SOLVED Problems connecting to router via Wi-Fi, tried many different fixes

[Phantomcave]

Hello, I've got a brand new Dell XPS 13 9350 and I'm having big problems connecting to my houses Wi-Fi network. I live in a student apartment building and we all share Wi-Fi.
95% of the time I simply get the "can't connect to this network" message. The few times I manage to connect it fades away in about five minutes and either comes back for another five minutes or disappears for good.

My other devices, that aren't running Win 10(android phone, chromecast), have never had any problem whatsoever with the connection.
I also have a desktop that runs Win 10 and connects via Wi-Fi with an ASUS PCE adapter. The desktop connected fine for about 3 months and then I got the exact same problem I have with my laptop now. No matter what I tried I couldn't get it to connect to the houses Wi-Fi connection. After days of googling and trying different fixes I installed this Broadcom BCM-43xx Wireless Lan Drivers Version 7.35.308.0 WHQL driver and the problem was instantly solved.

Now, with my laptop I think I've tried all the most common fixes; forgetting the network and adding it manually, searching for the latest drivers, uninstalling and reinstalling the latest drivers from Dell's website, turning off 20/40 coexistance, turning off IPv6(not by tweaking the registry though), manually setting the DNS server IP, disabling all AV and firewall...
I don't know what to do anymore.

To summarize: Win 10 desktop connects fine and so does android phone and chromecast but not my new laptop(connects fine to other networks though).
I'm guessing it's got to have something to do with Win 10 and/or some driver/setting based on the circumstances.

Laptop specs:
Network adapter: DW1820A 2x2 802.11ac 2,4/5 GHz
Driver: 1.519.0.0
Manufacturer/Driver provider: Broadcom

Desktop specs:
Network adapter: ASUS PCE-AC68
Driver: 7.35.308.0
Manufacturer/Driver provider: Broadcom

Router: Netgear CG3700EMR-1CMNDS

 

[Tim Locke]

Is the laptop getting an IP address from the router? And dns/gateway etc. Ipconfig will tell you.
Is this student place busy? Is the DHCP range on the router large enough for the users? and some cheap routers won't allow more than 32 wifi clients at once.

According to the PDF the router can do 5GHZ . Have you tried forcing use of 5Ghz with 802.11n

 

[Phantomcave]

Is the laptop getting an IP address from the router? And dns/gateway etc. Ipconfig will tell you.
Is this student place busy? Is the DHCP range on the router large enough for the users? and some cheap routers won't allow more than 32 wifi clients at once.

According to the PDF the router can do 5GHZ . Have you tried forcing use of 5Ghz with 802.11n

No, ipconfig shows no addresses. No not very busy the house has less than ten residents. I don't have access to the router though only the landlord does... Thanks for responding.

 

[Phantomcave]

I've got this thread posted on several forums.. I'm just gonna copy paste this info here:

Sorry but I don't know much about networking. I don't have access to the router though only the landlord does.
This is what I did after watching some youtube video on how to set a static IP
IP 192.168.0.199
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default gateway 192.168.0.1
Prefered DNS 4.2.2.2
Alternate DNS 8.8.8.8

This is my desktops ipconfig
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.23
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

This made no difference. No addresses show up when I run ipconfig
Edit: it connected for a brief moment but I couldn't access the web and then the connection disappeared...
Could it just be a driver problem? Installing that other driver fixed my desktop connection when I had the exact same problem there. But I have no idea what driver to try on my laptop instead of the one from Dell's site.

Edit2: So I downloaded and installed all the drivers(some dell certificate remover, five chipset drivers, audio, graphics and SATA) available for my laptop model from Dell using a USB stick. In the process the connection just started working and it seemed to maintain stability indefinitely.
I was prompted to restart after installing the drivers and now the connections back to shit again. At least I'm connected to the network now, but I've got the yellow triangle.
Still using the static IP and IPv6 unchecked.

No, removing Mcafee was the first thing I did after I got the laptop

I appreciate all the help I can get!

