Poor Wifi Reception: Who/What is the culprit?

[up-country_sinclair]

Hi everyone,

 

My wife's laptop began to have difficulty booting, and eventually stopped altogether.  Before it stopped completely, the computer was able to pick up a strong wifi signal anywhere within the house.

 

Called in a tech who took the laptop and said it was an electrical issue and he'd order a part and sort it out in a few days.

 

The next day I saw the news about VPN Filter malware and rebooted my router as suggested. Every other device in my home has no issues with the wifi connection since the reboot.

 

The tech returned the laptop and it boots right up.  However, the laptop is now only getting 1 bar even when it's placed right next to the router.

 

Any ideas about what could be causing this?

 

Thanks!  ?

[Crossy]

Odds on he forgot to re-connect the antenna when he had it in bits.

 

Time to get him back to sort it.

[catman20]

22 hours ago, Crossy said:

Odds on he forgot to re-connect the antenna when he had it in bits.

 

Time to get him back to sort it.

Time to get him back to sort it.

??

[Panda13]

23 hours ago, Crossy said:

Odds on he forgot to re-connect the antenna when he had it in bits.

 

Time to get him back to sort it.

Yeah. Cause he done such a bang up job screwing it up the first time, you should trust him a second time. Duhh.

[Crossy]

So, our posters in Posts #3 and #4 would be prepared to pay again?

 

I would certainly be talking to the original "technician" to get it sorted. But each to his own. 

[lucifer666]

There will be a flap on the bottom which you can open yourself and reconnect it. There's plenty of youtube videos out there which can show you how to do it.

[Pib]

4 hours ago, lucifer666 said:

There will be a flap on the bottom which you can open yourself and reconnect it. There's plenty of youtube videos out there which can show you how to do it.

Many laptops no longer have a flap or any other access panels on the bottom...like one of my Lenovo laptops.  And my other Lenovo only has one small access panel for adding memory.  To access anything else in the laptops  you must remove the entire bottom panel which requires partial disassembly of the laptop....and before  you can remove the bottom panel you must remove the keyboard on top in order to remove some screws that help hold the bottom panel.   Thank gosh Lenovo provides maintenance manuals to show you how....but it's not for the faint of heart if not a Do-It-Yourselfer.

 

And the antenna connection wires on any laptop may not run to the Wifi circuit sometimes located on the underside of the motherboard but instead run to the upper side of the motherboard where the Wifi circuit is located instead...like on my two old Toshiba laptops.

 

All  laptops are different....and less or no quick/easy access panels home become the norm.   Kinda like how being able to replace quickly/easily remove the back panel of your smartphone to replace the battery yourself is going by the wayside.  Instead, the batteries are not user replaceable because the back panel has be sealed which requires heat and special tools at a shop to remove properly.  Well, you might be able to do it at home with a hair dryer and plastic tools...and you may get lucky and get it done without damaging/scratching the heck out of the smartphone....or you may not get lucky.