# laptop cant connect or stay connected to internet



## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

my niece has a ASUS Laptop X55C-DS31 laptop she stopped using because it kept losing internet and couldn't reconnect.

router was fine, it was something not working with the laptop. in fact, the laptop would reconnect if the laptop was brought in the same room as the router but that's the only way so im "assuming" the network card acts like the antenna and that must be the issue but then im doing a lot of guessing about all this. so my question is:

is it safe to assume its the wireless network card went bad and it just needs a new one? or, what are the odds that it could be a motherboard lan/wan issue?

it was working fine with no problems for almost 8 months before it lost the ability to stay connected to the router wirelessly. I only just found out about this and I don't have it in my hands yet (she threw it in the closet) so after I get my hands on it, I can open it up and have a look, but what can I really tell by looking at it?


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## lonewolf (Mar 3, 2016)

Sounds like the antenna has lost connection. I would run some tests and possibly try an axillary card if you have one.


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

I thought the card "was" the antenna?


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## lonewolf (Mar 3, 2016)

The wireless card in the laptop has a built in antenna.  If it can keep connection when close to the wireless access point then I would suspect the antenna. If this is the case an after market card or usb wireless adapter should fix it. I have taken a few laptops apart and I don't recommend some one do it unless they really have a lot of patience and have some experience with them.


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## oinkypig (Mar 3, 2016)

you can log off and log on again when its selecting a network and isnt connecting wifi at all.
if its the card's fault then replace it with this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H5V9ZU/?tag=tec06d-20


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## Frick (Mar 3, 2016)

The antenna is a cable that goes around the screen bezel. You could just reseat the connectors for the cable.


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## Jetster (Mar 3, 2016)

Go tot he network adapter/ Right click and disable. Then enable it


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

Frick said:


> The antenna is a cable that goes around the screen bezel. You could just reseat the connectors for the cable.


so where does it connect? is it to the card or the board somewhere?



Jetster said:


> Go tot he network adapter/ Right click and disable. Then enable it


what will this do and what will it tell me?


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## lonewolf (Mar 3, 2016)

The antenna connects to a card plugged into the mother board. disabling and enabling the wireless will reset the drivers if it happens to be a driver issue. I assumed a bad on me I know that you would automatically try this when you actually got your hands on the computer.


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## flmatter (Mar 3, 2016)

youtube vid may help some  I don't know how much the X and K model differ.   But it looks like they both take half height pci-e cards.  Intel AC 7260 pci-e card I linked in your earlier thread should be perfect


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## Jetster (Mar 3, 2016)

keakar said:


> what will this do and what will it tell me?




If the problem is related to a Default Gateway then a disable and enable will fix it temporary

And if you plug a cheap USB network card in and it works then its ether the card or the gateway


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## flmatter (Mar 3, 2016)

Thanks @Jetster , you are diagnosing as I am throwing parts at it


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## Jetster (Mar 3, 2016)

Some times wireless card just don't play well with others, can also be a crowded channel


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

well just FYI in case I forgot to mention it, this was a bought new "refurbished" laptop that had no issues and worked fine for about a year then the connection issues started.

I assumed it was our router going bad so I replaced it but it still had issues so we knew it was an issue with the computer itself.

I would have to rule out a driver issue since it worked fine for at least a year. as with all laptops I have no idea the kind of abuse it suffered but I don't think she is rough with it or dropped it or anything and it spends the majority of its time permanently sitting on a desk for doing school work so I would "assume" if there is a connectivity issue it would be something failed or broke but I have zero laptop experience to even guess about it.

@Jetster - she is the only wireless connection on the router and nothing was changed prior to the issue popping up. what is a gateway issue? how does it happen? and how do you fix it?

@flmatter - thanks, i'll go back and look for it but im just going to be sure I get an "ac" version if that's not the right one for it. I think I need to first get it out and see what number it is to see what i need don't I?



lonewolf said:


> The antenna connects to a card plugged into the mother board. disabling and enabling the wireless will reset the drivers if it happens to be a driver issue. I assumed a bad on me I know that you would automatically try this when you actually got your hands on the computer.


 well never assume im going to know what to do or remember the right thing to do lol. ok so those little pig tail wires are the antenna connection to a wire that runs around the screen, now I know something I didn't know before so im learning here


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## remixedcat (Mar 3, 2016)

what adapter is it? and also does it get a proper IP address?


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## flmatter (Mar 3, 2016)

keakar said:


> first get it out and see what number it is to see what i need don't I?