 

[Tim Locke]

I wonder what happens if you do an ipconfig /renew on the desktop. Wait a while or reboot and see what you get. Most likely you'll get the same address back.


The one thing you don't mention is whether you have tried all the combinations of security settings...starting of course with whatever the desktop is using....but I think you get a different set of results and you say you are now sort of connected.

The thing that is interesting is that you say the laptop connects fine to other networks and that when it connects it 'fades away' after a short while.

 

[Phantomcave]

I wonder what happens if you do an ipconfig /renew on the desktop. Wait a while or reboot and see what you get. Most likely you'll get the same address back.


The one thing you don't mention is whether you have tried all the combinations of security settings...starting of course with whatever the desktop is using....but I think you get a different set of results and you say you are now sort of connected.

The thing that is interesting is that you say the laptop connects fine to other networks and that when it connects it 'fades away' after a short while.

I don't think I dare mess with me desktops connection If I lose it I have to go to the library to get internet.
Sorry, which security settings are you referring to?
Yeah when I run ipconfig I get addresses now, I'm connected but with a yellow triangle so I can't access the internet. If I disable and enable Wi-Fi the connection works for a couple of minutes and then returns to yellow triangle.
Big step from not being able to connect at all right..

Should I try changing the last digits of the IP address from 199 to something else?
And if I go somewhere and want to connect to another network I have to turn on automatic IP and DNS right?

 

[tomheaverlo]

Sorry for jumping in to the middle of this, but I'm curious as to why you're forcing a static IP on your laptop? Your landlord's router may be limited to a maximum number of devices as Tim Locke pointed out and 199 may be over that limit, so that's why you can't connect with 199 as your IP value. Another issue you may run into is that if you change 199 to a different value, you may be colliding with another user on the network with that same IP, so you have to be careful which value you select.

Maybe a free tool like Wireless Network Watcher will help you sort things out:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_watcher.html

And yes... based on personal experience, going somewhere else, you will have to turn on automatic IP and DNS.

 

[Tim Locke]

Either the router is set up in a really weird way, probably on purpose OR there is something wrong with some part of the comms stack on your laptop...probably the driver.

What I would do:
Do sfc/scannow in a administrator mode command prompt just in case some system file is bad. sfc will attempt to fix this.
Give up on static IP settings.
Borrow a Wifi dongle from someone, ideally one that is known to work in your house, disable the inbuilt wifi device in the laptop, reboot, enable the borrowed dongle initially letting Windows find the drivers and try to connect, see if it works. Leave IPV6 on...turning it off will make no difference...IPV6 has no effect on the driver nor on the router unless ( unlikely but not impossible in a student environment) that the router is sending RA packets and all that would do is for ipconfig to show you have IPV6 alive for sites that use it.


Then report back here.


FWIW in the early days of the W10 Insider program the inbuilt intel wifi device in my laptop exhibited these symptoms but a dongle worked fine. At the time Intel's latest driver for the device would not even install. A few W10 builds later this all just fixed itself.

 

[Phantomcave]

Sorry for jumping in to the middle of this, but I'm curious as to why you're forcing a static IP on your laptop? Your landlord's router may be limited to a maximum number of devices as Tim Locke pointed out and 199 may be over that limit, so that's why you can't connect with 199 as your IP value. Another issue you may run into is that if you change 199 to a different value, you may be colliding with another user on the network with that same IP, so you have to be careful which value you select.

Maybe a free tool like Wireless Network Watcher will help you sort things out:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_watcher.html

And yes... based on personal experience, going somewhere else, you will have to turn on automatic IP and DNS.

Not at all I need all the advice I can get. It was something that was suggested to me on SNB forums. I watched some YT video that said to not use a number close to what the router was handing out. My desktop had 23 and I my Chromecast had 25, I think, so I just chose something far from that.
As you may have noticed I have no idea what I'm doing so if I'm doing something totally pointless or futile please do tell me.

Either the router is set up in a really weird way, probably on purpose OR there is something wrong with some part of the comms stack on your laptop...probably the driver.

