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I have a Dell Inspiron with Windows 7 Home Premium.

There is a strange problem. I connect to the network through Wi-Fi. However as soon as I start downloading anything, the Wi-Fi on the laptop goes off. It does not start until I reboot. It functions normally if I do normal internet surfing. It just occurs when I download something. My guess is that it goes off when the data transfer rate is higher.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Wi-Fi network adapters, but that has not helped.

Since the problem goes away on rebooting, I am fairly certain this is a software issue. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Update: I have observed that before the connection goes off, I have an IP address like 192.168.1.10 but once it goes off, the IP address changes to 192.168.137.1

Any ideas?

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    You may want to update your driver software. It's obviously crashing, and nothing else but a reboot would restore such a crash.
    – TFM
    Jul 21, 2011 at 8:22
  • if you mean drivers for network adapters - i have updated them
    – Vinayak
    Jul 23, 2011 at 11:14
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    Yes. Unfortunately, an updated driver does not always mean that all bugs are gone. One more thing I would try is to connect the laptop directly to the router, to eliminate any Windows-related issues. Sorry, but I don't have a better advice.
    – TFM
    Jul 23, 2011 at 11:20

4 Answers 4

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I would disable the Microsoft Virtual Miniport Adapter. I had issues with my internet connection intermittently dropping for no apparent reason. When i disabled it, my connection problems stopped.

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It probably has nothing to do with your computer.

I would use your laptop on a different network - if it works there, your router is probably very weak and you need a new one. If it doesn't work, something is wrong with the wireless adapter within your computer. That wouldn't be an easy fix and should probably be left to a professional.

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The two IP addresses are most likely not on the same subnet, meaning that your computer drops the connection on one router and connects to another within range OR you have more than one DHCP server on your network (bad!).

The first thing can easily be checked, by checking periodically if you're connected to the wireless network SSID you're expecting. There could be another wifi within range, with a combination of SSID and passphrase that's already on your computer's list of remembered networks.

Also, be sure not use the out-of-the-box SSID (e.g. "linksys"), as you risk SSID name collisions. Use a tool such as inSSIDer a go, and see if there are other wifi's within range with duplicate SSID's.

On home networks, there are rarely DHCP servers installed on computer, but you might have borth a router and an wireless access point. Check your network devices first and make sure only (the correct) one DHCP server is enabled.

Hope this helps :-)

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I found the solution - it is an intel driver issue. Whenever there is heavy downloading, the Intel driver starts 'thermal throttling' of the wifi adapter and switches it off. The problem goes away on rolling back to an older driver.

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