Only if you are going back oe style( replace the old one with the same adapter). I replaced the adapter in my G75vw with the AC 7260 with no major issues. I just had to tear it about 3/4 of the down to remove the keyboard where mine was hiding. The upgrade was nice and even nicer after I upgraded my router.


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## Jetster (Mar 3, 2016)

So did the disable and enable fix it?


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

Jetster said:


> So did the disable and enable fix it?


I am just attempting to do some pre-diagnosing here.

she was at college all day and was pms'ing so she went straight to bed 

its in the closet "somewhere" is all I know so I hope to get my hands on it in the morning when its safer to try to talk to her.

on a side note - I did get a chance to take her dell laptop and check the ram and found that it has easy access to everything. the memory card cover exposes the cpu and heatsink for upgrades and the network card is right there too, so just 4 little screws and one cover gets you access to everything in it.


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

well I got more stalling on digging out the computer so I can look at it but she now adds more info to the story and says the screen had stopped working too, she said it was screen blinking and cutting out so that doesnt sound good at all. I guess it has video issues as well.

isn't video always built into the mb on these things right? so if the screen is whacky then its the screen or the mb bad on this thing?

since working used mb for these things run $95 and up, it may turn out that this thing is just good for stripping and selling for parts, depending on what I can finally figure out is wrong with it.

I wonder if the video and network issues might all be due to a mb failing?

but I know you guys cant help me until I get my hands on the computer to test things and as of right now, I don't think she even knows where it is .

anyway, im pretty sure there went $300 down the drain.

   sorry for wasting you time on this but I did learn a lot so thanks for trying to help and I will report back "if" we can find it wherever she put it  but even if she can find it, I bet there is going to be no idea where to find the power cord for it either.


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## remixedcat (Mar 3, 2016)

did she get mad and throw it in the closet?


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

remixedcat said:


> did she get mad and throw it in the closet?



no that's not why the screen went out if that's what your asking, the screen went whacky first, then she threw it in the closet or "somewhere" and cant remember where 

that was months ago and I just now found out about it when I realized she was still using her old dell laptop instead of the new one I helped her buy about a year and a half ago.

to top it all off, when I offered to attempt to help find it, I see her room looks a lot like this:


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## alucasa (Mar 3, 2016)

What in the ninth heck...

Anyway, the laptop seems to be revolting for sure. I'd be if I were the laptop. 

Joking aside, there is a chance that she was throwing it around and wireless antennae wire got loose from its wireless card. There seems to be also a chance that even the monitor wire  may be loose as well. I think she's been throwing it around.


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## 95Viper (Mar 3, 2016)

Since the screen and wireless is having the trouble you described... it could be in the wiring, in or near the hinges.

Edit:

Before tearing anything apart... best to try external monitor and external (USB) wifi device for testing purposes, first.


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## keakar (Mar 3, 2016)

alucasa said:


> What in the ninth heck...
> 
> Anyway, the laptop seems to be revolting for sure. I'd be if I were the laptop.
> 
> Joking aside, there is a chance that she was throwing it around and wireless antennae wire got loose from its wireless card. There seems to be also a chance that even the monitor wire  may be loose as well. I think she's been throwing it around.


well she is not one to abuse things (or clean up clutter lol) so I don't think its abuse related, she is careful with her computer because that's her entire college career on the line if she breaks it.


95Viper said:


> Since the screen and wireless is having the trouble you described... it could be in the wiring, in or near the hinges.
> 
> Edit:
> 
> Before tearing anything apart... best to try external monitor and external (USB) wifi device for testing purposes, first.



at this point im helping her "declutter" and there seams to be no sign of it at this point so it may be at boyfriends or ex boyfriends or maybe she asked her dad to look at it and its at his house.... who knows, she sure cant remember except to say she is sure she didn't throw it away. she never told me about it when it broke, because I ask too many questions, and she didn't like it and dint want to "deal" with getting it fixed at the time since she still had her old dell to use lol.

im calling it "lost in the twilight zone" at this point since it was "put aside" and no longer used since around 6-8 months ago and we haven't even so much as seen the power cord for it yet and I think we dug through enough crap to have found it if it was in there.

if it turns up im going to pop in with a report for sure.

I didn't even know you can hook an external monitor to them? so I guess they have ports to plug into? (as you can guess I never owned or worked on a laptop)

since its a "refurbished" I suppose something could have not been plugged into a socket very well and come loose.

as for external usb wifi, if the card connections are ok then (assuming we actually find it) I will most likely just go for it and buy a new network card and a used replacement antenna rather then buy an external usb wifi device just to test it with.


