The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Sparky

probably, you can't tell these days.

Anybody remember the glory days of XP when you wouldn't update because it inevitably would make your computer ****tier.

Not much has changed except your forced to update now.

I read I could change the wireless channel on my network card but am unsure how to.

Ethernet is an option but I paid for a network card and want my ****ing network card to work.

Anybody know any terminal commands I can punch in or something? The user setttings on windows 8 must be aesthetic because they don't actually do anything.

Your wireless network card doesn't control the channel. That would be your wireless router, which is usually set to "auto". Basically, you have a handful of channels that the radio signal broadcasts out on that are spaced apart in the frequency spectrum enough to mitigate certain types of interference. Setting a wireless router or access point to a specific channel is usually done when there are many access points in a close range, so they're set in such a way as they don't overlap at distances where the gain is high enough to cause interference.

I assume you're saying "network card" but meaning "wireless router"? If so, that's fine. WiFi is good because it allows you to be mobile. It makes sense using it on a Laptop or some other portable device. But if it's a desktop or computer that doesn't move, you're better off using the Ethernet adapter because you get higher speeds and no interference. But if you'd like to stay with being wireless, I would first troubleshoot in such a way as to pinpoint *where* the issue likely is.

To do that, you should first rule out the wireless router having interference issues. If other wireless devices on the network are having no issues at the same time your computer IS, then it's probably not the router. Second, I would do that test where all the devices are in the same physical location and not moving. If it's only your computer dropping, it's definitely not interference nor is it a problem with the router.

If you can get yourself to that point, you have then narrowed down where you should start focusing. Your computer. At that point, it's usually best to work from layer 7 up, (physical layer all the way up to application layer), but I doubt you have a spare external wifi card lying around that you can just up and install. Which is sad, because with the exception of drivers, it's usually physical with these sorts of issues.

Because of that, you probably shouldn't rule out a hardware problem. If you've got all the latest drivers for it, the correct ones, and went through any settings you might know about, checked for malware and all that, then it's going to be a wild goose chase. Because there's still the big hardware problem unknown. Until something ends up working.

However, there's one thing you should check first. Event Viewer. I don't know how to get to it on 8 because I've never used it, but if you Google the location of Event Viewer, you should be able to locate it. Once you do, there should be a section called "custom views", under which there should be "administrative events". Click on that and let the window refresh. This is going to be an aggregate of all errors. Click through them at times correlating with your issue until you see something relevant and Google it.

Good luck.