Help WiFi Problems

[mburwen]

My Edimax antenna dongle has ceased working. I get no reception with it. The power light is on, so comnnection is likely OK. In addition, Imy standard WiFi connection keeps dropping out. Does anyone have any idea how I can trouble shoot these problems? It doesn't seem logical for these symptoms to be connected, but I have no way of knowing. Is there a WiFi diagnostic program out theere that might be useful?

 

[tbod]

My Edimax antenna dongle has ceased working. I get no reception with it. The power light is on, so comnnection is likely OK. In addition, Imy standard WiFi connection keeps dropping out. Does anyone have any idea how I can trouble shoot these problems? It doesn't seem logical for these symptoms to be connected, but I have no way of knowing. Is there a WiFi diagnostic program out theere that might be useful?

Download and Install WiFi Analyser, it's on the Market.

This incredibly useful app will show you all you need to know about your WiFi connection, signal strength, channels, etc. it's invaluable if you're trying to track down a WiFi problem.

However, if it's a Wifey problem you probably need a Private Investigator, a solicitor or both...

 

[mburwen]

Download and Install WiFi Analyser, it's on the Market.

This incredibly useful app will show you all you need to know about your WiFi connection, signal strength, channels, etc. it's invaluable if you're trying to track down a WiFi problem.

However, if it's a Wifey problem you probably need a Private Investigator, a solicitor or both...

Thanks for advice tbod. I did install Wifi Analyzer and it shows no connection with Wifi switch off, whether dongle is there or not. I'm thinking it is a hardware connection issue. (Do I dare open the case?).

On the wifey issue, I am an expert, having gone through three of them.

 

[Rabid1]

I am not familiar with Edimax and reading I assume you have the full wireless adapter and not the straight antenna booster. Correct?

If you have tried both USB ports ( of course you have). Nothing really tablet specific on the net but in Windows and Linux it appears to either be a dead dongle or a driver issue. In both Os people have reported them to just stop working and uninstalling them from the system and reinstalling seems to fix it in some case. I am not sure how to remove it from and Android system but perhaps some of our more knowledgeable Linux guys will have a tip.

But first step would be to try the dongle in a PC and see if it shows and works. Then you know to look internally at the tablet.

 

[mburwen]

Thanks again guys (I assume you are guys). I've determined that the antenna is OK - boosts my laptop reception.

A symptom - with the sytem booted with the Wifi switch in the off position, when "Turn on Wifi" is selected, system responds with the message "Unable to scan for networks." Does that mean anything to you gurus out there?

Because the dongle was working very well up until a few days ago, my thought is to blame the switch or hardware connection.

 

[Rabid1]

with the sytem booted with the Wifi switch in the off position, when "Turn on Wifi" is selected, system responds with the message "Unable to scan for networks." Does that mean anything to you gurus out there?

Wait. If this is just an antenna you want the switch in the on position not the off. Otherwise you would get the unable to scan message.

 

[mburwen]

Wait. If this is just an antenna you want the switch in the on position not the off. Otherwise you would get the unable to scan message.

Not so, Rabid. WiFi switch must be 'off' during boot in order to use an external antenna. You will find many posts to that effect on this forum and apad.tv forum. After the network has been detected/connected with the switch off, the switch can then be moved to the on position. In fact, I found that there is less signal variation with the switch on.

 

[tbod]

Wait. If this is just an antenna you want the switch in the on position not the off. Otherwise you would get the unable to scan message.

If you read through the many posts on this device here and elsewhere you will see it is actually a USB WiFi Dongle not just an antenna.

 

[Rabid1]

If you read through the many posts on this device here and elsewhere you will see it is actually a USB WiFi Dongle not just an antenna.

OK that makes sense. But when I researched Edimax they make the full dongle, booster antenna, and extenders. So when it was called an antenna dongle I was trying to make sure.

 

[mburwen]

OK that makes sense. But when I researched Edimax they make the full dongle, booster antenna, and extenders. So when it was called an antenna dongle I was trying to make sure.

I hope my lack of semantic precision didn't mess up what I was trying to say - i.e., the damn thing stopped working, and I am at a loss to figure out why that happened.

 

[Rabid1]

I hope my lack of semantic precision didn't mess up what I was trying to say - i.e., the damn thing stopped working, and I am at a loss to figure out why that happened.

Have you tried it on another device?

 

[mburwen]

Have you tried it on another device?

Yes, it works on my laptop.

 

[Rabid1]

Like I said above maybe somebody with more linux knowledge can suggest how to remove the device from the system then re-enable it, short of re-flashing the system, since you said the built in is having issues as well.