[SOLVED] WIFI dropping due to Default Gateway Is Not Available.

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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Hi everybody,
OK, so I have a problem with the WIFI on one of my Laptops.
The WIFI on it disconnects randomly, in fact, everything about this problem is completely random.
There is no time scale of any sort, no common use of certain programs/Apps etc that could cause it. It disconnects even with no programs running
When I Troubleshoot the Network, I get the following message: “The Default Gateway Is Not Available” and I’m connected again as it gets fixed.
However, the connection may last from a few minutes to several hours and then disconnects again.
Apart from running the trouble shooter, I have done the following:
  • Gone into properties and “Turned Off” allow computer to turn off device to save energy.
  • Disabled, enabled one at a time the Network Adapters both WIFI and Ethernet.
  • Uninstalled both Adapters, rebooted twice, completed Windows Update and reinstalled. (Only the Ethernet driver updated.)
  • All Windows Updates have been installed.
  • Watched several Youtube videos which just say do the above.
The WIFI Adapter is: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 100 Driver Date 30/04/2015 Ver: 15.11.0.9
The computer is a ASUS K53SV, OS Windows 10 ver: 21H1 (build 19043.1110) 64bit
There are 3 mobile phones and other WIFI devices on the Network which are all correctly working with no problems.
So the problem is isolated to this computer.
Any help would be very, very grateful also from my children who expect to come home to find the film downloaded but.......
PS. The Ethernet works fine.
 
Last edited:
Solution
If these are the same then you are not actually dropping the wifi. It would be more like the ethernet where it says disconnected or the wifi would be connected and there would be no ip addresses or gateway.

It would be nice if they actually documented exactly and in detail what gateway not available means.

I would open a background cmd window and leave a constant ping run to 192.168.1.1. If the interface goes down or there really is some issue reaching the gateway IP you will get ping loss.

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hi everybody,
OK, so I have a problem with the WIFI on one of my Laptops.
The WIFI on it disconnects randomly, in fact, everything about this problem is completely random.
There is no time scale of any sort, no common use of certain programs/Apps etc that could cause it. It disconnects even with no programs running
When I Troubleshoot the Network, I get the following message: “The Default Gateway Is Not Available” and I’m connected again as it gets fixed.
However, the connection may last from a few minutes to several hours and then disconnects again.
Apart from running the trouble shooter, I have done the following:
  • Gone into properties and “Turned Off” allow computer to turn off device to save energy.
  • Disabled, enabled one at a time the Network Adapters both WIFI and Ethernet.
  • Uninstalled both Adapters, rebooted twice, completed Windows Update and reinstalled. (Only the Ethernet driver updated.)
  • All Windows Updates have been installed.
  • Watched several Youtube videos which just say do the above.
The WIFI Adapter is: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 100 Driver Date 30/04/2015 Ver: 15.11.0.9
The computer is a ASUS K53SV, OS Windows 10 ver: 21H1 (build 19043.1110) 64bit
There are 3 mobile phones and other WIFI devices on the Network which are all correctly working with no problems.
So the problem is isolated to this computer.
Any help would be very, very grateful also from my children who expect to come home to find the film downloaded but.......
PS. The Ethernet works fine.
Start by opening a cmd.exe window when it is working and running ipconfig.exe /all
Do the SAME thing when it isn't. Compare the two outputs?
If they are the same post one.
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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Hi,
Thank you for your reply.
I have run the ipconfig with internet but am still waiting for the internet to drop again.
As you can see there is no time scale that can be put to this problem.
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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510
Start by opening a cmd.exe window when it is working and running ipconfig.exe /all
Do the SAME thing when it isn't. Compare the two outputs?
If they are the same post one.
OK. So at last it is starting again after some time. The IPCONFIG results are below but in short they are the same. The ONLY differences are with the LEASE EXPIRY and OBTAINED dates.
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19043.1110]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig.exe /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Win10-AND
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home-life.hub

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-04-A6-10-C2-A7
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home-life.hub
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 100
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 78-92-9C-37-CC-88
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.224(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : venerdì 16 luglio 2021 16:19:17
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : sabato 17 luglio 2021 16:19:17
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
 
If these are the same then you are not actually dropping the wifi. It would be more like the ethernet where it says disconnected or the wifi would be connected and there would be no ip addresses or gateway.

It would be nice if they actually documented exactly and in detail what gateway not available means.

I would open a background cmd window and leave a constant ping run to 192.168.1.1. If the interface goes down or there really is some issue reaching the gateway IP you will get ping loss.
 
