Unreliable Wireless connection

[skaler]

This is a Pavilion DV7-6195us. It connects wirelessly to a Comcast provided gateway/router. My connection drops off randomly, and my workaround has been to click on the wireless icon in the lower right corner of the taskbar, disconnect from my network, wait 5 seconds, and reconnect. This is successful in about 90% of the cases.

I looked under Device Manager> Network Adapters, and see: Intel Centrino Wireless -N 1000 #2, Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter #2, Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter #3, and Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.

This laptop was bought used from a guy who did the free upgrade to Windows 10 without doing any of the prep work. I reverted it back to Win 7, 64bit. The laptop is from about 2012, and I did the best I could about updating the latest drivers, but attempting to install the latest WiFi driver gave me the message that said that the installed driver was more recent than the one I was trying to install. The current driver version is 15.11.0.7 dated 1/26/2014(Intel Centrino). I don't know why it is a #2, and I don't know where the Microsoft Virtual Miniport #2 and #3 came from. Their driver versions are identical, and are dated from 2006.

I wonder if they are interfering with the Intel N 1000? Should I uninstall them? Is there a later driver for the Centrino N 1000 that can be found somewhere other than HP's support site?

My aim here is to stabilize my connection to my wireless router.

My wife's laptop is a Dell Inspiron that sits not too far from where my laptop is, about the same distance from the router, and she has no connection problems.

Thanks.

[Tardis40]

Hi @skaler,

I hope you enjoy your visit to the HP Support Forums. I understand you are having an issue with the network. I will be glad to help you.

The following pages are helpful when troubleshooting wireless connectivity issues.
Troubleshooting Your Wireless Network and Internet Connection (Windows 7)

Also, you can look at the power management for your wireless adapter:
Disable the Power Off option for the adapter:
1. Open Device Manager. (Win Key+R > type devmgmt.msc > OK)
2. Expand the Network adapters.
3. Right click on the Ethernet/Wireless Adapter and click Properties.
4. Click the Power Management tab.
5. Remove the check mark beside Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
6. Click OK.
7. Test.

Forget the network: (Windows 7)
1. Press Start.
2. Type Manage wireless networks and click the application at the top of the start menu.
3. Right click on the network and click Remove network.
4. Confirm the warning by click OK.

Reset the TCP/IP settings on your PC:
1. Go to your start screen/menu and type CMD.
2. Right-click on the command prompt icon and chose Run as administrator.
3. In the window that opens type "netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt" without quotes, and press enter.
4. Restart your PC and test.

It may also help to reset the Winsock catalogue:
1. Go to your start screen/menu and type CMD.
2. Right-click on the command prompt icon and chose Run as administrator.
3. In the window that opens type "netsh winsock reset" without quotes, and press enter.
4. Restart your PC and test.

Reinstall the network adapter drivers:
1. Download the drivers from here but do not run them yet.
2. Go to your start screen/menu and type Device Manager.
3. Expand Network adapters.
4. Right click on the wireless adapter and choose Uninstall.
5. Run the downloaded drivers from step 1.
6. Restart your PC and test.

Test an ethernet connection:
Self-explanatory. Test if the issue persists on a wired connection to rule out the wireless adapter hardware so troubleshooting can be directed towards the right areas.

All of HP driver can be found at support.hp.com.

Please keep me informed of how things went. 

If you require further assistance, let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help you.

Please let me know if this resolves the issue by marking this post as "Accept as Solution".
To simply say thanks, click the Thumbs up below! 

Thanks.

Test another connection:
Many people rule out their home network as an issue if another device is working on the same network. Networking is not that simple. Each device interacts differently with your router or modem and it is impossible to rule out settings in that device until the notebook has been tested on another network.

[skaler]

Thank you Tardis40 for your input. So far, all I've done is disable the power off feature of all 4 of the listed adapters.

Do I have to perform the steps in the order that you listed? If so, the second step you list is to forget this network. The only network that shows up is mine. I'm not sure I feel confident enough to remove it. Won't I lose my internet connection?

Can I reset the TCP/IP and Winsock settings without first removing my network?

Also, in reinstalling the drivers, you state:" download from here...", but here is not a link. Was that inadvertent? I can navigate to HP's support site if not, plus, I think you already supplied to link later in your response.

Thanks again for your response and input.

[Tardis40]

Hi @skaler,

The steps I listed are there to help test the network. If you network start to work before get through all the steps, that is when you can stop.

It support .hp.com, you select your OS and then the network.

[skaler]

Ok, I reset the TCP/IP and Winsock and there is no change. If anything, waking the laptop from sleep or just rebooting it causes the wifi to connect after a longer than normal pause. In Device Manager, both Microsoft virtual drivers are now disabled with the statement that windows has disabled this device because it reported a problem(Code 43).

Can you tell me which driver I should download? There are only 2 of the 10 listed ones that are related to Intel.

They are SP 54841 version 14.2A, and SP 54900 version 14.2. Under details, both are dated Oct 14, 2011.

As I mentioned, my adapter is an Intel Centrino N-1000, and the driver that is installed is 15.11.0.7 dated 1/26/2014.

I did not install this driver, so it must have been there when I reverted from Windows 10 back to Windows 7.

[Tardis40]

Hi @skaler,

That driver is from Microsoft and does not work well with Windows 7.

You need to open device manager and delete that driver.

Here is a link to download the driver for Windows 7 Intel High-Definition (HD) Graphics Driver sp 54470 version 8.15.10.2291

If you have any other question, fell free to ask.

[skaler]

Hi Tardis40.

I know that you are helping many people at the same time, so a mixup is perfectly uderstandable.

I was hoping you could send me the recommended driver for my Intel Centrino N-1000 wireless adapter.

Instead, you sent me a link to an HD graphics driver.

This laptop has both the AMD HD6700M adapter and the Intel HD3000 which is part of the Core i7 chip.

Unless I totally misunderstand, is there some part of the core i7 that is somehow related to the wireless

operation?

[Tardis40 · Accepted solution]

@skaler,

Sorry, I sent the graphic driver not the network driver.

Here is the link for Intel Wireless Drivers for Microsoft Windows 7 Version 14.2 Rev. A sp54841

Again I'm sorry I did that.

[skaler]

Uninstalling and reinstalling the driver you suggested seems to have solved the problem. When I uninstalled the Intel Centrino N-1000 device, the pop-up asked me if I wanted to uninstall the associated drivers. I said yes. The uninstall also took the two Microsoft Virtual drivers away.

I then executed the sp54841, and another pop-up stated that the driver was already installed. I clicked "yes to all", and it reinstalled the N-1000 and the two microsoft virtual drivers reappeared.

All is well. Let's hope it stays that way. Thank you so much for your help. I'll mark accept as solution and give you a kudos thumbs up.

Kindest regards.