Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-establ

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ChrisGreaves
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Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-establ

Post by ChrisGreaves »

I have been using public WiFi for seven years; for the past six months in Bonavista, typically at (a) The Walkham's Gate cafe (b) the Bonavista library and (c) the Quintal cafe, where I sit now, accessing the Quintal WiFi network on my laptop,
I have used the Walkham's Gate cafe in October 2017, October 2018, and weekly since my arrival here in February.

Last week my laptop could not detect the Walkham's WiFi signal.
Other nearby WiFi signals yes, but the cafe WiFi, No.

My Moto-X Android phone picks up (and uses) the WiFi in Walkham's cafe, so I know that the signal is there and is functioning; no other (tourist) customers are complaining, so i figure that the problem lies within my laptop.

This strange behaviour does not apply at the Library or in The Quintal; the lack of access is related only to Walkham's cafe, and only on my laptop.

This suggests some sort of conflict or blockage between my laptop and Walkham's. cafe.

Once this plea for help is posted, I am pedalling home to collect my backup drive, then back to Walkham's to try one more time (because today I have proved again that the laptop can access and use another WiFi source), then I shall system restore back to Aug8th and try connecting from Walkhams - in case I had destroyed something on drive C/Windows. if that doesn't work i shall go back to Dec29 2018 and try again.

In the meantime any tips or shortcut tricks would be appreciated.

Thanks
Chris
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HansV
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

Have you tried disabling, then re-enabling your WiFi adapter?

- Open the Control Panel.
- Type device manager in the search box.
- Open Device Manager.
- Expand Network adapters.
- Right-click the WiFi adapter (Wireless LAN or whatever it's called).
- Select Disable device and confirm.
- Right-click the WiFi adapter again.
- Select Enable device.

Do you see the Walkham's Gate WiFi now?
Best wishes,
Hans

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stuck
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by stuck »

ChrisGreaves wrote:This suggests some sort of conflict or blockage between my laptop and Walkham's. cafe.
Or equally that the cafe's wifi is down. Or are you the only person in the cafe that can't connect?

Ken

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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

Chris wrote "no other (tourist) customers are complaining"...
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

And his mobile phone "sees" their WiFi...
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:Have you tried disabling, then re-enabling your WiFi adapter? ...Open the Control Panel. ...

Do you see the Walkham's Gate WiFi now?
Thanks Hans.
Yes I tried those steps through the "network problems" help screens.
Thanks too for your other two responses; my problem seems to be only me, only the laptop, only in Walkhams cafe.
For now.

I am about to head back there with my backup drive.
Cheers
Chris
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:And his mobile phone "sees" their WiFi...
... And uses successfully!
Cheers Chris
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

Another thing to try: in the Device Manager dialog, double-click the Wireless Network Adapter.
Activate the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog.
Select 'Preferred Band' in the Property list and then select '1 - No Preference' from the Value dropdown.
If there is a Channel property or similar, set it to Auto instead of to a specific channel.
Click OK.
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:Another thing to try: in the Device Manager dialog, double-click the Wireless Network Adapter.
Activate the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog.
Select 'Preferred Band' in the Property list and then select '1 - No Preference' from the Value dropdown.
If there is a Channel property or similar, set it to Auto instead of to a specific channel.
Click OK.
Thanks Hans, but (attached) I had no success.
I could not find anything resembling your data.
I have brought my old DELL here and tried it.
Then tried my (current laptop) Toshiba again.
Then restored to 2019/8/8, still no success.

I am now going to go back to 2018/Dec/29 and see if that does the trick.
Failing that I might reinstall from cd, before I restore to this lunchtimes backup.

I get truly frustrated with these weird bugs.

I have also tried "CMD.exe. Ipconfig/flushdns" followed by reboot, first on the DELL, then on the Toshiba.

I can't go on. The locals eye me warily, two laptops, silver USB drive, smartphones, cables everywhere. I can feel "go back to Toronto" in the air :laugh: :rofl:

Cheers chris
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by DaveA »

Have a read here https://www.maketecheasier.com/block-wi ... windows10/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you may have "Blocked or Hid" that connection.
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

DaveA wrote:Have a read here https://www.maketecheasier.com/block-wi ... windows10/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; As you may have "Blocked or Hid" that connection.
Hello Dave, and thanks for this pointer.
I d/.l and read the page, then essayed with displaying the filters:-
WiFi06.png
I cannot recall using theis "netsh" command, certainly not since I moved here, let alone the past month.
I seem to have no filters set for anyone anywhere.

I think that my logic is correct:
(1) My Toshiba Win7HP laptop and Moto-X Android smart phone work well at the local library’s free WiFi
(2) My Toshiba Win7HP laptop and Moto-X Android smart phone work well at the Quintal café’s free WiFi
(3) My Moto-X Android smart phone works well at Walkham’s Gate Café Pub
(4) My Toshiba Win7HP laptop does NOT work well at Walkham’s.
(5) Tourists hook up to Walkham’s WiFi with all manner of devices and express no problems.
(6) Therefore the problem is related to the combination of Toshiba/Walkham’s
(7) The old DELL Win7HP could not detect the Walkham’s WiFi signal either (I have not tried the old DELL at library/Quintal’s, but can do so)
(8) This suggests that the Walkham’s WiFi router is the fly in the ointment; but does not exclude the possibility that my laptop wireless adapters should be, but are not, capable of accommodating the Walkham’s WiFi router. One example would be that my hardware/OpSys are out of date, and the library and Quintal are out of date, so everybody is happy, but Walkham’s have upgraded to a 2019 router that can’t believe anyone is using an old Toshiba-Tecra laptop with outdated Win7HP and its adapter drivers.
(9) The Toshiba laptop has worked at Walkham’s from early February until early August. The staff at the counter are wonderful, but basically would not know (or care) what happens to the router after hours; the proprietor is absent, and the router specialist probably drove up from St John’s (3.5 hours away), so I have dismal hopes of poking around in the router history.
(10) Take the old DELL into Library and Quintal and try it in those places.
(11) Reinstall Win7HP from the CD; In theory this gives me a “new machine” which has not been tampered with.