Solution

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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510
Thank you for your reply. I have just run it, or tried to but get this:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19043.1110]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\WIN7>ping 192.168.1.1-t

Pinging 192.168.1.1-t [20.73.224.178] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for : xx.xx.xxx.xxx
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

Is there anything I've done wrong?
However the WIFI is working.
 
It does that all the time or only when it is broken.

Check ARP -a and see if you see the ip and the mac. Is it the same when it works and when it is broken.

It is acting like the wifi is up but it can not pass data between the devices.

So I first thought your drivers are really old but it appears this machine is really old, I am surprised you got win10 drivers at all.

Normally the next test would be to do something like boot a USB linux image. This is mostly to eliminate windows or some software on the machine as the cause. Because the problem is so random this likely is not a valid option.

There is not a lot more to try so you start to consider replacing the wifi. It will simplest to use a external USB model but you can likely find a youtube video that shows how to replace the internal card. If you buy USB do not buy those very tiny devices. They are low power and have tiny antenna.
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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It does that all the time or only when it is broken.
Well when I ran it, it was working. Next time it goes again , I'll run it again.

Check ARP -a and see if you see the ip and the mac. Is it the same when it works and when it is broken.
There this is the ARP with WIFI WORKING.
C:\Users\WIN7>ARP -a

Interface: 192.168.1.224 --- 0x13
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.1.1 54-83-3a-c6-77-08 dynamic
192.168.1.238 70-77-81-93-80-95 dynamic
192.168.1.255 ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff static
224.0.0.22 01-00-5e-00-00-16 static
224.0.0.251 01-00-5e-00-00-fb static
224.0.0.252 01-00-5e-00-00-fc static
239.255.255.250 01-00-5e-7f-ff-fa static
239.255.255.253 01-00-5e-7f-ff-fd static
255.255.255.255 ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff static

C:\Users\WIN7>
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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it appears this machine is really old, I am surprised you got win10 drivers at all.
She is about 9.5 years old. Originally with Win 7, then Upgraded to Win 10 in September 2016
As a matter of fact, several years ago, having trouble with the function keys, I contacted Asus support. They told me that it was "IMPOSSIBLE" that this computer was running Windows 10. They said NO K series Laptops could run it. So either I am VERY LUCKY, or they were wrong.
 
Which would you suggest?
I have tried the driver update but it says that this is the best.

I would physically flip your laptop over and take off the bottom panel to see if your wifi adapter is replaceable. Then look at it to see what form factor the card is. Then buy a replacement wirelessAC intel card to replace it. They aren't very expensive, like $15-$20.
 
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TommyTwoTone66

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The Centrino WiFi card is from a time when 100MBit "Wireless N" was considered experimental. It has support for one antenna only and is really designed for 54mbit "Wireless G", but they thought they would "future proof" it and give it the ability to connect to the poorly-defined and still being hammered out faster "N" spec. I'm not really surprised you are getting dropouts on it now that your network (and everyone else's network in the surrounding neighbourhood) has a lot more devices on it.

It's likely that your wireless router now supports much higher speeds, but be careful, any new WiFi card you buy will want to be connected to at least 2 antennas, maybe 3. Since you only have one antenna embedded into the lid of your laptop, you may have to get creative...
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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Thanks I see what you mean. The other Laptop has a Realtek RTL8723BE 802.11 bgn WIFI adapter.
Anyway, I'll have a look into my options and see which is the best one.
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
20
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510
HI, thank you everybody for your kind replies.
Now I'm going to get a WIFI adapter because now the WIFI part has completely stopped working.
My question is "Can I get any one or must I get a specific one?"
 
HI, thank you everybody for your kind replies.
Now I'm going to get a WIFI adapter because now the WIFI part has completely stopped working.
My question is "Can I get any one or must I get a specific one?"

It has to be the correct form factor, but not a specific card as long as it's an Intel Card. They're pretty much universal. But the actual format of how the card slots in could be one of several standards. We need a picture of the card to understand what type of card you need.
 

English68

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Jun 3, 2020
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510
Thanks for the reply. May I ask about an external USB one now. Are they any good? Once again, would anyone do I should I look for a specific kind, make etc?
I'm trying to get the computer back on-line as quickly as possible so am checking all avenues as I'm Ethernet at the moment and the wife's going mad with the wires all over the floor.
I have noticed that the 7260ac that has been suggested is not produced any more and support ends at the end of December.
Thanks once again.