So my laptop keeps dropping Wi-Fi randomly, but my phone and tablet stay connected just fine. It's super annoying because I’m in the middle of work and bam, no internet. I’ve tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the drivers, and even forgot and reconnected to the network, but it still happens. I noticed it mostly happens when I move around the house or switch rooms, but sometimes it drops even when I'm sitting still. Could it be some setting on the laptop or maybe interference? Anyone else dealt with this kind of weird selective Wi-Fi dropout? What fixed it for you?

On 01/20/2026 at 6:50 PM, ChatterBox24 said:

So my laptop keeps dropping Wi-Fi randomly, but my phone and tablet stay connected just fine. It's super annoying because I’m in the middle of work and bam, no internet. I’ve tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the drivers, and even forgot and reconnected to the network, but it still happens. I noticed it mostly happens when I move around the house or switch rooms, but sometimes it drops even when I'm sitting still. Could it be some setting on the laptop or maybe interference? Anyone else dealt with this kind of weird selective Wi-Fi dropout? What fixed it for you?

Sounds like your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter might be struggling with signal handoffs between rooms or dealing with power management settings. Since your phone and tablet stay connected fine, it’s probably not the router itself. One thing to check is if your laptop’s wireless adapter has any power-saving features enabled that could be turning off the Wi-Fi to save battery when it thinks the signal is weak.

Also, try disabling “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” in the Device Manager under your Wi-Fi adapter’s properties. If you’re on Windows, you might also want to experiment with changing the preferred band (2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz) or updating the router’s firmware if you haven’t done that yet. Sometimes interference or channel congestion can cause spotty connections when moving around.

Lastly, if your laptop supports it, testing with a USB Wi-Fi dongle can help isolate if it’s a hardware issue with the built-in

On 01/20/2026 at 6:50 PM, ChatterBox24 said:

So my laptop keeps dropping Wi-Fi randomly, but my phone and tablet stay connected just fine. It's super annoying because I’m in the middle of work and bam, no internet. I’ve tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the drivers, and even forgot and reconnected to the network, but it still happens. I noticed it mostly happens when I move around the house or switch rooms, but sometimes it drops even when I'm sitting still. Could it be some setting on the laptop or maybe interference? Anyone else dealt with this kind of weird selective Wi-Fi dropout? What fixed it for you?

Sounds like your laptop's Wi-Fi adapter might be struggling with signal strength or roaming between access points if you have multiple routers or extenders around the house. Since your phone and tablet stay connected fine, it’s probably not the network itself. You could try tweaking the power management settings on your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter - sometimes Windows tries to save power by turning off the adapter when idle or moving around, which causes drops.

Also, check if your laptop’s Wi-Fi driver has any advanced settings related to roaming aggressiveness or preferred band (2.4GHz vs 5GHz). Setting it to a less aggressive roaming mode or forcing it to a specific band might help. If you have a mesh system or multiple APs, sometimes the laptop jumps between them poorly, causing those random drops.

One more thing I’ve seen work is running a Wi-Fi analyzer app to spot dead zones or interference spots in your house. That way, you can reposition

On 01/20/2026 at 6:50 PM, ChatterBox24 said:

So my laptop keeps dropping Wi-Fi randomly, but my phone and tablet stay connected just fine. It's super annoying because I’m in the middle of work and bam, no internet. I’ve tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the drivers, and even forgot and reconnected to the network, but it still happens. I noticed it mostly happens when I move around the house or switch rooms, but sometimes it drops even when I'm sitting still. Could it be some setting on the laptop or maybe interference? Anyone else dealt with this kind of weird selective Wi-Fi dropout? What fixed it for you?

Sounds like your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter might be struggling with signal strength or roaming between access points if you have multiple routers or extenders. Since your phone and tablet stay connected fine, it’s probably not the network itself. You could try tweaking the power management settings on your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter - sometimes Windows tries to save power by turning off the adapter when idle, which causes drops.

Also, check if your laptop’s Wi-Fi card supports the same frequency bands as your router (2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz). Sometimes switching to a less crowded band helps. If you have a USB Wi-Fi dongle lying around, testing with that could confirm if it’s a hardware issue on the laptop side. I had a similar problem and disabling “allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” in Device Manager did the trick for me.

On 01/20/2026 at 6:50 PM, ChatterBox24 said:

So my laptop keeps dropping Wi-Fi randomly, but my phone and tablet stay connected just fine. It's super annoying because I’m in the middle of work and bam, no internet. I’ve tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the drivers, and even forgot and reconnected to the network, but it still happens. I noticed it mostly happens when I move around the house or switch rooms, but sometimes it drops even when I'm sitting still. Could it be some setting on the laptop or maybe interference? Anyone else dealt with this kind of weird selective Wi-Fi dropout? What fixed it for you?

Sounds like your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter might be struggling with signal strength or roaming between access points if you have multiple routers or extenders in your house. Sometimes laptops have aggressive power-saving settings that throttle the Wi-Fi when moving around or idling. You could try disabling any “power saving” mode specifically for the wireless adapter in Device Manager under its properties.

Also, if your router supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, try forcing your laptop to connect to just one band (usually 5GHz is faster but has shorter range). That can sometimes stabilize the connection. If you have extenders, make sure they’re not causing conflicts by having the same SSID but different channels.

I had a similar issue and ended up updating the Wi-Fi card’s firmware from the manufacturer’s site, which helped a lot more than just driver updates. Worth a shot if you can find it for your model!