My Internet connection randomly disconnects. How do I fix it?

Question

I'm having problems with my Internet connection disconnecting regularly. At times I have a stable Internet for a while, and other times the disconnection occurs at intervals of less than a minute. At first I used to ignore it, but now it's become so irritating that it makes me stop what I was doing to try to fix the problem. Currently I can't just start a download and leave because I will come back to find that the download failed because of this interruption.

Please note my problem is with USB data cards, not routers, so don't misunderstand.

I've tried these modems

1. ZTE MF667
2. Huawei EC176
3. ZTE MF190

It's a problem that has been happening on my old laptop, and now it is happening on my new one.

This is what happened I bought the modem from the mobile carrier and installed it on my computer and pressed connect on the interface: for a while the Internet is there, and then it just randomly disconnects itself as if I pressed disconnect. It never shows any error message.

This is what I've tried.

1. Going to the modem properties and unchecking the "Allow computer to turn off device to save power" option.
2. Updating the drivers.
3. Reinstalling the software that comes with the modem.

I use ESET Smart Security antivirus which is constantly up to date, so I really doubt it's a virus.

Answer 1

This seems like it's either the fault of the mobile carrier or, most likely, due to a weak signal at your location. You can check signal strength with a number of applications, either one that came with your modem or an external app. For ZTE, see the manual.

If it is a weak signal, you might move the PC to a better spot; use a USB extension, with a suction cup taped or rubber-banded to the end, to move the modem to the optimum location (e.g. a window facing the cell tower); or add an antenna. I've used the extension and an omnidirectional whip with a pizza-plate ground plane, with about the same signal increase.

Answer 2

I realize this post is quite old but I have been experiencing connectivity issues on my Sprint ZTE Warp Connect MF920VS mobile hotspot only when I am at home, works decent pretty much everywhere else in town other than a couple of dead zones. I just ran across a post a couple hours ago on another site and someone had suggested changing your DNS servers, I used the Google 8.8.8.8 as my primary and then UncensoredDNS 91.239.100.100 as my secondary and I haven't been disconnected since, well other than momentarily when my battery died...