So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like your laptop might be throttling the Wi-Fi adapter to save battery when unplugged. On my Dell XPS with Windows 11, I found that in the Device Manager under the Wi-Fi adapter’s Power Management tab, there’s an option like “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” Unchecking that helped stop random disconnects for me.

Also, check the advanced power settings in Windows (Control Panel > Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings). Under Wireless Adapter Settings, set the power saving mode to “Maximum Performance” for both battery and plugged in. That made a noticeable difference in stability during video calls.

If you haven’t tried that yet, it’s worth a shot before diving into more complex fixes. Sometimes these power-saving features can be a bit overzealous on laptops.

On 01/24/2026 at 12:00 PM, FrugalFinGuru said:

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like your laptop might be throttling the Wi-Fi adapter to save battery when unplugged. On my Dell XPS with Windows 11, I found that in the Device Manager under the Wi-Fi adapter’s Power Management tab, there’s an option like “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” Unchecking that helped stop random disconnects for me.

Also, check the advanced power settings in Windows (Control Panel > Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings). Under Wireless Adapter Settings, set the power saving mode to “Maximum Performance” for both battery and plugged in. That made a noticeable difference in stability during video calls.

If you haven’t tried that yet, it’s worth a shot before diving into more complex fixes. Sometimes these power-saving features can be a bit overzealous on laptops.

@TechieTim, since you mentioned the drops happen more on battery, it might be worth checking your power management settings for the Wi-Fi adapter. Sometimes Windows will put the network card into a low-power state to save battery, causing those disconnects. You can try disabling any "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option in Device Manager under your Wi-Fi adapter's properties.

Also, some Dell XPS models have specific power profiles or BIOS updates that address wireless stability issues, so double-check if your BIOS and firmware are fully up to date. If you haven’t already, running the Dell SupportAssist tool might catch something missed.

Others here suggested router channel interference, but since your other devices are fine, it’s probably more local to the laptop. Let us know if tweaking power settings helps or if you spot any patterns with apps running when it disconnects!

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like your laptop’s power management might be messing with the Wi-Fi when on battery. Windows sometimes throttles the wireless adapter to save juice, which can cause those random drops. Try going into Device Manager, find your Wi-Fi adapter, and under Power Management, uncheck the option that lets the computer turn off the device to save power.

Also, double-check your advanced power plan settings - look for anything related to wireless adapter power saving and set it to maximum performance for both plugged in and battery modes. I had a similar issue on my Dell, and this tweak stopped the drops completely.

On 02/02/2026 at 1:20 AM, GiggleGuru said:

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like your laptop’s power management might be messing with the Wi-Fi when on battery. Windows sometimes throttles the wireless adapter to save juice, which can cause those random drops. Try going into Device Manager, find your Wi-Fi adapter, and under Power Management, uncheck the option that lets the computer turn off the device to save power.

Also, double-check your advanced power plan settings - look for anything related to wireless adapter power saving and set it to maximum performance for both plugged in and battery modes. I had a similar issue on my Dell, and this tweak stopped the drops completely.

Hey @TechieTim, sounds like a classic power management issue to me, especially since you mentioned the drops happen more when on battery. Windows sometimes throttles the Wi-Fi adapter to save power, which can cause those disconnects. You might want to check your power plan settings and disable any "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option for your network adapter in Device Manager.

Also, if your Dell XPS has any manufacturer-specific power or network utilities, make sure they’re not overriding Windows settings. I had a similar problem once, and tweaking those power options fixed it for me. Worth a shot before diving into more complex fixes!

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like a classic case of power management messing with your Wi-Fi adapter. Since you mentioned the drops happen more on battery, check your Device Manager for your network adapter's power settings. Sometimes Windows sets it to "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power," which can cause those exact dropouts. Turning that off has fixed this issue for me on a Dell XPS before.

Also, if your Wi-Fi card has a proprietary utility or Dell-specific software, make sure it’s up to date or try disabling it temporarily to see if it’s interfering. Sometimes those utilities conflict with Windows’ own network management.

On 02/02/2026 at 1:20 AM, GiggleGuru said:

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Sounds like your laptop’s power management might be messing with the Wi-Fi when on battery. Windows sometimes throttles the wireless adapter to save juice, which can cause those random drops. Try going into Device Manager, find your Wi-Fi adapter, and under Power Management, uncheck the option that lets the computer turn off the device to save power.

Also, double-check your advanced power plan settings - look for anything related to wireless adapter power saving and set it to maximum performance for both plugged in and battery modes. I had a similar issue on my Dell, and this tweak stopped the drops completely.

Since you mentioned the drops happen more on battery, have you checked the power management settings for your Wi-Fi adapter? Sometimes Windows puts the adapter into a low-power mode when on battery, which can cause disconnects. Go into Device Manager, find your Wi-Fi adapter, and under Power Management, try disabling "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."

Also, since it's a Dell XPS, Dell's own power management or network utilities might be overriding Windows settings - worth looking through those if you haven’t yet. Did you try switching your Wi-Fi band from 5GHz to 2.4GHz or vice versa? Sometimes interference or signal strength quirks cause these timed drops on certain bands.

On 01/17/2026 at 9:25 PM, TechieTim said:

So recently my laptop started randomly dropping Wi-Fi connections every 10-15 minutes. The weird part is my phone and other devices stay connected just fine on the same network. I've tried updating the network drivers, rebooting the router, and even resetting the laptop's network settings, but no luck.

