32 replies to this topic

[BarryA]

Help needed with Wifi connection which keeps dropping out.

 

I am using a Toshiba Satellite Pro with Windows XP Professional, Firefox, Windows Firewall, Avast antivirus, Ms Office 2003 with Outlook 2003. I have TalkTalk fast fibre broadband recently upgraded from standard broadband (about 3 weeks ago). I have no other devices connected to the internet.

 

About a week ago I started experiencing an intemittent wifi connection which for no obvious reason just drops out and then at no fixed timescale, reconnects without me toucking the computer. Sometimes it is down for 10 mins and the longest has been a day. During this time I cannot open any webpages or receive emails in Outlook. Mostly the wifi icon in the task bar then shows "limited or no connection" rather than it's usual "connected".  The icon always shows Excellent signal strength and speed of 54Mbps. My router always has it's connected light showing. I get a message saying "The network did not assign a network address to the computer" when the connection is down. In Outlook when it will not receive emails an error message ox80040900 has said "server name cannot be found, might be temporarily down"

 

I have sought TalkTalk assistance with this issue who have run all their checks on my line and connection and say they cannot find any problems.. I have made no changes on my computer or with any of the lines/connections coming into the house. I have experienced no other issues at all with my computer or connections prior to this.

 

Whilst it appears that the problem should be with the TalkTalk service reaching my computer they say not, so I would like to check if there is anything with my computer that could be causing this issue.

 

Help with this will be much appreciated, thanks.

 

Bar 457

[Ztruker]

Most likely this is a problem with your WiFi card. Your computer has to be at least 15 years old I would think. Electronics do age.

 

What is the full model number of your Toshiba Satellite Pro? Most likely you can replace the WiFi card, they are cheap.

 

Some things you can try in the mean time.

 

Open Device Manager, expand Network Adapteres.

Right click on your WiFi adapter and select Uninstall device. Click OK then reboot.

The system (XP) will find the device again and reload the driver. See if that helps.

 

Note: What does device manager say about your WiFi adapter?

Edited by Ztruker, 18 November 2019 - 03:03 PM.

[BarryA]

Hello Xtruker, thanks for your response.

 

I have a wifi adapter Atheros AR5005G with driver version 4.1.2.108 installed. Device Manager says that this device is working fine.

This Toshiba was purchased with the XP installed along with the current adapter. The driver has not been updated, should I look for a driver update first of all ?

 

The Toshiba Satellite Pro L100 laptop model is PSLA4E - 003008EN

 

How would I identify a wifi card that could replace the original one currently fitted ?

 

Bar457

Edited by BarryA, 19 November 2019 - 07:00 AM.

[Ztruker]

Try the uninstall, reboot first. If that doesn't fix it, then look for an updated driver.
 
I did some looking, did not find a good replacement. Posted a question in the Networking forum for this:
Needs to replace WiFi adapter

[BarryA]

Although the connection had improved, I did the adapter uninstall, rebooted and have it up and running. It is presently running ok and I will monitor this to see how it goes.

 

However, my Outlook is now not connecting for emails and showing an error signal Ox800cccOF the connection to the server was interrupted.

Tried sending a test email to myself. It went out of Outbox but showed message that it was undeliverable and that client was not authorised to send anonymous mail. No idea what that means as mail was complete.

Did a test in account settings which failed for receiving > could not connect to incoming server pop3, check settings and verify email address.

 

Not sure what has happened with outlook as this worked fine before whenever I had a wifi connection. I have not received emails since mid-day yesterday and get an error message everytime it tries to download new mail.  I have checked all mail settings in Outlook aand cannot see anything wrong.

[Ztruker]

What I would do is a Google search for setup outlook for xxxxxxxx (your E-mail provider), Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

 

Sounds like one of the settings is bent.

[BarryA]

I have Googled for Outlook setup and read many postings, also re-checked with Outlook.com what the email settings should be in MsOutlook 2003.

This all confirms that I am using the right settings and I have gone through them maticulously to ensure I have them set right - all seems ok there, can't see anything bent. I have even tried renewing the settings but makes no difference.

So it has to be something else.

 

Does anyone have any other ideas, what about event logging in Outlook 2003, how does that work and might it help identify the cause.

Not sure whether this has been caused by re-installing the Wifi adapter, but it does seem co-incidental for sure.

Is there any other diagnostics that might show what is happening.

[BarryA]

As I suspect there are some corrupted settings script files which are causing the incoming and outgoing emails to fail, I decided to try again to delete the account settings and shut down Outlook 2003 fully. After re-opening Outlook, I set up the account completely afresh using exactly the same account settings. Hey presto all my emails strarted downloading and receiving is now working fine.

However, sending is still not working and strangely when I test the settings within account set-up it says that both incoming and outgoing fail (but incoming is in fact now working). There must be still some corrupted file scripts somewhere causing issues, so I stiil search how to fix 'sending'.

[Ztruker]

There are no scripts that I'm aware of, for sending or receiving.  It's all controlled by the Outlook settings.

 

Who do you use for E-mail? I don't need or want anything about your account, just the E-mail provider, like Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.

[BarryA]

Hi Rich

 

I am using Outlook.com for emails and am reading blogs that they have had problems with users not being able to download their emails, etc. Found some information at  www.downdetector.co.uk

I suppose this could be my issue as I cannot find a specific problem at my end.

 

I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and set up a .gmail account instead.

[Ztruker]

I have a gmail account and use Seamonkey to handle my E-mail. Seamonkey is very similar to Thunderbird. I could use outlook but since I don't like it I'll stay with Seamonkey.

[BarryA]

Hi Rich

 

This is an update to bring you up to date with my issue.

 

I continue to have email problems, although this has changed from not being able to send messages to now sending is working and receiving is not.

All emailing is working fine in the Outlook.com webmail account.

 

Alongside this I am having more problems with keeping my computer connected to the wifi connection and now suspect that this may in fact be the cause of the email problems.. It intermittently disconnects to wifi and sometimes wont repair the connection sometimes saying it cannot finish complete clearing the DNS cache. When it does repair, it often says that there is limited or no connectivity and that the network did not assign a network address to the computer. During this time no web pages will load even when the connection seems to have repaired itself. I have checked the wifi connection on my mobile which picks up on the same wifi signal as the computer and this is working fine all the time. This confirms that the TalkTalk wifi connection is ok as indeed their line checks showed no problems. Turning off/on the computer does not fix the issue but turning off/on the router seems to re-connect and allow web pages to load.

 

We have uninstalled and re-installed the adapter and this shows as working fine with no problems in Device Manager.

 

There appears to be something else with the computer that is causing the connection to wifi issue and I suspect the emailing problem too.

[Ztruker]

A possible alternative would be to use a USB WiFi adapter in place of the Atheros AR5005G. They are available on the Internet from $7.99 to $20.99. If you go this route make sure you get the Wireless "N" version which has the best speed. If you get it from Amazon you can try it and if not satisfied you can return it.

[BarryA]

I suppose my internal 5G adapter does not have as strong a signal as the modern say ac600 USB plug in unit, although I am not using it for gaming, only roaming and email. It is strange why it has worked for so long and now suddenly could be inadequate even though I have changed nothing.

Suppose I can only try it to see if it makes any difference or at least discount it from the investigation.

[Ztruker]

As I mentioned earlier, electronics age. What worked yesterday may not work or not as well today.

 

Definitely give it a try. If it doesn't make a difference, return it.