Networking & wireless forum: How do I improve the Wi-Fi reception on a laptop?

The old saying "the longest journey begins with the first step" still rings true in this modern age we live in. We are all on the same journey, some of us have traveled further, and we can well remember the time when we took our first few steps, with trepidation and uncertainty, but there were others around to provide encouragement, not condescension. When we help our fellows, we help ourselves at the same time and in this way we grow towards our potential as human beings.

There have been times in my life when I have given out advice or recommendations where I was unqualified to do so. I have worked at it, but perhaps I am still unqualified even now, and depending on the situation my advice could be inappropriate or incorrect due to my mis-interpretation of the question, the situation, or the person involved. The most I can do is to offer suggestions intended to be helpful, uplifting, encouraging, but which remain open to argument and debate and criticism (the constructive kind preferably).

We are all subjected to judgment in this life, and I think we should endeavour to keep it to a minimum, keeping in mind that what comes around also goes around, as they say. None of us wants to be the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black" after all. I don't want to make any assertions about someone's qualification to offer advice, or someone's worthiness to make "disingenious" comments here in this forum. However, if I were to offer such an assertion, I would have to say that in my opinion, I would much prefer the company of people in this forum who are polite, helpful, non-judgmental, and can share some positive energy with the rest of us. But then again, sometimes a person can just be having a bad day, and I'm sure we all can understand this feeling.

Thank you for receiving my contribution to this most interesting discussion which started out as something technical and in my view has evolved into a matter of ethics and social science. Conversations about computers must also include the people who are using them, don't you think?

Hmmm....Jerk! No, no, I know, Unhelpful Jerk.
Thank you.

I have worked with wifi adaptors and routers all my life, and I can tell you by
just looking at the bars or the speed you will be mislead. Many adaptors
boast new protocols and faster speeds, but the fact of the matter is the
signal is limited to 1/10 of a watt as regulated by the fcc.

Some manufacturers have stronger signals than others, however you cannot
tell by looking at the bars or the speed. The speeds that are displayed
is usually hype. What is more accurate is to go a far distance, and see how often
you get disconnected.

If you have three bars coming up, it does not neccesarily mean that it is
worse than having five bars come up on another laptop. The manufacturer of
the wifi hardware can cause the software to display more bars and speeds, even
though the signal may be less as compared to another manufacturer.

Usually the signal on a laptop is quite strong, because of the antannaes that are
behind the screen. If you are getting a lot of disconnects, you can try using a usb
wifi adaptor connected to a usb extension cord, and place the adaptor in various
positions. You could also purchase a long range wifi antennae.

Good luck.

My Dell Studio 1555 has a signal strength switch in the card setup. You may have a similar feature. I was able to increase the speed by changing the setting to full strength.

The bars means nothing. The sig will work fine. Don't worrey about the bars. This was told to me from LINKSYS
WIRELESS ROUTER. I had the same problem. My PC & LapTop work fine wireless.

In my experience, a new PC is usually a slow PC, because NEW = SLOW + DIRTY. That is to say, it becomes a hell of a lot faster by the time I have finished cleaning up the pre-installed programs which typically come with new PCs. I don't know exactly what programs may be installed in the situation outlined above but there's the possibility that one or more of them could be slowing down the performance of the computer and/or the internet. So, I would like to suggest some alternatives.

Let me begin by saying that I believe in freedom of speech and opinion, the free sharing of knowledge and technology, and the right to a free, safe, and comfortable experience with computing and internet. Therefore, any software suggested by me is always freeware or open source software.

Putting aside the internet speed issue for the moment, I agree that a computer with such modern specifications should indeed go like the wind, if it is tuned up and configured correctly. So, what are the factors that could be preventing it from reaching its potential? The first thing that comes to mind is CRAP. New computers come pre-installed with all kinds of software, notably the "free trial" versions of antivirus such as Norton or Kaspersky, trial versions of DVD burning software such as Nero, and a heap of games and other distractions which you may or may not like. In some ways a computer is like a person. If you want a faster computer, after making sure everything is backed up (your data and also a system image of the operating system), you should remove any excess fat (unwanted programs), then implement a diet and exercise program to keep your computer light and quick on its feet. Here are the steps I suggest:

1. Firstly, in case something goes wrong, make a backup (system image) of your operating system. This is particularly easy with Windows 7 which comes with this feature built-in. Save the image to another hard drive (can be USB or internal 2nd drive). If you have only one hard drive in your computer it could be a good idea to create a second partition for your data files, including photos, music, and documents. I always like to keep my operating system totally separate from my important files.

