Wi-Fi loses connection every 10 minutes or so

[chiller72]

Every 5-10 minutes, my wireless internet plummets. If I'm playing a multiplayer game, I can't move and everyone else freezes, and I often lose connection to the game servers.

I perform Network Diagnostics and it goes back to being perfectly fine for a short amount of time. The problem diagnosed and fixed is often an adapter problem or that I'm missing Network protocols.

I am using AT&T internet on my Windows 10 computer, and a TP-Link TL-WN781ND wireless adapter. I'm not sure what router I have, but it's really old and it's AT&T default.

Is this a hardware problem, and how can I fix this?

 

[DawgMach1]

Two steps for researching the issue:
1. Check the make and model of the AT&T router, then google it for issues disconnecting. You might find AT&T needs to send you a new unit. When I was on Verizon FiOS (before Frontier took over), my Verizon ActionTec usually lasted 3 years max.
2. Check for updated drivers for your TP-Link. In a post from 2014, one user tracked down an updated driver for the chipset (not issued by TP-Link) and it solved the problem. Here is a link to that 2014 thread... http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?77931-TL-WN781ND-Net-drop-issues

 

[RonWesley]

you need to go to the properties of the USB adapter and disable power saving, ie. allow the computer to stop this device to save power. That should actually solve the problem.

 

[chiller72]

you need to go to the properties of the USB adapter and disable power saving, ie. allow the computer to stop this device to save power. That should actually solve the problem.

I tried this, but it hasn't fixed the problem.

 

[chiller72]

Two steps for researching the issue:
1. Check the make and model of the AT&T router, then google it for issues disconnecting. You might find AT&T needs to send you a new unit. When I was on Verizon FiOS (before Frontier took over), my Verizon ActionTec usually lasted 3 years max.
2. Check for updated drivers for your TP-Link. In a post from 2014, one user tracked down an updated driver for the chipset (not issued by TP-Link) and it solved the problem. Here is a link to that 2014 thread... http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?77931-TL-WN781ND-Net-drop-issues

The link for the driver is dead

 

[DawgMach1]

The link for the driver is dead

Well, you might have to do a little digging yourself by googling the Atheros driver mentioned in the post. Odds are, there is a copy of it somewhere on the net or possibly an updated version you can try.