What I would do:
Do sfc/scannow in a administrator mode command prompt just in case some system file is bad. sfc will attempt to fix this.
Give up on static IP settings.
Borrow a Wifi dongle from someone, ideally one that is known to work in your house, disable the inbuilt wifi device in the laptop, reboot, enable the borrowed dongle initially letting Windows find the drivers and try to connect, see if it works. Leave IPV6 on...turning it off will make no difference...IPV6 has no effect on the driver nor on the router unless ( unlikely but not impossible in a student environment) that the router is sending RA packets and all that would do is for ipconfig to show you have IPV6 alive for sites that use it.


Then report back here.


FWIW in the early days of the W10 Insider program the inbuilt intel wifi device in my laptop exhibited these symptoms but a dongle worked fine. At the time Intel's latest driver for the device would not even install. A few W10 builds later this all just fixed itself.

Update: Last night my laptop could kind of connect right, but after I shut off my desktop(which connects flawlessly), the laptop couldn't connect at all.
Earlier today I had only my laptop turned on and, as before, it couldn't connect to the network at all.
Later I turned on my desktop and guess what, I seem to be fully connected and I'm writing this post from my laptop. Before I got the connection working on my laptop I turned automatic IP/DNS and IPv6 on but perhaps that had nothing to do with it, I really don't know...
My laptops connection seems to be working just fine ATM; I am watching twitch, watching youtube, browsing without any problem. The Wi-Fi icon only shows one or two bars though.
I'm gonna try just leaving my laptop as it is for the moment and see if it maintains a stable connection until I go to bed. Then I will see what happens after I switch off my desktop and report back.
Thank you guys for your responses!

Edit: I just opened device manager to check something and found eight new "WAN miniports" under network adapters that weren't there before. Some automatic Windows update?

 

[Tim Locke]

I just thought of something. Check if your laptop's wifi adapter has a setting for infrastructure mode and ad-hoc mode...which might be called something else like peer to peer.

IIRC ad-hoc mode was a mode where pcs could talk with each other over Wifi rather than to a router. What I am wondering is if your laptop is talking to your desktop which is acting as a repeater. This might explain why you have trouble connecting when your desk top is off but sometimes you are connecting via another persons pc in the building.

You can look up ad-hoc mode on Google. I think it might explain the problem. Note that I have never used it so I don't know where to look but it should be in the properties of the adapter.

 

[Phantomcave]

I just thought of something. Check if your laptop's wifi adapter has a setting for infrastructure mode and ad-hoc mode...which might be called something else like peer to peer.

IIRC ad-hoc mode was a mode where pcs could talk with each other over Wifi rather than to a router. What I am wondering is if your laptop is talking to your desktop which is acting as a repeater. This might explain why you have trouble connecting when your desk top is off but sometimes you are connecting via another persons pc in the building.

You can look up ad-hoc mode on Google. I think it might explain the problem. Note that I have never used it so I don't know where to look but it should be in the properties of the adapter.

Hey, I just want to give an update on what's happened. Yesterday I couldn't get my laptop to connect at all and even my phone was having problems connecting(it did connect but it took way longer than usual to establish connection and was acting slow).
I copied the connection trouble shooter log:

PrintWindows Network Diagnostics Publisher details

Issues found
Problem with wireless adapter or access pointProblem with wireless adapter or access point Not fixed Not Fixed
Reset the wireless adapter Completed
Investigate router or access point issues Completed


Issues found Detection details

5 Problem with wireless adapter or access point Not fixed Not Fixed

Reset the wireless adapter Completed

InformationalNetwork Diagnostics Log
File Name: 1C50FA34-8FA2-4593-9B1A-EC35844A877E.Repair.1.etl


Investigate router or access point issues Completed

If you're connected to a hotspot or domain network, contact the network administrator. Otherwise: 1. Unplug or turn off the device. 2. After all the lights on the device are off, wait at least 10 seconds. 3. Turn the device back on or plug it back into the power outlet. To restart a router or access point that has a built-in battery, press and quickly release the Reset button.
InformationalNetwork Diagnostics Log
File Name: 6D240399-2598-4A41-A8FA-064283F6E993.Repair.4.etl




