Lenovo Y500 laptop with WiFi/internet issues

hovenas

Senior member
Jan 5, 2001
616
0
0
Dear board, I have a problem that I can't figure out. I bought a Lenovo Y500 laptop about a year ago and it worked flawlessly. have Win 8.1 x64 running and all is well.

Now, I can't tell exactly how and when it started but suddently I started to have massive issues with connectivity and internet. I didn't understand why since all my other devices work perfectly with the wireless router (Macbook pro, Nexus 7, Iphone 5, Z1 Compact) but this doesn't.

Problem:
- when surfing, it will seldom load internet pages (Chrome or IE) first time I click them. If I click the reload, it will usually, after a while, load the page but it will be slow and often present an incomplete page, forcing yet another reload.
Downloading patches for Steam/origin will be interrupted and origin in particular struggles to keep online with it's servers.

I have read numerous posts that the Centrino N2230 is rubbish and tried to shift all settings recommended, to no avail. I even turned the Centrino off (wifi option), bought a USB-access point called Trendnet TEW-624UB but the issues won't go away. I am getting really tired of this, my wife laughs (with the Mac) at me which is infuriating of course :)

What could it be? Can the tech-gurus here come up with some suggestions short of a re-install of windows and all the stuff that I would have to do?

Very grateful for help.
 

haiwai

Junior Member
Mar 14, 2014
3
0
0
I'd check whether it's hardware or software related issue, the easiest way to do so would probably be running some livecd linux (ie. ubuntu), if it works flawlessly there then there might be something wrong with your drivers, or some malware thing.

If it will act the same, you can try to replace the whole WLAN module, in Y500 it's pretty simple, just a few screws to do so, and it'll cost like a few bucks.
 

hovenas

Senior member
Jan 5, 2001
616
0
0
yeah, my problem is this - I have disabled the Centrino and am running wifi over Trendnet TEW-624UB, a usb wifimodem and I STILL have issues. Using WLAN wont work either but it will with the other computers.
 

Hail The Brain Slug

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2005
3,724
3,004
146
While this might not be of any direct help, I've never had a good experience with usb wifi adapters - I would get a new wireless card for the laptop instead. An Intel 7260-N or something respectable. I'm inclined to blame the card since many, many people complain on the y510p about wifi regarding the 2230 card, as well. The 510p I picked up had a 7260-N and it worked flawlessly.
 

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
0
0
Two things to try:

  1. If you attach an ethernet cable and connect through that, does the problem persist?
  2. If you use a different router or different wireless network (work, coffee shop, friend's house), does the problem persist?
If you find that either or both of those solve your problem, then you'll want to troubleshoot your network setup. If they don't, then we've got to look at your computer.
 

hovenas

Senior member
Jan 5, 2001
616
0
0
Ethernet is sketchy. It works if I turn all Wifi off, reboot computer and have Ethernet attached. Drops ORIGIN (D/L Titanfall... 50GB of pure frustration) and I have to un-pause until it freezes and then I have to quit Origin and start again...
 

hovenas

Senior member
Jan 5, 2001
616
0
0
Thanks all for all the help received. What actually happened was kinda awesome. The door rang about a week ago and the service provider had a representative who came in and swiftly changed the Router to a newer model one - all works flawlessly and all good in the hood.

Happy ending for me!