Faulty Wireless Card?

[Fizban]

I just got a new laptop, and it's wireless works, but it seems to have a very, very, short range.

I've had three previous laptops and they were all fine, but this one seems to choke as soon as I get more than 50 or so feet from my router.

The wireless card on it is a Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter.

Here's two speedtest results, one from my bedroom, the other from the room the router is located in.

Bedroom:

Room with the router:

There anything I should try that might fix the issue, or just send it back?

 

[jsfitz54]

So it's new... Have you downloaded all the updates???

http://support.toshiba.com/support/driversResults?freeText=1200006293

Any Bios updates?

 

[Fizban]

So it's new... Have you downloaded all the updates???

http://support.toshiba.com/support/driversResults?freeText=1200006293

Any Bios updates?

I haven't updated the bios.

I have the Atheros driver which is listed there as well.

 

[jsfitz54]

The Intel card is "Optional" per specs. Perhaps a phone call to support is in order and if not a return.

http://support.toshiba.com/support/staticContentDetail?contentId=4001833&isFromTOCLink=false

You may want to check if the antenna wires did not come off in shipping.

 

[Fizban]

Bleh, they're completely useless. Their solution is to proclaim it isn't hardware related because if it was it wouldn't connect at all, and to charge me to "fix" it via remote access (which entails paying for a year of software related tech support, which I'd absolutely never use).

Possible that a better router would fix the issue, but that seems a shitty option as well considering that my 4 year old ASUS laptop operates fine at this range with the same router.

 

[jsfitz54]

There were multiple Atheros driver updates... try the others.

Also, from device manager uninstall adapter and reboot to let Windows reinstall. W8 has had many complaints for compatibility issues but perhaps W8's native drivers would work better over the Atheros/Toshiba ones.


ALSO, look at: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/atheros_wireless.htm


http://www.official-drivers.com/downloadcenter/atheros-drivers/

 

[Fizban]

Tried letting windows detect and install, same driver as before.

Checked those two sites you listed, and neither lists the model I have.

 

[Fizban]

They decided it's not faulty, and to just have me refund it.

Debating whether to even give them another shot and reorder with the more expensive wireless card this time, or just shop elsewhere. Originally ordered from them because the price was better than alternate options, and they had financing, but newegg has financing as well.

I suppose despite being a hassle to deal with they didn't try and screw me over though at least, they're paying for return shipping, and there's no restocking fee.

 

[SimpleTECH]

Tried letting windows detect and install, same driver as before.

Checked those two sites you listed, and neither lists the model I have.

Try 10.0.0.251 jsfitz54 listed. It's supported.

ATHR.DeviceDesc.956x = "Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter"
ATHR.DeviceDesc.T956x = "Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter"
ATHR.DeviceDesc.E068105B = "Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter"
ATHR.DeviceDesc.302617AA = "Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter"

 

[Fizban]

Try 10.0.0.251 jsfitz54 listed. It's supported.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. If that doesn't help I might try buying a new router too, I know mine isn't faulty as my old ASUS works fine from the same distance, but a better/newer router might send a stronger signal so that this laptops wireless card being flaky isn't as big of an issue since it will be used in my home 99% of the time.

 

[remixedcat]

Please ensure you have your router communicating on a non congested wireless channel. You can go to the Google Play store and search for the Amped Wireless Wifi Analytics tool>download it>it will tell you the least congested channels to use as well as other tools.

You may also download the program called InSSIDer if you have a windows based laptop and it will also scan networks and provide the congestion data as well.

From there you would go to the following Router Control Panel area (general example-yours may vary):
More Settings>2.4Ghz Settings>Basic Settings>Select the channel that is the least congested>Apply
Do the same for the 5Ghz band as well.

Please try the above to make sure it's not just congestion before replacing hardware

 

[Fizban]

Please ensure you have your router communicating on a non congested wireless channel. You can go to the Google Play store and search for the Amped Wireless Wifi Analytics tool>download it>it will tell you the least congested channels to use as well as other tools.

