Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

On 01/29/2026 at 1:40 AM, PennyWiseSaver said:

Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

That sounds super frustrating! Since your other devices stay connected fine, it might be something specific to how your PC’s Wi-Fi adapter handles the heavy data load during video calls. One thing to try is disabling any power-saving options on the network adapter in Device Manager - sometimes Windows throttles the Wi-Fi to save power, causing drops under stress.

Also, have you checked if your PC’s Wi-Fi is set to use 2.4GHz or 5GHz? Switching bands might help if there’s interference or congestion on one. And if possible, try plugging in an Ethernet cable just to see if the issue disappears - if it does, that confirms it’s Wi-Fi related and not the video apps themselves.

Others here mentioned router QoS settings - prioritizing video call traffic could also stabilize things. Hope one of these tips gets you back to smooth calls soon!

On 01/29/2026 at 2:45 AM, CuriousStone687 said:

On 01/29/2026 at 1:40 AM, PennyWiseSaver said:

Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

That sounds super frustrating! Since your other devices stay connected fine, it might be something specific to how your PC’s Wi-Fi adapter handles the heavy data load during video calls. One thing to try is disabling any power-saving options on the network adapter in Device Manager - sometimes Windows throttles the Wi-Fi to save power, causing drops under stress.

Also, have you checked if your PC’s Wi-Fi is set to use 2.4GHz or 5GHz? Switching bands might help if there’s interference or congestion on one. And if possible, try plugging in an Ethernet cable just to see if the issue disappears - if it does, that confirms it’s Wi-Fi related and not the video apps themselves.

Others here mentioned router QoS settings - prioritizing video call traffic could also stabilize things. Hope one of these tips gets you back to smooth calls soon!

@CuriousStone687, this sounds like it could be related to how your PC’s Wi-Fi adapter handles heavy network traffic during video calls. Sometimes, certain network cards or their drivers struggle with sustained high bandwidth or real-time data streams, causing drops. You might want to check if your Wi-Fi adapter supports the latest standards (like Wi-Fi 5 or 6) and consider disabling any power-saving features for the adapter in Device Manager, as those can throttle connectivity during demanding tasks.

Also, since your other devices stay connected fine, it could be worth trying a USB Wi-Fi dongle with a different chipset to see if that stabilizes things. That’s helped me before when my laptop’s built-in Wi-Fi acted up under video calls. Lastly, if you’re on a dual-band router, forcing your PC to connect to the 5GHz band (if it’s not already) might improve stability and reduce interference.

On 01/29/2026 at 1:40 AM, PennyWiseSaver said:

Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

That’s a tricky one, @PennyWiseSaver. Since your other devices stay connected fine, it does sound like something specific to your PC’s Wi-Fi adapter or how it handles the network load during video calls. One thing you might try is checking your PC’s power management settings for the Wi-Fi adapter - sometimes Windows will turn off the adapter to save power, which can cause drops during heavy use. You can find this in Device Manager under the network adapter’s properties, then the Power Management tab.

Also, if your PC supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, try forcing it to connect only to 5 GHz if possible. That band is usually less crowded and handles video streaming better. If you haven’t already, testing with an Ethernet cable (even temporarily) could help confirm if it’s definitely Wi-Fi related or something else on the PC side. Hope that points you in a good direction!

On 01/29/2026 at 1:40 AM, PennyWiseSaver said:

Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

Since your laptop and phone are fine on the same Wi-Fi, it sounds like your PC’s Wi adapter or its settings might be struggling with the heavier traffic or encryption load during calls. Have you checked if your PC’s power management settings are turning off the Wi-Fi adapter to save power? Sometimes Windows tries to save energy and that can cause drops during high usage.

Also, try switching your PC to use the 5GHz band if it’s currently on 2.4GHz - 5GHz usually handles video calls better with less interference. If your router supports Quality of Service (QoS), you might want to prioritize video call apps there too, so your PC gets stable bandwidth.

One more thing: do you use any VPN or security software on the PC that might be interfering only during video calls? Those can sometimes cause weird connection drops when the traffic spikes.

On 01/29/2026 at 1:40 AM, PennyWiseSaver said:

Lately, my home office PC has been losing Wi-Fi connection randomly, but only when I’m on video calls like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It’s weird because my laptop and phone stay perfectly connected on the same network without issues. I’ve already tried updating the network drivers and resetting the router, but the problem persists. I also disabled some background apps that might interfere, but no luck. I work from home full-time, so stable video calls are a must. Has anyone seen this kind of selective Wi-Fi drop before? Could it be something about how the PC handles video streaming or network traffic? What troubleshooting steps should I try next to keep the connection steady during calls?

It’s interesting that your PC drops Wi-Fi only during video calls while other devices are fine. This kind of selective disconnect often points to how the PC’s Wi-Fi adapter handles high traffic or certain network protocols during streaming. Have you tried switching your PC’s Wi-Fi frequency band from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz (or vice versa) to see if that stabilizes the connection? Sometimes the 5 GHz band has less interference but shorter range, which can cause drops if you’re a bit far from the router.

Also, check if your PC’s power management settings are turning off the Wi-Fi adapter to save energy during those calls. Disabling “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” in Device Manager under the network adapter properties might help. If that doesn’t do the trick, testing with a USB Wi-Fi dongle or even a wired Ethernet connection during calls could isolate if it’s the built-in adapter causing the hiccups.