Problems connecting to router

[GunnerHP]

Hi. I've been using a HP 15-R110TU laptop with OEM Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11 bgn Wi-Fi Adapter for not quite 2 years now. 

Right from the start, it has been very slow to connect to our wireless router. Despite "Connect automatically" being ticked, to actually get online I have to click on the Network icon, select my router from those found, then click "Connect". About 20% of the time, after a delay of 30-60 seconds, it will say "Unable to connect", so cancel & try again. Another 20-30% of the time, after a delay of ~30 seconds, it will say "Limited" connection - unfortunately "Limited" in this case means no internet access :-(. I must then disconnect & try again. Sometimes this will go on for 2 - 3 attempts before it will actually connect. It is quite common to have to wait 5 minutes before being able to connect to the router. The rest of the time, it will connect first go, but still takes 20 - 30 seconds to do so.

Once connected though, wireless speed has been fine, usually sitting around 20 Mbps down & 1 Mbps upload.

A few weeks ago, I went to connect one day & it asked me to enter the SSID password, which is has only very rarely done previously (if ever?). Since then, every time I go to connect online - waking from sleep, re-booting, having to make a second attempt at connecting, reconnecting after the connection has dropped out, I have to enter the password, which is more than somewhat annoying.

The suggestion has been made to "Forget" the network then re-connect from scratch. I have previously been able to "forget" networks (& indeed did so a couple of months ago when a work network was updated) but the option to do so no longer appears, either on the network connection page, via settings or even via the command prompt.

Have checked the installed wireless driver & it is: 2023.33.415.2016 dated 10/5/2016, which is newer then the drivers listed on both the HP & Realtek sites.

I originally thought it may have been a problem with our wireless router, but, since getting this laptop, we have also got 2 x Acer laptops & they both connect instantly on being woken etc, so it would appear that the router isn't at fault.

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

I've been happily using HP / Compaq PC's & laptops for over 20 years now, but I've got to say that this may be my last one 😞

[Chimney_83 · Accepted solution]

Greetings @GunnerHP,

I Thank you for posting your question in the HP community, a great place to get support. 

Firstly, I would like to thank you for the detailed description of the issue you are facing with the wireless connectivity on your computer. 

I would like to recommend you to try few steps:

Run Microsoft Troubleshooter, the procedure to access it is mentioned below:

Open Control Panel (View by category)

Below Network & Sharing Center click on Troubleshoot Problems.

From the window which opens, please select Network adapter and check if it is able to find any issues and fixes the concern for you.

Also, run Internet Connections troubleshooter. 

If the troubleshooter does not fix the concern. 

Open device manager

Under network adapters, select the listed wireless adapter and uninstall it. 

Restart the PC. (upon restarting the PC, the driver will be refreshed.)

If this does not resolve the concern, 

Open device manager again, right click on the listed wireless adapter and select properties. 

You would get a popup for the wireless adapter, click on the driver tab and select Roll Back Driver. 

If the wireless adapter responded fine earlier, you can install the actual driver that came with the PC using HP Recovery manager.

In HP Recovery manager program, under I need help immediately section you have an option, to reinstall the driver or applications that came with the computer.

If none of the above-recommended solutions work for you, Reinstallation of the operating system will be required (reason: you mentioned that you do not have an option to forget the network in network and sharing center, which indicates that there might be OS corruption)

Let me know if this helped, for further assistance, I request you to open the wireless adapter compartment and let me know the part number of the wireless card installed on the PC (as different wireless adapters were used on the model number provided by you.)

[GunnerHP]

Hi Chimney. Appears to have worked, thanks very much! 

FYI ran the Network Adapter troubleshooter which gave the result "Your computer appears to be correctly configured, but the device or resource (DNS server) is not responding"

Internet Connections troubleshooter found no problems.

Uninstalled Network Adapter, restarted laptop & apparently fixed as connected straight away. (& have changed user, & restarted 3 more times & fine each time!).

Checked via Connection Settings & now have the option to "forget network" again, so things must have reset / cleared.  

Just for the sake of it, I re-ran the Network Adapter troubleshooter again & got the same response though - DNS server is not responding?

Also went into Device Manager checked the Network Adapter properties & it shows the same driver details as previously?

So things appear to be sorted OK - should I be concerned about those 2 things?

Thanks again

Gunner

[Chimney_83]

Hey @GunnerHP, 

Thanks for the reply, I am glad that reinstalling the network adapter resolved the issue. Coming to the concern where you are gettings DNS Server not responding error, I found this Microsoft article http://hp.care/2fDU3Fo though the article says that it is for Windows 7, the procedure is the same for Windows 8 and 10. Try the steps mentioned in the article and let me know if it resolved the concern. 

Let me know if this helped, for further assistance please help me with the router/modem you are using.