Limited wifi range with Lenovo U310

[Steve Kennelly]

I am having major issues with the internet connection on my U310 touch. My warranty expired in December of 2014, but I was not aware of the issue until the February of 2015. Prior to February, I used the hotspot feature on my phone for internet. The phone was always within 5 to 10 feet of my laptop. I just had home internet installed in my house and now I have found out how awful this laptop is. My internet is not that great to begin with. I pay for 10 mbps but get only get 5 to 8 mbps. The laptop has the Intel Centrino Wireless N 2230 adapter.

Here is the problem: If I stand right next to my router, I can pull 7-8 mbps download speeds. If I am literally 36 feet from my router where I normally do my computer work, I only get 0.20 mbps to 1.10 mbps download speeds. I use Google Play Music. I cannot play one song without constant buffering. I just tried to stream some music before writing this post. My wife has an Asus U50F. Sitting right next to me, I logged onto her laptop and could stream music with absolutely no issue.

I have searched for hours and tried a few fixes, but still nothing has worked. I had read about a possible manufacturing issue for laptops made prior to April of 2012, but found that my laptop was made in October of 2013. I called lenovo support and their ridiculous suggestion was for me to pay $20/month for them to optimize my computer. They did a remote in to my laptop, ran a "diagnostics" test and said that there was an issue because I had two extensions enabled. I had disabled all extensions before and had no wifi improvement.

Does anyone know how to fix this? Is it software or hardware related? Am I better off buying a usb wifi adapter? If so, any recommendations?

 

[g90814]

I'd say your wireless in the laptop is just not that great. You might want to consider getting a USB wireless adapter.

Here's a few recommendations:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320089 a bit high on price but a good device (there's even a refurb one available for less).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704135 lower price, but still good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704053 if you don't mind a device on a cable

Here's a sorted list for recommended brand and dual band, you can change sorts to look at different options:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100010074%2050001315%2050001015%2050001233%2050001413%2050012120%20600014288%20600326046&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=dual%20band&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=RATING&PageSize=30

I'd stay away from Lenovo support. You can get just as good of results here, and we're free Their offer of $20/mo for support is a total rip off.