# Problem with the Wireless Adapter or Access Point



## pgw1 (Aug 14, 2014)

Hi. I've been getting this problem of "Problem with the Wireless Adapter or Access Point" about once or twice a day on my laptop connected wirelessly. When it loses connection to the WiFi, all devices connected through WiFi also lose connection. The wired connection is still connected. I would have to either go through windows troubleshooting which resets the wireless adapter, or restart my laptop for the WiFi to be working again.

Previously, I had a problem that said "The default gateway is not available" whenever I ran the troubleshooter after the WiFi disconnects (again, all devices affected except wired). That problem occurred every 1-2 hours. It stopped happening after I was suggested to assign a static IP to my laptop, but now this new problem occurs once or twice a day.

These problems began occurring after I got a new router. While I was using the old router, it also disconnected for longer periods of time, which I could only fix by restarting the router multiple times.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.


```
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Patrick>ipconfig -all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Patrick-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter #
2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 88-53-2E-08-39-6F
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 88-53-2E-08-39-6F
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6230
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 88-53-2E-08-39-6E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.50(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, August 14, 2014 9:35:03 AM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, August 15, 2014 9:35:04 AM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 14-FE-B5-9A-6A-7E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-00-50-4F
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::914a:3b3f:9bb1:b357%20(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 336068647
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1A-46-BA-C2-14-FE-B5-9A-6A-7E

   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{B3394DDF-C8C9-4EC0-80E8-6D42A42FD2CC}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{021CFAAF-4DBE-4F64-85FA-C4FD2D6CABFC}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{CB5E14E1-6FD3-4CAC-87F8-3910BF08E54F}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.home:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #5
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
```


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

and welcome to the Forum

Lets take a peek at your network environment:

First:

Power Cycle everything . . Turn off the Modem, router and all pc's . . turn on the Modem and wait a few minutes for the lights to stabilize . . then turn on the router, then one pc at a time. See if you connect to the internet.

Then:

Remove all the stored wireless network profiles and search for the network again.

How to Remove Stored Wireless Network Profiles for XP, Vista, and Windows 7

Then: check your browser's settings, remove any proxy settings if found here's how.

Then:

with the pc connected to the router, Click on *Start* . . *Run* . . type *CMD* 

At the > prompt type or copy and paste the following command: 

*ipconfig/all > 0 & notepad 0* 

and press enter.

Come back here and Paste the results in a message.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB drive, or a CD-R disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

then please Download and run this Xirrus WiFi Inspector, click the *Networks* link on the upper left and paste a screen shot of that screen here. Note that this application requires NET Framework to run. If you get an error about a missing function, download and install NET Framework.


To post a screen shot of the active window, hold the _*Alt*_ key and press the *PrtScn* key. Open the Windows PAINT application and _*Paste*_ the screen shot. You can then use PAINT to trim to suit, and save it as a JPG format file. To upload it to the forum, open the full reply window and use the _*Manage Attachments*_ button to upload it here. For Vista and Windows 7, 8 you can use the Windows Snipping Tool


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## pgw1 (Aug 14, 2014)

I have attached the log from ipconfig in the opening post, unless you mean on the wired connection. If so, I won't have access to that computer for a while.

This is the screenshot from Xirrus.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Assuming that "Kayaker" is yours, you have a strong signal . . Have you tried installing a newer driver for your wireless card?


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## pgw1 (Aug 14, 2014)

Yes. I updated the newest driver at the same time I got the new router.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Please post another Xirrus report when the gateway is not found . . Do you have a microwave or other electronic device close to the router?


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## pgw1 (Aug 14, 2014)

I don't get the problem with the gateway anymore, the problem I get is "problem with the wireless adapter or access point"

This is the Xirrus report while the wifi was disconnected due to that error.


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

You are connected to the router ok . . what are the brand and model numbers of modem and router?


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## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Also, what is the make/model of the laptop or desktop computer you are using to make the wireless connection to the "kayaker" router?? This will also help us.

