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I have a Cyberpower PC Q8200 with WinXP (Intel Core 2 Quad CPU). It has connected to the wireless network in my house just fine, until I moved the box to another room.

I also have a laptop (using now) in the same location, which has no trouble connecting to the wireless network.

Since I physically re-located the desktop, it usually can't find the wireless network, or it finds it with a very low signal and then loses it again. I suspect that maybe the network card is loose from the move.

I haven't done a lot of hardware at all. Where is the wireless network card, and how might I check to make sure it is not loose?

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  • Is the it an internal (PCI/PCI-E) card or an external (connected to an USB port) wireless adapter?
    – Renan
    Feb 22, 2012 at 4:35
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    There's no way for us to know. "Cyberpower PC Q8200" is a completely generic description that doesn't really tell us anything. Feb 22, 2012 at 4:46
  • Unfortunately, if you don't know hardware, you don't know what is useful and what isn't. Or even how to ask a good question. Feb 22, 2012 at 18:53

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I loose card would sometimes not show up in the hardware info and could crash your workstation. If it's getting a week signal it's more likely that your antenna is loose or not oriented correctly. If your antenna unscrews, try taking it off and reattaching it. Also try adjusting it to be parallel to the antenna in the base station. The PC and base station antennas should look like this | | or this / / not this / \. (YMMV)

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  • The orientation of the box has changed -- I'll try moving the box to the same orientation tonight. If that helps, I'll accept the answer -- the right answer to the wrong question. Feb 22, 2012 at 18:51
  • Important to note that MANY factors affect RF reception. Antenna orientation and position are the two easiest to change in this case. Also the total thickness and type of materials between the antennas. Walls are MUCH thicker on an angle than straight through.
    – Chris Nava
    Feb 23, 2012 at 16:14
  • I bet the floor to ceiling books aren't helping in this case either. :( I got it to kind of work, but it's still not great. Feb 23, 2012 at 18:19
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Buy a cheap WiFi signal strength monitor. They’re very cheap and normally have a display which lights more LEDs proportional to the signal. Then try a walk test and see where you get a high signal strength—you may be surprised. Once you find a decent, consistent signal display, you’ve found the new location for your box.

I don’t know what kind of WiFi card you have, but you may be able to get an external antenna for it, which could also help (YMMV). Good luck!

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