2. Eliminate the excess fat (get rid of unwanted programs). There are numerous free programs around to handle the problem of pre-installed crap. For instance, there is SlimComputer, available right here in Cnet. If you want to be absolutely sure that the uninstalled programs do not leave behind any bits and pieces in the registry, the start menu or other places, I recommend REVO Uninstaller. Available also as a portable app at www.portableapps.com .

3. Implement a strict diet. This means, be careful about which programs you install in future, and when you uninstall something be sure to uninstall it completely. The built-in Windows uninstall feature is notoriously incompetent at doing its job. You can use Revo Uninstaller, IObit Uninstaller, Glary Utilities, and/or Crap Cleaner. Myself, I use Revo mostly, combined with Crap Cleaner, but sometimes I use IObit for "batch uninstall" which includes also the features of "forced uninstall" as well as performing the deep uninstall to remove all traces from registry.

4. Plan a fitness/exercise program. This may include such activities as regular scans for virus and malware, running Crap Cleaner or similar program, defrag the hard drive, clean up the registry (as well as defragging it), and implement an automated backup routine.

Some folks may ask the question, "if I uninstall the pre-installed antivirus and other programs, what shall I replace them with?". This is a reasonable question and there is of course a reasonable answer. The answer is ...... FREEWARE, preferably Open Source software. Free does not necessarily equate to low quality, lacking features, or with some kind of "strings attached" scenario. Perhaps surprisingly, there are a lot of humans on the planet who write programs for a hobby, because they enjoy it, and because they believe that certain things such as the right to surf the internet in safety, should be free of charge. These people normally have a day-job which they may hate or love, just like the rest of us, but in their spare time they design software because they can and because they want to, not because they need money to pay their mortgage. In such cases, a "labour of love" may surpass commercial products which are often designed by people who hate what they do, are not good at their job, but have no choice other than to keep on doing it.

Alrighty, let's cut to the chase. For free online protection, I am using the built-in Windows firewall, combined with the free version of Avast antivirus. I also have Spybot Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes, and the portable version of Clamwin Antivirus. Actually, the overwhelming majority of my software is portable, much of it downloaded from www.portableapps.com or other portable freeware sites. With regard to a fitness program for the PC, I am using SmartDefrag2 to maintain contiguity of the hard drive. Ainvo Registry Defrag is useful after installing/uninstalling programs. I use Toucan for backup, file synchronization, and file encryption. Free CD/DVD compiling and burning can be performed with Deep Burner, InfraRecorder, or just by using the built-in Windows DVD burner.

So you see, you really don't need most of the pre-installed crap that comes with your new computer. The computer manufacturer has done deals with various software companies to attract more customers, as they are hoping that when your trial version of their software expires, you either don't know what else to do or you are too lazy to consider the alternatives and so you will just reach for your credit card and make the annual payments for such things as antivirus protection, which should be considered a basic right, instead of a paid privilege. Generally speaking, the more programs you have installed, the slower your hard drive and registry. I have almost nothing installed in my computer except Avast, Java, Flash, and a few of the critical Windows Updates. Everything else runs portably, (stored on another partition) and most of my seldom used portable apps are on a USB stick just to keep them out of the way.

Learning how to care for a computer is like learning how to be a parent. Some concepts are straight-forward and instinctive, but others need to be learnt. If you want your computer to be healthy, happy, and well behaved, you must be responsible to meet its needs, to apply discipline, care and respect, and to do the research to find out how to do any of the things you know you need to do but you know you don't know how to do. We learn by trial and error but it all starts with the motivation and the strategy.

Best of luck to you.

3 bars versus 5 bars. The bars or "signal strength" mean almost nothing. They are a feel good system. Same as your cell phone. 1.5-2 bars and your throughput should be excellent. Do a speed test if you don't believe me. Your computer next to hers. They should be almost identical in time.
THEN install new drivers if I am wrong.
THEN buy an external plug in card, I don't see the point in N cards. They may be a little faster, but your internet connection is usually too slow to make complete use even of good old B. The only advantage to N is high population areas where they is a LOT of interference.
My current external plug in is EnGenius. Great performance, easy to use. Also remember any external card will draw more juice, so if you are completely portable (on battery power), only use the external card when needed.

