptop, and connects to the WiFi adaptor via small brass plugs. Sometimes this is accessible beneath the keyboard, but, it's very easy to do damage with laptops, and different makes have different ways of doing things (which is why a PC is so much easier to work on.) Unplugging and replugging these (with the laptop powered down) might clear an iffy connection.
 
BobClay

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Purely for information. I use the App WiFi Analyser Pro on my Android phone for checking WiFi signals. This covers both 2.5 and 5 Ghz bands. (If you're router isn't dual band ... it's time to move away from steam power.) This shows my living room and all the signals observable are from my equipment. You may find other signals on yours from neighbours and such, but here being a radio ham all the walls are lined with bacofoil (nothing whatsoever to do with 'government chips.') I have to be careful with RFI (Radio Frequency Interference.)
The spectral disply is useful when you set up your WiFi so you're not interfering with yourself (no giggling in the ranks please.) Also useful if you're setting up extra WAP's (Wireless Access Points) which you sometimes have to do when you have all the rooms screened.
The spectral display is nice and easy to interpret.

WiFiAnalyserPro.jpg
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
BobClay said:
Pity. Using an ethernet cable would definitely put the fault on the WiFi circuitry. I don't normally recommend people going into laptops (unless they're really easy.) Lots of screws and unclipping of the case. The aerial often loops around inside the lid of the laptop, and connects to the WiFi adaptor via small brass plugs. Sometimes this is accessible beneath the keyboard, but, it's very easy to do damage with laptops, and different makes have different ways of doing things (which is why a PC is so much easier to work on.) Unplugging and replugging these (with the laptop powered down) might clear an iffy connection.
Click to expand...
Might try giving it a good shake to see if that clears any dust inside .... its no use at the moment , so can only kill it altogether..

Strangely enough the printer, which has always worked well with my phone, suddenly said it wasn't compatible with my phone the other week ( would have to be when I was printing boarding passes for back-up incase their phones died in the airport)Then later that day , and ever since its been ok.
 
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