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## alucasa (Mar 3, 2016)

keakar said:


> well she is not one to abuse things (or clean up clutter lol) so I don't think its abuse related, she is careful with her computer because that's her entire college career on the line if she breaks it.
> 
> 
> at this point im helping her "declutter" and there seams to be no sign of it at this point so it may be at boyfriends or ex boyfriends or maybe she asked her dad to look at it and its at his house.... who knows, she sure cant remember except to say she is sure she didn't throw it away. she never told me about it when it broke, because I ask too many questions, and she didn't like it and dint want to "deal" with getting it fixed at the time since she still had her old dell to use lol.
> ...



I find it kinda contradicting that her college career is depended on the laptop, yet you guys are unable to find it...

And, yeah, you can hook it up to an external monitor. If it's an oldie, it should have a VGA out. If it's something relatively new, it should have a HDMI out.


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## keakar (Mar 4, 2016)

alucasa said:


> I find it kinda contradicting that her college career is depended on the laptop, yet you guys are unable to find it...
> 
> And, yeah, you can hook it up to an external monitor. If it's an oldie, it should have a VGA out. If it's something relatively new, it should have a HDMI out.



ok, I thought they just had usb and power ports only

her college career depends on having "a" working laptop and she has one.

she has 2 laptops, an old slow dell with pentium "d" with 2gb ram and 320gb hdd with broken battery charger and power connection that only works if wedged in with the cord pulled to one side just the right way and you cant move it after that. she switched over from that one to the newer asus i3 with 4gb ram and 500gb hdd as an upgrade, but then went back to the dell when the newer asus was acting up.

each time she just transferred all her schoolwork and programs to the other one. if the computer files disappear (she breaks her computer) she loses all her school work and data needed to complete her courses and she will fail the semester because of it. not the end of the world but it could cost her her student aid as well as force her to repeat another year.


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## remixedcat (Mar 4, 2016)

This laptop lost stuff is the reason I have meraki systems manager on all my systems and phones too, geolocation and remote control.


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## keakar (Mar 5, 2016)

remixedcat said:


> This laptop lost stuff is the reason I have meraki systems manager on all my systems and phones too, geolocation and remote control.


lol, believe me, she could use it but would never think that herself 

I asked her about it again today if she gave it any thought what she did with it and got blown off so she obviously don't care about it, and at the same time bitches about how she doesn't have any money. apparently the idea of me telling her we stand a chance of getting a couple hundred bucks out of it in parts even if its not worth fixing, doesnt register on her give a damn scale  .

yet its always up to me to "save her" when its an emergency she creates


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## remixedcat (Mar 5, 2016)

wow she has some issues...


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## keakar (Mar 5, 2016)

remixedcat said:


> wow she has some issues...


yep, most young people do, its called priorities not being in order, and not seeing the big picture.

she likes to keep secrets like this laptop breaking thing, so she doesn't have to talk about things she would rather just ignore so she didn't have to tell me she didn't like the new computer because she didn't want to hurt my feelings?????????? .


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## Vineet Reddy (Mar 5, 2016)

And please do check that is the connection problem is occurring with that specific WiFi router or with others too? Try to connect using different router, and if you don't have a router try connecting it to WiFi hotspot and test it. 
I had that problem when my old-router stopped working I replaced it with new one and in a day my laptop HP-450 was unable to connect to it whereas all other devices were connected. At first I had the same feeling that my laptop was not working and tried every thing but nothing worked. Then I tried connecting to my WiFi hotspot and it worked even in long range. Then I called Dlink and got it replaced. With the new router I had no problems.
Also do check the number of devices connected.


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## sttubs (Mar 8, 2016)

keakar said:


> ok, I thought they just had usb and power ports only
> 
> her college career depends on having "a" working laptop and she has one.
> 
> ...


 
Hope she is backing up her files with a USB memory stick at the least. My dad's new Dell had problems similar to hers & it turned out to be a faulty wifi card. No problems after replacing it. Any chance she could run a hard wire from the router to her room & just connect via LAN?


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## keakar (Mar 18, 2016)

no, it has to be wireless.


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## remixedcat (Mar 19, 2016)

Yeah most college places don't have wired ports in dorms bc it's easier to policy stuff. Also keeps rogue APs out.


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## Barddg (Apr 10, 2016)

I replaced the adapter in my G75vw with the AC 7260 with no major issues. I just had to tear it about 3/4 of the down to remove the keyboard where mine was hiding.


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