You may also download the program called InSSIDer if you have a windows based laptop and it will also scan networks and provide the congestion data as well.

From there you would go to the following Router Control Panel area (general example-yours may vary):
More Settings>2.4Ghz Settings>Basic Settings>Select the channel that is the least congested>Apply
Do the same for the 5Ghz band as well.

Please try the above to make sure it's not just congestion before replacing hardware

Wouldn't that affect all laptops if that was the issue?

Currently my ASUS gets 16 mbps in my bedroom, the new toshiba fluctuates between 1.5 and 6 mbps from the same distance.

 

[remixedcat]

Some cope better then others. Give it a try and see if it helps.

 

[Fizban]

Some cope better then others. Give it a try and see if it helps.

Will do, if I do decide to try buying a new router, any suggestions for decent ones, or pretty much any modern router likely to work fine at ~50-100 feet?

the two routers I own are both 5+ years old and only have b/g, no n, the laptops wireless card supports a/b/g/n.

 

[remixedcat]

Hope that works.

I have an Amped R20000G router and it's been rock solid for me...
review here.

 

[Fizban]

Hmm, options look like so:

If I have Auto 108mbps selected the only channel available is 6.

Every local network found by the amped wifi analytics tool was using channel 6 as well.

If I change mode to any of the following though:

b only
g only
g and b

I then have channels 1-11 available.

I tried b only, and channel 1, that didn't help, nor did g only and channel 1 or g and b with channel 1.

The router in question is this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/netgear-wpn824-router/4505-3319_7-31312124.html

 

[remixedcat]

Try ch 11

 

[Fizban]

Doesn't seem to change anything when trying channel 11 either.

Buying a new router seems a lot less hassle than sending this laptop back, and then having to order a new one from somewhere, and then waiting for it to arrive as well, so I think I'll try buying a router from somewhere that will allow me to return it if it doesn't solve the issue to see if that is all that's needed before I send the laptop back.

 

[remixedcat]

Also change security types as well to WPA2. Give that a try. Some older protocols have degraded performance.

Also is there a setting to change the channel width (20/40Mhz/Auto) if so please leave at 40Mhz and see if that helps.

If you've exhausted all settings then a new router would need to be had

What kinda computer stores are around your area? Got a Microcenter or a Tigerdirect store near you? If so go to one of those. The Amped I got can be bought from those stores.

 

[Fizban]

Also change security types as well to WPA2. Give that a try. Some older protocols have degraded performance. if you've exhausted all settings then a new router would need to be had

What kinda computer stores are around your area? Got a Microcenter or a Tigerdirect store near you? If so go to one of those. The Amped I got can be bought from those stores.

I have a microcenter pretty close, other than that just Best Buy, Radio Shack, and basic stores that dabble in electronics (walmart/target/kmart etc.).

I'll try changing to WPA2 first right now though.

EDIT: Tried WPA2, same results. I don't see any setting regarding channel width. Will grab a router tomorrow and see if that fixes it.

 

[Jetster]

Call support

 

[jsfitz54]

Try using WPA2-PSK [AES] only.

TKIP + AES slows everything down.

AES is better than TKIP.

 

[Fizban]

Call support

Did that already.

Their answer was "update the driver". Oh, you did that already? Well, it's impossible for it to be hardware related since you can connect, so if you're not happy with it send it back for a refund.

 

[jsfitz54]

If you try an N based router:
set to 20/40 or 20 + 40 (bandwidth) 20 is G, 40 is N.
WPA2-PSK [AES]
select G and N, only. (you most likely don't need A or B)

That Netgear router ran hot on some models, I fixed one with a blown capacitor.

Are you running the most recent Firmware for the router???

 

[Fizban]

Are you running the most recent Firmware for the router???

I believe so, googled and it looks to be. When I attempt to do the automated update it fails to connect to the netgear server, likely because the latest update I can find is from 2008 and it's an old router model.

The firmware version I have is V2.0.26_1.2.17NA.