Hello!

Sometimes the simplest solutions are overlooked.

Consider to change the mobility settings in windows control panel!

If they are set to lower power consumption, that may affect over all performance, including wi fi connection.

My experience is that on new mobile computers the settings, even for mains power, is not at peak performance as standard. Change to highest possible to see if this solves the problem, whether it is a wi fi problem or an overall performance problem.

Best regards: Johnny Myrberg, Sweden

If it was outside interference or anything like that, then one would think that said outside interference would effect both your computer and the new computer.

An easy and cost free fun test test would be for you and your friend to bring both laptops to a different wi-fi location, maybe a Starbucks or a local restaurant that has wi-fi (fun because you also get to be out of the house with your friend). If the problem still persists, then the problem has to lay with the computer and not the signal or outside interference or any of that other technical mumbo jumbo at your friends house. If both perform equally well, then you'll know it's some type of problem at her house they way her computer is communicating with her router (remember, your computer worked fine at her house).

This would eliminate a lot of 'technical guessing' and narrow down the source of the problem greatly.

In any event, you'll have a lot of the possible problems eliminated before bringing the unit to somebody for help or trying some of the great suggestion posted here.

I agree with pretty well all the statements about signal bars. They are not standard, some will have 3 bars, another sitting side-by-side may have 4. Both systems of the same make and model. It does not take much movement to get different readings on the same machine.

I would expect this computer to have been either fixed, or returned by now as it has been some days since the question was asked.

I have had more problems with a router going bad and needing replaced than I have the nic in the pc/laptop and that has been minimal.

Using both computers side-by-side hook up and run a speed test on both. They should be fairly close but will not be the same as the test route will not always be the same.

Without going back to the beginning of this post I recall that the statement was made that the system itself was slow coming up. I would wager on the system being the problem and not the WiFi.

Hey, take this system back to the dealer, get it fixed and let us know what the problem was so everyone can know how close they were to the solution. tnx

Try 'G only' mode on Router! Enter router admin and set to 'G only' mode.

Some PC wireless adapters are too fussy when trying to sync up and run with 'N' wireless or 'mixed' modes. Don't worry so much about the number of bars; it's error free communications that you want. With router in "N" mode it forces the PC to try to sync at that rate. Some wireless adapters don't down-shift or sync well in multi-mode environments, this causes data transmission errors and re-tries. I think that's the problem. Not PC drivers and Operating systems.

- If you want to confirm; do a CNET Speed Test with the PC directly plugged into a spare router port. (This is your base-line. The best it will ever do.) You can try several times if you like, going for highest number.

http://reviews.cnet.com/internet-speed-test/?tag=contentMain;contentBody;pm

- Then un-plug and do it again ... this time it will be wireless very near router.

- Then move PC to distant room and try again.

I'll bet you'll get pretty good results ... at least ones that you'll be happy with if you lock the Router to Wireless G only. (Leave passwords and encryption just like you have them).

In a condensed fashion , "System Mechanic Free" tells us the same thing.

There could be two problems:
1. what is the download and upload speed
2. what type or brand wireless device you are using - I use Cisco small business router(CISCO WAP4410N
). It covers 25,000 sq. ft. with ease.

Reading this and the replies, the hypothesis that the other laptop is hopping on a neighbor's unsecured access point is a good one. It happens to me all the time. I move my AP to the top of the queue, but after using the machine in a different environment it sometimes forgets--and your friend's may never have been set up to the right AP to start with. In many neighborhoods, the chances of finding another access point barely within reception range and unsecured are large. In the router setup, the wireless network should be given a unique and recognizable name. I also recommend using encryption with a key not easily guessed (though if you're having trouble getting the wireless set up it's tempting to do without at first). Then, in your list of "available networks", make sure the one you're connecting to is the right one.

Of course, any sluggishness not involving the Internet is a separate issue. The vendor should stand behind a new purchase but if there's a simple fix, why not check it out first?

Many wi-fi routers are dual band these days. One is much faster than the other. The slower connection is usually used for less powerful machines or not the best equipment matches (Linksys card to Netgear router). You may have your computer running the faster configuration and your friend the slower.
Of course, there are passwords or codes, but since you are both receiving the signal there should not be a firewall problem.