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AC 3168 Effective Range issue

JSnyd8
Beginner
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Purchased a HP 15 Laptop in August 2017. It has the Intel AC 3168 Adapter. The laptop is unable to locate the router if the laptop is more than 15-20 feet from the router.

I got a range extender, which helps quite a bit, but if I need to move the laptop, it no longer finds the router. I even tried a new AC1900 router, with no improvement.

Is that considered a normal effective range?

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Message was edited by: Jason Snyder&# 13; As requested, I've attached results of SSU00

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7 Replies
idata
Employee
512 Views

Hello jsnyder2914,

 

 

We understand that you're experiencing network detection issues when you move your laptop a few feet from the router.

 

 

The effective range can be affected by several factors such as the router's transmit power and external interference.

 

 

In order to better assist you, we would like to gather some more information. Please download and run the https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows- Intel® System Support Utility (while connected to your network) and share the resulting report with us.

 

 

To enable file attachments, you will need to switch to the advanced editor mode while replying.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio F.
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JSnyd8
Beginner
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SSU Results

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idata
Employee
512 Views

Hello jsnyder2914,

 

 

Thanks for sharing the the requested file.

 

 

From it, we found the connection rate for your wireless connection is 18 Mbps, which is low even for a legacy 802.11g network. This usually hints to a hardware issue with the adapter, such as a damage or disconnected antenna.

 

 

We recommend to reach your https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/oems.html system manufacturer to make use of the product warranty and get it checked. However, before you do that please try the following in order to discard other possible causes:

 

 

- Go to the adapter's https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005585/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Advanced Settings from Device Manager and change the Roaming Aggressiveness to its lowest value (1).

 

- Test the connection on a different network. Preferably a 802.11ac based network as the adapter was designed to perform best on them.

 

 

Please let us know the results.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio F.
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idata
Employee
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Hello jsnyder2914,

 

 

We haven't heard from you in a while. Please let us know if you had the chance to modify the Roaming Aggressiveness at the advance settings for your wireless network adapter and test different networks.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio F.
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JSnyd8
Beginner
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Hello,

I did try changing the "Roaming Aggressiveness", but still no improvement in effective range.

Tried different networks and routers, including an AC1900 router. No improvement in range but, when I was able to get in range and connect, the upload and download speeds were substantially faster.

I even tried moving the routers and range extenders to different locations, but nothing changed. On the connectivity indicator, I can even see the number of "bars" increase and decrease as I get closer or further away, and twenty feet seems to be the limit that it can locate.

Thanks

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idata
Employee
512 Views

Hello jsnyder2914,

 

 

Thanks for your reply. Even though the issue seems to be hardware related, you could try to reinstall the wireless driver.

 

 

If you're using the Intel generic driver, you can test the driver provided by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or the other way around. The following article shows how to perform a clean driver installation for both the Intel generic driver and the OEM driver:

 

 

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Clean Installation of Wireless Drivers

 

 

Please let us know if there are improvements in the range after the driver installation.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio F.
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idata
Employee
512 Views

Hello jsnyder2914,

 

 

We are just reviewing this thread and would like to know if you had the chance to clean install your wireless adapter driver or if there's anything else we can help you with.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio F.
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