I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop and up until Saturday I've never had any problems with my WiFi.

The adapter I have built in is the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN. Every other computer in the house is having no problems at all and is keeping the connection.

I am having issues and it's not software related since I was due to backup/reformat the hard drive anyway, I did that to speed it up. What's happening is it will connect for a few minutes and then all of a sudden NO networks will be found. Not mine and not the twenty others I usually see from the neighborhood. Then, after a bit, only mine will show up but it won't connect properly. It'll just give me a local connection and no internet. If I reload the drivers and reset the computer it works again for a bit and then does the same exact thing.

Does this sound like a bum WiFi card? Something else?

9/20/2010 10:40:05 AM

did you disable power saving? Mine used to do something similar. It would go into 'low power' mode while I was reading a page and ultimately drop the connection.

Also try older driver set.

And finally http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=Dell+Inspiron+1720+wifi&_sacat=See-All-Categories

9/20/2010 12:42:48 PM

No go on that. Tried all tips I've found on the Internet.

I guess I find it odd because it works perfectly fine for like a half hour and then just drops and can't ANY networks for a while and then works fine again.

9/21/2010 12:11:46 PM

You'll laugh, but it could honestly be interference from another device, e.g. a microwave or cordless phone. Use a site survey program like NetStumbler to see what channels are in use around you, then switch to one that isn't as busy.

[Edited on September 21, 2010 at 12:27 PM. Reason : ...]

9/21/2010 12:26:13 PM

I'll give that a try. The only reason I'm skeptical of that is that every other laptop in the house holds connections no matter where they are.

I did disable the Bluetooth adapter and just did a Ping and Speed test and that seems to have helped with the down speed and so far I haven't dropped a connection. I wonder if the Bluetooth channel was interfering with the WiFi card -- but I can't wrap my head around why that would happen after three years of having no issues at all...

9/21/2010 12:44:39 PM