Now, why can't I connect?

[Freyland]

Greetings
I have an ASUS dual channel router. My PC has a wireless adapter that picks up both 2.4G and 5G, and I have, in the past, been able to use either channel. I tried today to switch over to the 2.4G, and after thinking about it for awhile, it decided that I was "secured, but no internet connections". I told Windows 10 to "forget" the network, which it obligingly did so, and then offered me the network as an option again. I reentered the password, same result as prior. Not aware of anything I personally would have done to create a problem. Thoughts?

Freyland

[hitbyambulance]

sounds like a router problem... maybe reboot the router? factory reset?

[Freyland]

Heya

I did try rebooting the router previously, but this time I unplugged both the router and the internet and just left it for an hour to "think about what it has done". After sequentially reconnecting the internet and then router, my PC now failed to recognize any networks at all, even after a PC reboot. I ran network diagnostics and it "resolved my issue" by resetting my wireless access. The 5G works fine. I tried to connect to the 2.4G and for the first time it actually connected, with internet! For about 10 seconds. Now we are back to "secured, no internet". Wireless adapter issue?

[hitbyambulance]

do you have another device (other computer, tablet, phone, TV, refrigerator...) that you can try connecting to the 2.4GHz network?

[Pyperkub]

Are you on Windows 10?

[Freyland]

Are you on Windows 10?

Well, that's irritating.

Here is where I am. My PC (Win10), I can't get the 2.4 network to work, despite trying the suggestions (shy of rolling back the update) on the link from Pyperkub. I went to d/l the drivers for my wireless link, on the 5G network, and the d/l was initially very, very slow. Like, 2 hours for a 244 MB file slow. It eventually sorted itself out, but it is still a slow download, ongoing. Of note, internet has seemed slow lately in general. My son's Win10 PC, which has only a 2.4 GB adapter, picks up that network albeit slowly. Attempted to d/l the drivers on his PC, and it did the same thing-- wanted many hours to d/l such a small file. Went to my Daughters Win8.1 PC, has only a 2.4 G adapter, and it is finding the network, but says "limited". Cannot seem to fix that by forgetting/finding the network.

I'm kinda leaning towards the router here. I would reset it, but I'm still d/l that stupid file and I have to leave for a few hours. Any more suggestions while gone would be thought highly of!

BTW, thank you both.

Freyland

Edited to add that I tried to get wifi on my phone, and that's a no-go. Can't blame Win10 for that one.

[Freyland]

Reset router to factory settings. Plugged in wired access. Found everything. Did its auto intall and firmware upgrade. Seem to be back in business!

Thanks both, I will certainly post more if it all goes to hell.

Freyland

[hitbyambulance]

no problem

[Freyland]

Annnnnd we're back.

Hello again. So. All seemed well and dandy after our last update. I went to bed, then work today, and tonight tried to use the internet for something simple, and it was sl-o-o-o-o-ow. Painfully. On a lark, I tried to d/l a 775MB file that I have been failing to get due to interruptions, and it was slow to start, seemed to be unreasonably slow, but at least didn't just stare at me while the "time to finish" counter went up to 12 hours or more, while only 0% had downloaded. Eventually, that file d/l was interrupted, again. I popped open steam to see what d/l speeds I had for any updates today, and while the rate was not inconsistent (which is to say, it was as terrible as it always is when d/ling from STEAM), I noticed that the process had FREQUENT interruptions. SpeedTest.net initially showed good ping but subpar d/l and upload speeds. These improved over the 30 minutes I was checking things. Other computers on the network seemed "acceptable" with on par speedtest results.
I have a PC fairly near the router, that I can reach with CAT wires. Using a direct connection from the modem to the PC gave appropriate speed test results. Then plugging the modem directly into that computer also gave comparable results.

So, something is up, I just can't localize it. Either my Router is dropping the signal, or the wireless PCI card on my rig is the culprit. Likewise, and probably related, my internet speeds are very inconsistent. Suggestions on how to determine who is the culprit? I am loathe to install a different wireless dongle for fear that somehow it will affect the files or registry to the initial dongle when I return to using it. Some sort of "benchmark test" on the dongle/pci card I have in place would be optimal.

All thoughts appreciated.

[gilraen]

You said you tried your children's PCs with that router, and you had problems connecting with both of them. It would seem that the router is the problem, not the wireless card on your PC.

[Freyland]

I do agree, and recall I was not able to get my phone to use WiFi from said router during the initial problem. I have been googling at length, and have some ideas to try tonight at home, especially since I just reset the router from whatever "great" changes I made to it when I first got it and was trying to improve reception in the upper levels of the home.

[Biyobi]

You might try changing the broadcast channels on the the router. You may have a neighbor (or potentially even your own cordless house phones) interfering with the signal.

Download WifiInfoView (free) from NirSoft and run it. It will give you a breakdown of all the wifi signals the PC can see and help you choose a channel that isn't already being used.

[Freyland]

So, where we are on this:

I did try my Google'd antics, to no real avail. I downloaded the aforementioned program, which showed only my two networks which were on significantly different channels. After feeling the router must be damaged, I went off and bought a Google On-Hub router, which touts simplicity and performance.

For others, apparently.

My speeds were dramatically worse using a variety of speed tests, and my ping seemed worse during use. Even better, last night when 3 additional devices accessed the system, everything ground to a halt. Because everything is proprietary and buried into their remote program, I couldn't even tweak things. After kids went to bed, reinstalled the original ASUS router and, for the very brief time I used it, things were "normal" again. The future, as always, remains to be seen.

[Kraken]

I presume you've tried moving the router to different locations.

My laptop was dropping its signal regularly and having trouble reconnecting. My desktop machine, literally 3 feet away on another desk, was rock solid. When I moved the laptop it, too, connected with no problems. So I moved the router (which is on top of the fridge) from the back of the fridge to the front -- literally just 2 feet. Voila! No more connection problems.

Since you had this problem with two different routers I would suspect environmental interference, if you haven't already ruled that out.

[Kasey Chang]

Run WiFiAnalyzer on any android device (preferably one that can do 5G WiFi) and see if the WiFi band is saturated.

[Freyland]

Things are generally back to normal. I say generally, because I am now more sensitive to quality changes than I was, so everything is "suspicious". I am using an app called WifiMaster on my phone to improve signals when things seem imperfect, I believe it helps (suspect it just changes channels to something more efficient at the moment). Or, maybe I'm just getting old and it is just placebo. Anyways, thanks for assists!