(I am at the library right now).
I will return to Walkham's (the "problem cafe) and try again with the Toshiba, then again with the DELL.
I have been using this Toshiba/Tecra for over a year now.

I might then, under the excuse "Research and Development", try with both machines at the Quintal cafe.

But right now my money is on some quirk (as in "a corrupted bit") on this laptop, beyond the ken of mortals like me.

Cheers
Chris
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StuartR
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by StuartR »

I have seen something similar to this when the WiFi used the 5G frequency, but one of the devices would only work at 2.4G. I'm not sure how to tell what frequency the phone has connected with, but maybe someone else here knows how to check.
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

ChrisGreaves wrote:I have been using public WiFi for seven years; for the past six months in Bonavista, typically at (a) The Walkham's Gate cafe (b) the Bonavista library and (c) the Quintal cafe, where I sit now, accessing the Quintal WiFi network on my laptop,...
The Wifi issue between me and Walkham’s Gate Café Pub is not resolved. I have been distracted by Local Issues Here (new thread).

The situation:-
(1) The Toshiba that from Feb4th used to work everywhere in Bonavista works everywhere EXCEPT WG (since early August)
(2) The Moto-X Android phone that I have used in Bonavista since Feb4th still works everywhere in Bonavista, including WG.
(3) Side-by-side the two work everywhere, EXCEPT in WG the laptop does not see the Wifi Signal (but between Feb-Aug it did see it)
(4) My old DELL that worked all over Toronto behaves exactly as does the Toshiba – works side by side with the phone EXCEPT in WG
(5) This leads me to believe that there has been introduced some incompatibility between the WiFi (router?) at WG and my Win7HP installations on both laptops.
(6) Two weeks ago I reinstalled Win7HP on the Toshiba from my original CD, tested at WG, grabbed as many updates as possible. The Toshiba still works everywhere except WG. I Installed new WiFi drivers from Toshiba, which still works everywhere except WG
(7) NEW NEW NEW !!! Grace at WG has told me that two other residents of Bonavista have experienced their laptops suddenly NOT working at WG. I have asked her, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE to put me in touch with these two.

I suspect that either the router or Win7HP-on-Toshiba (or both) have been stealthily upgraded and that either one (or both) is now incompatible in the sense that they have “changed” in a way that is unique to the combination of router/laptop.

I am now considering installing a FREE trial Windows 10? Windows16? Windows19? on one of the two laptops to see if it is time for me to give up on Win7HP. ADVICE IS WELCOMED. My needs are simple, as most of you know.
Or, now I think of it, a simple Linux or variant that would quickly let me see if I can connect.
I cannot think of anything else to try.
Except moving to a different small town.
Close to Amsterdam.
And we don’t want that.

Do we?
:nope:
Chris
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

I can recommend living in a small town not too far from Amsterdam :evilgrin:

Be aware that if you install Windows 10 now, you'll get version 1903. Many users (including someone living in a small town not too far from Amsterdam) are experiencing various problems, and Microsoft is in a state of denial. So this might not be the best time to upgrade to Windows 10.
Best wishes,
Hans

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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by Argus »

In other words: There’s a time and place for everything.
:grin:
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by BobH »

I've not had that problem as I rarely use public wifi. I think your problem is your os. You might try creating a win10 implementation that you put on a thumb drive or create a dual boot system if you have the capacity to do so. That way you won't be without your beloved XP (win7?). It's worth a try, at least.
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

ChrisGreaves wrote:... my laptop could not detect the Walkham's WiFi signal.
Other nearby WiFi signals yes, but the cafe WiFi, No.
I do not understand anything at all.
This morning at 9:30 Hydro cut the power wires to my home. (I have a problem with this; the guys use just a pair of regular pliers, such as I have in my kitchen drawer ...) so I rugged up and set off to type a letter to the bank, using my laptop at Walkham's Gate Cafe Pub.

I had re-re-installed Win7HP three days ago, so on a whim, ... and here I am, on my Toshiba laptop, Win7HP, no updates (as yet), using the WiFi, feeling as if I have a new lease on life.

Once I leave here to go home (i.e once the power is restored) it will be straight to the System Image backup, before I put on the kettle for a cuppa.

It seems to have been cured by a Win7HP re-install from CD, but the previous reinstall about four weeks ago didn't solve the problem then.
And until I can isolate what caused it, to me, it is still a Laptop/OpSys/Router problem.
I am still angling for the other two users who failed to connect.

Thanks to all
Chris Greaves
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by BobH »

Congrats on a working system at WG!!!!
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:Congrats on a working system at WG!!!!
Second day in a row!
My current one-step-at-a-time is to bring the DELL in here, confirm that WiFi is not working, reinstall a bare-bones Win7HP from CD, and try again.

Of course, we all know too well that when I bring DELL in for that first test, the dratted WiFi will work, throwing confusion to the winds ...

Cheers
Chris
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Re: Access to publicWiFi is intermittent, Why? How to re-est

Post by HansV »

Well, if the Dell does work, that's good too, isn't it? :grin:
Best wishes,
Hans