Hi,
I have joined to the community in the hope of finding a solution to my problem, which unfortunately could not be solved (yet) with the help of the different support options that are available in my country (I write from Europe), and the last advice I got from these experts to try and ask my question here. So this seems to be the last chance for me to find real answers to the issue I am experiencing. I have literally tried out everything I have found both here, my computer's manifacturer's (Lenovo), and Microsoft's website, and while browsing through I haven't came across any of such threads ending with a solution for the user.
I have a Lenovo Z 50-70 laptop, with Win7 Pro 64bit, that has a Wireless Adapter made by Intel, namely an Intel Dual Band Wireless Ac 3160 card. My problem with the device is that it randomly drops the connection.
At first it seems like everything was still up and running, but when I try to open a page nothing happens. This is the time when I am clicking on the Network Troubleshooter in Windows that tries to identify the problem which is always the same:
"The default gateway is not available."
The Troubleshooter manages to repair the connection by resetting the adapter, claiming the problem is fixed, but it is only a matter of time and it occurs again. Interestingly enough the error can reappear again from a minute to 2 hours, and there is absolutely no pattern one could find.
Opening the Event Viewer all I can see in the list now are dozens of the the two or three same warnings that comes with the issue:
Event ID: 1006 and 1014, and sometimes these two is mixed with the "Your broadband modem is experiencing connectivity issues" dialog box (which is, of course not true at all, since any other device is working just fine both wired or wireless, while I am experiencing the issue.)
What I have tried so far following to this community forum's, my ISP's, Microsoft's, and Lenovo's advices:
- I updated the drivers (when this did not help at all , I properly uninstalled them with the help of the Device Manager and literally tried out every single driver that is available on the net from the ones on your (Intel's) website to the ones I have found on Lenovo's starting with the oldest and eventually ending up at the newest ones.) No success at all.
- I updated the BIOS.
- I turned off Bluetooth and I disabled it completely too (just to be 100% sure it is definitely off).
- I tried every single mentioned settings that was advised by this community's experts: I disabled AC, changing the rate to 20 Mhz only, I set up HT mode etc... I also tried every possible power options available - so I did all the things as it was advised here previously. (The technican who came out from my ISP was stunned how much work I put into solving the problem when I informed him all of the settings I've tried out.)
- The ISP's technican replaced the router two times, updated its firmware, checked all the settings, and made sure everything was OK with them just as well with the cables to avoid any singal strength issues.
- Together we tried the connection out with several other devices, and OSes (including Linux too), both wired and wireless and none of these devices experiencing any problems.
- I also wanted to make sure it is not the distance that causes the problem, so I spent half a day beside the router but there was no improvment at all.
- I tried out alternative, open DNS addresses too, without any luck.
- I tried out this Intel card with other networks, but the same happened.
- I temporarily disabled antivirus and firewall and even Lenovo Energy Management , just to make sure the problem was not generated by one of these.
- I even tried out a USB wifi adapter which operated very slowly, but flawlessly.
So now here I am waiting for a solution, but to tell you the truth with all the effort I put into somehow solving this case I am now starting to lost my hope that it will be ever fixed. What made me even more anxious that browsing on the internet for a solution I have come accross dozens of user complaints describing the same issue as I have, and some of them complained that after 2 years of hopless search they decided to gave it up, thinking it is a fault of this series of adapters.
I am really hoping that you can reassure me this is not the case, and there are useres who are satisfied with this card, as it works them like a charm, and the solution is very easy, and it is only me who has not been smart enough to find it. I was glad when I found out that I have an Intel adapter in my computer, because I've known Intel to create devices which are reliable.
I will appreciate any advice anyone could possibly give me regarding to the above mentioned issue.
PS.: Sorry for the grammatical mistakes that possibly occuring in my writing, but English is not my mother tongue.