[SOLVED] WIFI Adapter keeps disconnecting (since Win 10)

[Larry C-137]

Hi all!

So, I've been looking on this problem for the past week, and I found no solutions until now.

I have a little WiFi adapter (a cheap simple one) and since I upgraded from windows 7 to windows 10 when I bought this new rig, the connection is very unstable. Sometimes it keeps on for hours, sometimes it just won't connect anymore. Whenever it drops, I have to remove the adaptor and put it again (USB connection). Sometimes it will connect again, sometimes not. So, the problem present inconsistent leads to the cause, is really random to me.

The curious thing is that it was working like a charm on windows 7, what makes me believe the issue is related to win 10.

Sometimes when I leave the adaptor, it keeps connecting and disconnecting making the windows USB device sound, and on occasion I have a BSOD pointing to the adaptor driver which is netr28ux.sys.

I tried to mess with the drivers, uninstall, install again, and windows always say that the drivers are up to date, and won't let me install other drivers (i'm very noob on this subject), so I'm really lost here.

I installed firstly the Ralink_wlan_64_50520 driver, and installed after the Intel WiFi_21.50.1_Driver64_Win10, and the problem persist.

This is my PC:

• Gigabyte B450m Ds3h
• Ryzen 5 3400g
• 2x8 G. Skill Aegis 3000mhz
• Corsair CX600

I'm using windows 10 updated to 1903, and I don't know the manufacturer of the adaptor as it is a cheap generic one.

If someone can shed a light on this it would be amazing, considering this is a VERY, VERY annoying issue.

 

[Ralston18]

Ralink wireless adapter - correct? Which model?

Does the adapter get overly warm or even hot (check carefully)?

Try using an USB extension cable to raise the adapter up and away from the hosting USB port(s).

May help with both reception and cooling.

 

[Larry C-137]

Ralink wireless adapter - correct? Which model?

Does the adapter get overly warm or even hot (check carefully)?

Try using an USB extension cable to raise the adapter up and away from the hosting USB port(s).

May help with both reception and cooling.

Hi mate, sorry for the late reply.

The wifi adapter doesn't get any warm at all. I belive it wasn't being disconnected due to weak signal, but for the windows breaking my drivers, as the driver vanish from Device Manager when it drops.

Tried to update to the lastest Ralink drivers and now I can't even connect once.

Windows won't let me uninstall the driver, giving me an endless loading when I try to do so. I want to try another driver, because I don't know if ralink is the right one (the adapter is a generic one), but windows won't let me uninstall it to try a different one.

Really bummer, I'd appreciate any wisdom on that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ralston18]

Are you able to run and post the results of "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the command prompt?

The output should show what network adapter is being used.

Device Manager > Network adapters should likewise show the adapter.

 

[ravin_29]

I had same issue with nano (generic cheap) USB adapter on Windows 10 1903. I tried everything mentioned on the Internet including resetting network adapter stack and bunch of other things.

The problem was solved when I manually installed following 2 updates and the Aug-2019 cumulative update
kb4497935
kb4512508
Give it a try.

Later I did a clean install of 1909 and the problem did not resurface thereafter or was very very infrequent not to blame the OS.

 

[Larry C-137]

Are you able to run and post the results of "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the command prompt?

The output should show what network adapter is being used.

Device Manager > Network adapters should likewise show the adapter.

Yeah, so I plugged the adapter to run the test and got connected for 10 minutes, and it dropped. Doesn't matter if I take it off the USB, or change the port it won't connect anymore.

Unfortunately, I just ran the test after the connection dropped, and this is the result.

https://imgur.com/a/Tyv3DJm

View: https://imgur.com/a/Tyv3DJm


On device manager it shows as connected and working.

 

[Ralston18]

Does not appear to be the full "ipconfig /all" print out....

Try "ipconfig /all" again via the Command Prompt.

Doublecheck:

You should have only one network adapter enabled: either wired or wireless. Not both at the same time.

If you wish to use wireless then that adapter should be enabled and the wired network adapter should be disabled.

 

[Larry C-137]

Does not appear to be the full "ipconfig /all" print out....

Try "ipconfig /all" again via the Command Prompt.

Doublecheck:

You should have only one network adapter enabled: either wired or wireless. Not both at the same time.

If you wish to use wireless then that adapter should be enabled and the wired network adapter should be disabled.

Yeah, I ran the test on cmd and I have the exactly same results. I don't have the Ethernet cable connected, so I don't think that's the case.

 

[Ralston18]

With the wireless adapter vanishing from both Device Manager and "ipconfig /all" I am wondering if the wireless adapter is defective in some manner. They are made as cheaply as possible with little or no QA/Testing.

Considering all that has happened and all that you have done the wireless adapter is becoming suspect.

If possible, either way:

Try running the wireless adapter on another known working computer.

Try running another known working wireless adapter on your computer.

Determine if the disconnects follow the wireless adapter or stay with your computer.

Take a look at Reliability History. Reliability History may be capturing some relevant error codes or warnings that correspond with the disconnects. Event Viewer may do the same but is much more cumbersome to work with.