Internet Connection Drops->Laptop's end

[crzyaznkdxd]

Hope this question isn't supposed to be in Networking and Internet, but my computer's connection randomly drops every once in a while, once or twice a day. I'm fairly certain it is my laptop because it started happening after I went from Vista to XP on my HP Pavillion dv6707us. Seems all the other wireless devices in my household connect fine as well except my brother's netbook, which is another problem entirely.

I'm able to connect but sometimes it tells me I have limited or no connectivity even when my signal strength is excellent. Then, after doing whatever for a few hours it will tell me that my laptop is connected, signal strength excellent and whatnot. Then after a few hours, or almost a day, it will go back to being limited or no connectivity. It just switches between the two at will and it gets very frustrating and annoying.

I reset our router to factory settings (which I have to undo since its not protected anymore) and the problem continued. I've done a network repair, and disabled my network card and tried reconnecting to no avail. I also tried reinstalling the drivers multiple times.

I think that is the main problem as my particular model wasn't meant to run XP so I followed this guide: HP Vista - XP Downgrade for dv6000 series Notebooks

Everything else seems to work fine. Its just my connection that needs fixing right now. Thanks in advance for any good help recieved and if you need more information just ask.

[BipolarBill]

You could always try a different WiFi adapter.

Have you scanned for malware?

Malwarebytes.org

[crzyaznkdxd]

Its and internal wifi card. and I haven't scanned for malware but i doubt thats the case. I'll try it anyways tonight.

[crzyaznkdxd]

Spybot S&D found absolutely no threats on my computer. Any other suggestions please?

[BipolarBill]

It took 4 days? When I say malware, I mean everything. Spybot does not scan for viruses. Try this:

ComboFix | freeware


I just finished cleaning a computer that had AVG running on it. It said it was working and up to date, but it wasn't. Windows wasn't warning about it either because a virus has disabled the Security Center service. You should try scanning with a different AV program from your usual one to be sure. After all, your connection works *some of the time*. That would indicate some sort of intermittent activity and that is the hallmark of a "bot" infection.

You have exactly 4 posts here at TechIMO. Naturally, I cannot assume that you are any sort of expert, so forgive me if my suggestions seem patronizing.

Are you running any kind of 3rd-party firewall? If so, try disabling it and using the Windows Firewall instead. If you are running another firewall, be really sure that you have disabled the Windows Firewall. Running both can cause problems.
It may well be your XP "downgrade". I don't see any drivers for your network adapter here.

Select software and drivers*

As I've suggested before, you can always try another network adapter that supports XP. You can even replace the internal card most times.

[crzyaznkdxd]

It didn't take four days, I just kept forgetting to do it. xP hehe

I'm pretty sure I disabled all of the built in Windows measures.

That's fine, I would assume the same thing if I were in your situation and you aren't as patronizing as you think you are. =]

I'm using comodo firewall.

I'm almost positive its my drivers since it started pretty much as soon as my system was booted with XP.

Whenever I reinstall my os the first thing I do is open up IE to download firefox. Then, in firefox I download avg, comodo and spybot, in no particular order. I install them all, then restart, once I know they're all running, I start reinstalling my other programs and whatnot.

I'll check for viruses and see if someone else comes up with anything to try, otherwise I'll look into a new network card like you said. How much are they usually? I don't have a lot of money to spend as I'm trying to save up for a trip. Thanks again for your help.

[BipolarBill]

First make sure what type of WLAN card the HP uses. Take it out of the central bay underneath and compare it with these:

wlan card minipci -hp - Google Product Search

Be careful there. Get a card with a known brand like MSI or Broadcom. The Broadcom is easier to get drivers for.

You could just buy a USB adapter, but you may not want one poking out of the laptop all of the time.

[BipolarBill]

Here's a good one:

GIGABYTE AirCruiser GN-WI02GM 802.11g MIMO Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter Gigabyte GN-WI02GM

Make sure yours is not MiniPCIe.

GIGABYTE - Product - Communication - Products

These are MiniPCI:

GIGABYTE - Product - Communication - Products