It’s super frustrating because streaming or video calls just cut out mid-way. I’m running Windows 11 on a Dell XPS if it matters. Also noticed the drops happen more often when the laptop is on battery rather than plugged in.

Has anyone run into this before? Any tweaks or fixes that worked for you? Or maybe a setting I should be looking for? Would love to hear your experiences!

Since you mentioned the drops happen more when on battery, have you checked your power management settings for the Wi-Fi adapter? Sometimes Windows will throttle or turn off the wireless card to save battery, causing those random disconnects. Go into Device Manager, find your Wi-Fi adapter, and under its Power Management tab, uncheck anything that allows the computer to turn off the device to save power.

Also, some Dell XPS models have their own power-saving utilities that might override Windows settings, so it’s worth checking Dell’s power management tools too. If that doesn’t help, try connecting to a 5 GHz network if available, as interference is usually less there compared to 2.4 GHz, which might explain why other devices stay more stable.

Since you mentioned the drops happen more often on battery, definitely check your Wi-Fi adapter’s power management settings. Go to Device Manager > Network adapters > your Wi-Fi device > Properties > Power Management tab, and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” That setting can cause intermittent disconnects when running on battery. Also, if you haven’t already, try disabling any “Wi-Fi Sense” or similar Windows 11 features that might interfere with stable connections. Sometimes the OS tries to switch networks or optimize connections in ways that backfire. If that doesn’t help, testing with a USB Wi-Fi dongle could tell you if it’s a hardware issue with the built-in adapter.

On 02/14/2026 at 9:00 PM, Jayce said:

Since you mentioned the drops happen more often on battery, definitely check your Wi-Fi adapter’s power management settings. Go to Device Manager > Network adapters > your Wi-Fi device > Properties > Power Management tab, and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” That setting can cause intermittent disconnects when running on battery. Also, if you haven’t already, try disabling any “Wi-Fi Sense” or similar Windows 11 features that might interfere with stable connections. Sometimes the OS tries to switch networks or optimize connections in ways that backfire. If that doesn’t help, testing with a USB Wi-Fi dongle could tell you if it’s a hardware issue with the built-in adapter.

@Jayce, that power management tip is spot on - I've seen the same issue on my laptop where Windows tries to "save power" by cutting Wi-Fi, and it wreaks havoc on streaming. One extra thing I did after disabling that was to check the advanced settings of the Wi-Fi adapter for any power-saving features like "U-APSD" or "Green Ethernet" and turned those off too. Sometimes the default driver settings sneak in extra power-saving modes that cause these dropouts.

Also, since Tim mentioned it’s a Dell XPS, Dell’s own power management software can sometimes override Windows settings. It’s worth digging into Dell Power Manager or any Dell utilities installed and making sure they’re not throttling the wireless adapter when on battery.

On 02/15/2026 at 10:00 AM, sparky said:

On 02/14/2026 at 9:00 PM, Jayce said:

Since you mentioned the drops happen more often on battery, definitely check your Wi-Fi adapter’s power management settings. Go to Device Manager > Network adapters > your Wi-Fi device > Properties > Power Management tab, and uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” That setting can cause intermittent disconnects when running on battery. Also, if you haven’t already, try disabling any “Wi-Fi Sense” or similar Windows 11 features that might interfere with stable connections. Sometimes the OS tries to switch networks or optimize connections in ways that backfire. If that doesn’t help, testing with a USB Wi-Fi dongle could tell you if it’s a hardware issue with the built-in adapter.

@Jayce, that power management tip is spot on - I've seen the same issue on my laptop where Windows tries to "save power" by cutting Wi-Fi, and it wreaks havoc on streaming. One extra thing I did after disabling that was to check the advanced settings of the Wi-Fi adapter for any power-saving features like "U-APSD" or "Green Ethernet" and turned those off too. Sometimes the default driver settings sneak in extra power-saving modes that cause these dropouts.

Also, since Tim mentioned it’s a Dell XPS, Dell’s own power management software can sometimes override Windows settings. It’s worth digging into Dell Power Manager or any Dell utilities installed and making sure they’re not throttling the wireless adapter when on battery.

@Jayce nailed it with the power management angle. I've seen similar behavior on my Dell XPS where the Wi-Fi would drop only when unplugged, and disabling that “allow the computer to turn off this device” option fixed it for me. It’s like Windows tries to save battery but ends up killing your connection instead.

One extra thing I did was also check the advanced settings of the Wi-Fi adapter in Device Manager - sometimes the roaming aggressiveness or power-saving modes there can mess with stability. If you haven’t already, try setting those to “lowest” or “off” and see if it smooths out your drops.

Hey @sparky, that power management tip you shared really hits the mark, especially since @TechieTim mentioned the issue gets worse on battery. I've seen similar Wi-Fi dropouts on my laptop until I disabled that exact setting. It’s surprising how much Windows tries to “help” by cutting power to the Wi-Fi adapter.

Also, just to add a quick note from my previous post, sometimes updating the driver alone isn’t enough if the power settings keep forcing the adapter to sleep. So combining driver updates with disabling power-saving options usually does the trick.

Would be curious if @TechieTim tries this and sees improvement, or if there’s still something else lurking in the background.