Detection details Expand

InformationalDiagnostics Information (Network Adapter)
Details about network adapter diagnosis:

Network adapter Wi-Fi driver information:

Description . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1820A 802.11ac
Manufacturer . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom
Provider . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom
Version . . . . . . . . . . . : 1.519.0.0
Inf File Name . . . . . . . . . : C:\WINDOWS\INF\oem27.inf
Inf File Date . . . . . . . . . : 30 September, 2015 5:10:46 PM
Section Name . . . . . . . . . : BCM43XAC_NT62_4350
Hardware ID . . . . . . . . . . : pci\ven_14e4&dev_43a3&subsys_00211028
Instance Status Flags . . . . . : 0x180200a
Device Manager Status Code . . : 0
IfType . . . . . . . . . . . . : 71
Physical Media Type . . . . . . : 9



InformationalDiagnostics Information (Wireless Connectivity)
Details about wireless connectivity diagnosis:

Information for connection being diagnosed
Interface GUID: ddd62599-9096-47b7-931a-8a08bf4c325a
Interface name: Dell Wireless 1820A 802.11ac
Interface type: Native Wi-Fi

Connection incident diagnosed
Auto Configuration ID: 4


List of visible access point(s): 7 item(s) total, 7 item(s) displayed
BSSID BSS Type PHY Signal(dB) Chnl/freq SSID
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
98-FC-11-B5-3C-F6 Infra <unknown> -75 1 Cisco01487
C4-EA-1D-0D-4D-0F Infra <unknown> -87 1 TeliaGatewayC4-EA-1D-0D-4D-0F
00-25-86-D9-BB-05 Infra g -70 6 TP-LINK_D9BB05
30-91-8F-7D-00-E7 Infra <unknown> -82 11 TeliaGateway30-91-8F-7D-00-E7
A0-63-91-35-8C-35 Infra <unknown> -61 11 Stora_Torget
A0-63-91-2C-8F-75 Infra <unknown> -74 5200000 Stora_Torget
30-91-8F-E1-04-DB Infra <unknown> -90 1 TeliaGateway30-91-8F-E1-04-DB

Connection History

Information for Auto Configuration ID 4

List of visible networks: 6 item(s) total, 6 item(s) displayed
BSS Type PHY Security Signal(RSSI) Compatible SSID
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infra <unknown> Yes 36 Yes Cisco01487
Infra <unknown> Yes 6 Yes TeliaGatewayC4-EA-1D-0D-4D-0F
Infra g Yes 62 Yes TP-LINK_D9BB05
Infra <unknown> Yes 14 Yes TeliaGateway30-91-8F-7D-00-E7
Infra <unknown> Yes 72 Yes Stora_Torget
Infra <unknown> Yes 0 Yes TeliaGateway30-91-8F-E1-04-DB

List of preferred networks: 1 item(s)
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Set by group policy: No
Connect even if network is not broadcasting: No
Connectable: Yes

Information for Connection ID 4
Connection started at: 2015-11-30 06:30:01-395
Auto Configuration ID: 4
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Pre-Association and Association
Connectivity settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Security settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Profile matches network requirements: Success
Pre-association status: Fail 0x00000000
Association status: Fail 0x00000000
Association reason code: 0x00000000

Information for Auto Configuration ID 3

List of visible networks: 6 item(s) total, 6 item(s) displayed
BSS Type PHY Security Signal(RSSI) Compatible SSID
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infra <unknown> Yes 32 Yes Cisco01487
Infra <unknown> Yes 6 Yes TeliaGatewayC4-EA-1D-0D-4D-0F
Infra g Yes 40 Yes TP-LINK_D9BB05
Infra <unknown> Yes 14 Yes TeliaGateway30-91-8F-7D-00-E7
Infra <unknown> Yes 74 Yes Stora_Torget
Infra <unknown> Yes 0 Yes TeliaGateway30-91-8F-E1-04-DB

