For the past week or so my desktop has been randomly dropping WiFi.
When it happens, it usually won’t reconnect properly until I restart the PC. Meanwhile my phone, TV, and everything else on the same network stay online like nothing happened.
Signal on the PC normally shows full bars.
I’ve already rebooted the router, updated Windows, checked for driver updates, forgotten/re-added the network, etc.
The weird part is that it doesn’t necessarily happen under heavy load. Sometimes I can play for hours with no issue, then it’ll randomly disconnect while I’m just watching YouTube.
Anything obvious I’m missing?
Check the WiFi adapter’s power management settings.
@Ok-Image6120 That was actually enabled.
Disabled it now. Guess I’ll see if it happens again.
Borrow a USB WiFi adapter if you can. Seriously. Use it for a day or two and disable the internal adapter. If the disconnects disappear, you’ve just narrowed this down to the onboard card/driver without spending your weekend resetting the router 14 more times.
Before assuming the adapter is dying, what band/channel are you actually on? Full bars don’t necessarily mean the connection is clean.
@GardenGuardian44 Yeah, I’d check that before ruling it out. Grab a WiFi analyzer — NetSpot or something similar — and look at the nearby networks, what channels they’re using, and how strong they are compared to yours.
Exactly. Signal strength and interference are two different things. “100% signal” doesn’t automatically mean the RF environment is good.
Desktop? Check the stupid physical stuff too. Are the antennas actually screwed in properly? Are they buried behind the metal case under the desk? I’ve seen people spend three days troubleshooting drivers with one antenna barely attached.