Question Weird issue, not sure where to look

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This is about a 10 year old notebook running Win7 (yes, I know ... too bad). It's had a few problems over the years, replaced drives, bad fan replaced, etc. It works fine for what I do. Most of the time.

In the last few days, I've noticed slow downs on the web at different times, not always the same. I attributed it to the DSL, but now I find it may not be that.

When it slowed down today and wouldn't connect to a few sites, I tried my tablet. It worked fine, connecting to wherever I wanted.

On a whim, I connected a LAN cable to the notebook and turned the wireless off. It started connecting to those sites again.

I'm not back on wireless with the LAN cable disconnected and it's working fine.

The wireless adapter is factory installed, internal. Could it be flaking out?

Am I getting interference that affects the notebook but not the tablet?

 

[Tech Junky]

10 years is quite a long time for an adapter. Especially when it comes to newer tech being released in the same amount of time. I'm a fan of upgrading to whatever the latest is when it comes to networking to get the best possible speeds.

If you go into device manager and grab the adapter name / model it will make it easier to make a recommendation on a replacement. Being 10 yo though it's probably a 1/2 mini adapter and those go to a max of AC which would be a considerable improvement over the likely B/G/N that's currently inside of the laptop. You should see double the speed from a new adapter which might cost ~$20.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, wifi internal cards can flake and die. I've seen it happen.

You can probably get an exact replcement off of ebay from a "dead" laptop that was parted out, but you'de be rolling the dice as far as future lifespan compared to your original card. You can go for an upgraded brand-new of the same interface type, but beware of BIOS white-lists of some laptop brands, and driver availability, especially if you want to continue to run an older OS.

Or just disable the internal, and use a USB wifi, like an AC nano-dongle.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

10 years is quite a long time for an adapter. Especially when it comes to newer tech being released in the same amount of time. I'm a fan of upgrading to whatever the latest is when it comes to networking to get the best possible speeds.

If you go into device manager and grab the adapter name / model it

Qualcomm Atheros AR5B93 Wireless Network Adapter

 

[Tech Junky]

Qualcomm Atheros AR5B93 Wireless Network Adapter

So, it's a half mini as suspected.

WiFi Card 300Mpbs 802.11b/g/n

So, are you ready to supercharge your speeds?

 

[aigomorla]

if its a 10yr old pc, it has a lan jack.
i would first connect it via direct lan, and see if the problems are reproducable, before you have him swap out his internal nic card.

 

[mxnerd]

Try resetting the network

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[lakedude]

So, it's a half mini as suspected.

WiFi Card 300Mpbs 802.11b/g/n

So, are you ready to supercharge your speeds?

If the OP is on DSL a properly working 10 year old wifi adapter wouldn't be the bottleneck.

 

[lakedude]

if its a 10yr old pc, it has a lan jack.
i would first connect it via direct lan, and see if the problems are reproducable, before you have him swap out his internal nic card.

a whim, I connected a LAN cable to the notebook and turned the wireless off. It started connecting to those sites again.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

If the OP is on DSL a properly working 10 year old wifi adapter wouldn't be the bottleneck.

That's what's bugging me. The DSL is only 25/1 and I've always speed tested at or near that with the wireless.

This is all fairly recent ... the last week or so. I'm thinking some kind of RF interference has been introduced, but I can't figure out what. Nothing really added that I cant think of.

I'm not opposed to a new USB NIC if it's necessary. Or possibly a direct internal replacement.

 

[lakedude]

I'm not back on wireless with the LAN cable disconnected and it's working fine

Now back on wireless?

Hard to say on equipment that old. If it is working fine now don't worry about it?

It wouldn't surprise me if the connections are getting janky and just reseating them would "fix" the problem for a while. Antennas 📡 work with a tiny voltage so any resistance will interfere with the signal.

Intermittent problems are hard to track down.

Maybe find some software to check your signal strength?

I had an old AMD system that would go wonkey about once a year. After taking it apart and putting it back together it would work for another year. Bad connection somewhere must have been the cause.

 

[JackMDS]

This works very well for me in an 9 years old laptop.

https://www.amazon.com/OURLiNK-600Mbps-Wireless-Network-Computer/dp/B011T5IF06/