List of preferred networks: 1 item(s)
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Set by group policy: No
Connect even if network is not broadcasting: No
Connectable: No
Reason: 0x00028006

Information for Connection ID 3
Connection started at: 2015-11-30 06:28:58-016
Auto Configuration ID: 3
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Pre-Association and Association
Connectivity settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Security settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Profile matches network requirements: Success
Pre-association status: Success
Association status: Fail 0x00038002
Association reason code: 0x00000029

Information for Auto Configuration ID 2

List of visible networks: 6 item(s) total, 6 item(s) displayed
BSS Type PHY Security Signal(RSSI) Compatible SSID
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infra <unknown> Yes 34 Yes Cisco01487
Infra <unknown> Yes 20 Yes TeliaGatewayC4-EA-1D-0D-4D-0F
Infra g Yes 40 Yes TP-LINK_D9BB05
Infra <unknown> Yes 20 Yes TeliaGateway30-91-8F-7D-00-E7
Infra <unknown> Yes 66 Yes Stora_Torget
Infra <unknown> Yes 0 Yes dlink_DWR-116

List of preferred networks: 1 item(s)
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Set by group policy: No
Connect even if network is not broadcasting: No
Connectable: No
Reason: 0x00028006

Information for Connection ID 2
Connection started at: 2015-11-30 06:27:54-610
Auto Configuration ID: 2
Profile: Stora_Torget
SSID: Stora_Torget
SSID length: 12
Connection mode: Infra
Security: Yes
Pre-Association and Association
Connectivity settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Security settings provided by hardware manufacturer (IHV): No
Profile matches network requirements: Success
Pre-association status: Success
Association status: Fail 0x00038002
Association reason code: 0x00000029




InformationalDiagnostics Information (Wireless Connectivity)
Details about wireless connectivity diagnosis:

For complete information about this session see the wireless connectivity information event.

Helper Class: Auto Configuration
Initialize status: Success

Information for connection being diagnosed

Result of diagnosis: No problem found






InformationalDiagnostics Information (Wireless Connectivity)
Details about wireless connectivity diagnosis:

For complete information about this session see the wireless connectivity information event.

Helper Class: Auto Configuration
Initialize status: Success

Information for connection being diagnosed
Interface GUID: ddd62599-9096-47b7-931a-8a08bf4c325a
Interface name: Dell Wireless 1820A 802.11ac
Interface type: Native Wi-Fi

Result of diagnosis: There may be problem

Root cause:
A wireless connection attempt is still in progress

Detailed root cause:
A wireless connection attempt is still in progress

Repair option:
Wait for the connection attempt to complete
Windows is currently attempting to connect to "Stora_Torget". If the connection fails, start diagnostics again.




InformationalNetwork Diagnostics Log
File Name: 1C50FA34-8FA2-4593-9B1A-EC35844A877E.Diagnose.0.etl

InformationalOther Networking Configuration and Logs
File Name: NetworkConfiguration.cab

Collection information
Computer Name: THETERMINATOR
Windows Version: 10.0
Architecture: x64
Time: 30 November, 2015 6:30:00 AM

Publisher details Expand

Windows Network Diagnostics
Detects problems with network connectivity.
Package Version: 3.0
Publisher: Microsoft Windows

Today I got a text from my landlord saying:
We discovered an error earlier(with the router I presume) you have to update roughly once every six months because it runs out of memory due to the amount of log ins.

Whatever they did it seems to work without error now and my laptop connects as it should I guess it turns out the fix was as simple as restarting the router after all.

 

[Tim Locke]

I skimmed through that log and could see that stuff looked as if it was working apart from the error code...didn't try to look that up ( only saw this a few minutes ago).

Your Landlord should buy a better router!

 

[Dannies]

went through this video and got the wifi issue fixed at my dell inspiron running windows 10.

 

[Sami2017]

Greetings from Holly Jerusalem

It a proxy server problem,don't by any router
Please go to thread

"" Open settings page of any ROUTER ''' on this site and the problem will be solved