These are the most common failures for your type of problem:
1) The internal WLAN or wifi card is failing or has failed
2) The hard drive has failed or is failing and due to read sector errors, it's producing spurious results when the Windows networking files attempt to operate and keep a networking connection open continuously
3) Windows7 system networking files have become corrupted or damaged by a virus, and will not work properly or intermittantly.
4) Motherboard of computer has an internal hardware error, and no longer will work with wireless WLAN devices, internal or external.

*Things to try then are in this order:*
1) borrow or buy an external usb dongle type wifi card and test with your computer through usb port. They can be bought at Radio Shack for $25-$35. if your dropped-connection problem is resolved; your internal WLAN has failed and needs to be replaced! 
2) test integrity of your hard drive; download free Seatools drive diagnostic from my signature below and test. If your drive fails *ANY* of the Seatools test, it is toast and needs to be replaced. :facepalm: Make sure you back up all your personal information to external hard drive, flash drive, cd/dvd discs, or online Cloud storage account such as Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive prior to replacing the drive!
3) Use your installed Anti-Virus scanner to scan your hard drive for active viruses--such as Norton, McAfee, or Avast. Remove or Quarantine all viruses. Shut down computer, reboot and re-test wifi connection stability. If it works, your problem was being caused by viruses or malware.:facepalm: If you're not familiar with how to do this, see my link for help on possible virus/malware help in my signature link below.
3) continued...you can also boot to *SAFE MODE, COMMAND PROMPT*, and use the Windows Recovery Console to restore any damaged or corrupted windows networking files using *"sfc /scannow"* command. You can also use the *"chkdsk /r /f"* command as well. Assuming that your drive passed the Seatools test above, these should both complete without error, and will restore any damaged Windows system files as well as remap any soft errors on your drive where these Windows system files live. Allow several hours for both of these to run, possibly up to 12 hrs. or more depending on the size of your Windows C: drive. Reboot and restest your wifi connection duration. This could fix for you! :dance:
4) You are halfway there on this one if you bought the external usb wifi card as in #1 and it failed. :wink: If you purchase a replacement WLAN internal wifi card on eBay or similar, and replace it and the wireless dropoff connection persists, this conclusively proves that the Motherboard in your computer has failed *assuming Memtest, also in my signature below runs successfully for at least 8 passes* and needs to be replaced. 

There are some other tests you can also run to narrow down your problem, the least of which is a complete reinstall of Windows7 on that existing hard drive if it passed Seatools tests. A lot of Techs like me also have extra hard drives lying around, which can be temporarily installed into your computer, loaded with Win7 and test your wifi in this manner. If the problem abates, it's definitely a Windows corruption or virus/malware damage cause with your original hard drive-Win7 you are running now. :facepalm:

If you don't think you have the time or effort or knowledge to perform all this (_this would take me a minimum of 1 week to do_), I urge you to take to your local Computer Pro. :wink: He has most of the tools and knowledge to make a quick diagnosis. He also will have extra parts for troubleshooting you won't have on hand, such as usb wifi cards, extra hard drives, RAM memory, etc. This will cost you between $35-$95 or so in the U.S. On the low end of that if you use a licensed Independent Tech; on the high end if you use a chain store like Best Buy or Staples.

Hope this helps! :thumb:
BIGBEARJEDI


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## pgw1 (Aug 14, 2014)

The router is an Actiontec M1424WR Rev 1
My laptop is Dell XPS L1702X with a Centrino Advanced N-6230 card

I have tried the USB wifi adapter. I don't have any disconnection problems with it, but the ping fluctuations while gaming are alot greater.

It's also begun to disconnect randomly. The wifi icon doesn't say that it's disconnected, but I'm unable to access the internet until I reset the wireless adapter. The troubleshooter doesn't pick anything up.

So is my best choice right now to try replacing the network card? My laptop has a striped screw on one of the Hard Drive areas, so if it's underneath that I don't think I will be able to replace it. 

Thanks for the help.


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