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Tweaking.com fixes my problem for a while but then it comes back...

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kristainlondon:
Hi everyone

Hoping you can help me. Windows 8 Lenovo laptop. Worked fine all of 2014 until around December when it would drop the wireless Internet connection every 30 minutes or so and I couldn't get it back unless I restarted my machine. (Although laptop would show that it was still connected to my wireless network.) I discovered Tweaking.com in early 2015 and ran it and it seemed to be the answer to all my problems! After running Tweaking, my laptop stayed connected forever and forever, even with restarts and everything. However, on a few occasions, I've been back in the same situation...connection drops and I have to restart. But if I run Tweaking, it seems to work and I stay connected for much longer...until it stops working. This just happened to me again today and I've just run Windows Repair and am crossing my fingers.

One observation: Sometimes, when the Internet connection drops like this morning, I can still get to YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive, and my Twitter stream continues to operate. But I can't get to CNN, NYTimes, etc. etc. That being said, when it has happened in the past...sometimes I can't get to anything at all.

Is there something in the Windows Repair log files that will tell me what Windows Repair has fixed? It seems to be fixing something that is broken and making it better. Maybe if I knew what was broken, I'd be able to further troubleshoot this and/or prevent it from happening again.

I have of course tried unplugging the router and running Malwarebytes. Neither seems to make a difference. In January, I also uninstalled my network driver and reinstalled the latest version. Problem is consistent across Chrome and IE. I have not tried Firefox.

I'm not super-technical, but I can get around. Let me know if I can provide other info or if I should try anything. (But now that I've run Windows Repair today, I'm guessing I have a few days of consistent internet access.)

Boggin:
As it just seems to affect some sites at times it could be a DNS problem and going into Network and Sharing Center/Change adapter settings then right click on the adapter you are using - select Properties - click on TCP/IPv4 - Properties then check the button to Use the following DNS servers and enter in the top row of boxes 8.8.8.8 then 8.8.4.4 in the lower row.

Check the box to Validate upon exit - close the Windows and Windows Trouble shooter will pop up and check the connection and hopefully report that it can't find anything wrong.

Open a Command Prompt (Admin) and enter -

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /registerdns

exit

Then reboot

When connectivity drops out on a specific time each time, that could be because of a Time Out setting in the router.

This should be set to Always on or if it is designated as a time such as 30 mins then change this to 0

If you don't lose connectivity when wired to the router, it may be worth changing channels should the problem be due to outside local interference - or it could be an event that happens within your home.

The free inSSIDer3 will help you to determine which is the least populated and best channel to be on.  http://www.techspot.com/downloads/5936-inssider.html

This is a router Wireless setting.

Generally your optimum RSSI value will be around the 50 mark with a Link score of 100 but the link score can drop as your channel is co used or there is an overlap.

You can co-share any channel where other users have values of >=70 as they will be too far away to conflict, but avoid channels where other users on adjacent channels have similar RSSI values to you.

These are some of the causes of interference (REIN) within the home that can knock out a WiFi signal, although there can be other types of interference as you'll see from the article.  http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/rein.htm

Boggin:
There is one other thing that you can do as a preventative measure and that is to go into Device Manager and expand Network adapters.

Right click on the Wireless adapter - click on Properties and under the Power Management tab uncheck the box to Allow the computer to switch off this device to save power.

This is a default setting and will be reinstated whenever you reinstall its driver.

It's also possible there could be something recorded in Event Viewer with a time stamp around the time of the disconnects.

Shane:
I agree, it does sound like it is a DNS problem.

To confirm that, next time it happens open a cmd.exe window as administrator. Once open do these two commands

ping 8.8.8.8

and then

ping tweaking.com

On the 2nd command you can ping any website you havent been to yet.

When you run the first command, DNS isnt needed. But on the 2nd command, when you ping a web address, the system will use DNS to get the IP that belongs to that web address.

So if the first ping to 8.8.8.8 works, but the 2nd ping fails then you know you have a DNS problem :wink:

Shane

kristainlondon:
Thanks guys. I will check these out next time the connection drops and report back.

In the past, I did take a look at the setting about "Allow the computer to switch off this device to save power" and it has always been unchecked but I will do a more thorough review of all your suggestions next time I lose the connection.

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