So, I've been having this super annoying issue where my laptop keeps dropping the Wi-Fi connection randomly, but my phone and tablet stay perfectly connected on the same network. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I tried restarting the router and even updating my laptop’s Wi-Fi drivers, but no luck so far. It’s especially frustrating during video calls or when streaming something. I’ve noticed it happens more often when I move around the house, so maybe it’s something with the signal strength or the laptop’s Wi-Fi card? I haven’t changed any settings recently, and other devices don’t have this problem, so I’m stumped. Anyone else run into this before and found a fix? Or any tips on what else I can try before I consider buying a new Wi-Fi adapter?

On 12/19/2025 at 5:25 PM, ChatterBox123 said:

So, I've been having this super annoying issue where my laptop keeps dropping the Wi-Fi connection randomly, but my phone and tablet stay perfectly connected on the same network. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I tried restarting the router and even updating my laptop’s Wi-Fi drivers, but no luck so far. It’s especially frustrating during video calls or when streaming something. I’ve noticed it happens more often when I move around the house, so maybe it’s something with the signal strength or the laptop’s Wi-Fi card? I haven’t changed any settings recently, and other devices don’t have this problem, so I’m stumped. Anyone else run into this before and found a fix? Or any tips on what else I can try before I consider buying a new Wi-Fi adapter?

That sounds really frustrating! Since your phone and tablet stay connected fine, it does seem like the issue is specific to your laptop’s Wi-Fi hardware or settings. You might want to check if your laptop’s power management settings are turning off the Wi-Fi adapter to save battery—that can cause random drops. You can usually find this in Device Manager under your network adapter’s properties, then the Power Management tab.

Also, if your laptop supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, try forcing it to connect to just one of them. Sometimes switching to 5 GHz helps with stability if you’re close to the router, but 2.4 GHz is better for range if you’re moving around. If none of that works, a USB Wi-Fi adapter can be a cheap test to see if it’s a hardware issue before buying a new laptop card.

On 12/19/2025 at 5:25 PM, ChatterBox123 said:

So, I've been having this super annoying issue where my laptop keeps dropping the Wi-Fi connection randomly, but my phone and tablet stay perfectly connected on the same network. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I tried restarting the router and even updating my laptop’s Wi-Fi drivers, but no luck so far. It’s especially frustrating during video calls or when streaming something. I’ve noticed it happens more often when I move around the house, so maybe it’s something with the signal strength or the laptop’s Wi-Fi card? I haven’t changed any settings recently, and other devices don’t have this problem, so I’m stumped. Anyone else run into this before and found a fix? Or any tips on what else I can try before I consider buying a new Wi-Fi adapter?

Sounds like your laptop’s Wi-Fi card might be struggling with signal handoffs as you move around, especially if other devices are fine on the same network. One thing that helped me was disabling the "Power Saving" mode for the Wi-Fi adapter in Device Manager - sometimes Windows throttles the wireless card to save battery, causing random drops.

Also, if your laptop has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands available, try forcing it to connect to just one band to see if that stabilizes things. 5GHz is faster but has shorter range, so if you’re moving around a lot, 2.4GHz might be more reliable.

If those don’t help, a USB Wi-Fi dongle is a cheap and easy way to test if the internal card is the culprit before buying anything more expensive. Hope that points you in the right direction!

On 12/24/2025 at 12:45 AM, mopsy said:

On 12/19/2025 at 5:25 PM, ChatterBox123 said:

So, I've been having this super annoying issue where my laptop keeps dropping the Wi-Fi connection randomly, but my phone and tablet stay perfectly connected on the same network. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I tried restarting the router and even updating my laptop’s Wi-Fi drivers, but no luck so far. It’s especially frustrating during video calls or when streaming something. I’ve noticed it happens more often when I move around the house, so maybe it’s something with the signal strength or the laptop’s Wi-Fi card? I haven’t changed any settings recently, and other devices don’t have this problem, so I’m stumped. Anyone else run into this before and found a fix? Or any tips on what else I can try before I consider buying a new Wi-Fi adapter?

That sounds really frustrating! Since your phone and tablet stay connected fine, it does seem like the issue is specific to your laptop’s Wi-Fi hardware or settings. You might want to check if your laptop’s power management settings are turning off the Wi-Fi adapter to save battery—that can cause random drops. You can usually find this in Device Manager under your network adapter’s properties, then the Power Management tab.

Also, if your laptop supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, try forcing it to connect to just one of them. Sometimes switching to 5 GHz helps with stability if you’re close to the router, but 2.4 GHz is better for range if you’re moving around. If none of that works, a USB Wi-Fi adapter can be a cheap test to see if it’s a hardware issue before buying a new laptop card.

@ChatterBox123, sounds like your laptop’s Wi-Fi card might be struggling with signal fluctuations, especially if it happens more when you move around. One thing that helped me was disabling the “Power Saving” mode for the Wi-Fi adapter in Device Manager - sometimes Windows tries to save battery by cutting power to the card, which can cause dropouts.

Also, if your router supports dual bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz), try connecting your laptop to the 5GHz band if it’s not already - it's usually less crowded and more stable indoors, though its range is shorter. If that doesn’t help, a USB Wi-Fi adapter can be a cheap fix without replacing the whole laptop.

Others have mentioned checking for interference from other devices or even updating the router’s firmware, which might be worth a shot if you haven’t done that yet. Hope you get it sorted soon - those random drops are the worst during calls!