I've been using my old work HP laptop as my home desktop for many years now without issue.

Over time I noticed that it temporarly lost connection to my router for short periods, which is in the same room, recently becoming more frequent.

Yesterday it refused to connect. Although it sees the router it says "Can't connect to this network"

 

I've tried running the troubleshooter (windows network diagnstics) but that simply confirms there's no connection etc.

 

My other two laptops, a 4 year old Lenovo Thinkpad and 1 year old Surface Pro 6 connect perfectly.

 

What might be a clue is that the HP only sees my router whilst the other two can see about 12 neighbouring networks suggesting a weak receiver type of thing.

 

Any ideas to resolve would be most appreciated as I want to give away the HP to a family member to use.

Are all your drivers up to date. And various caches maybe need emptying. Run C Cleaner or Glary Utilities. Or clean re-install W10 if you are giving it away

Can you connect by ethernet cable ?

Connected to internet using my phone as hotspot.

Ran CCleaner. All drivers up to date.

Rebooted.

Still no connection to router.

 

So I took the laptop over to the router, only 5 metres away, and it connected.

I've brought it back to my desk and it's remained connected but page loading is slow.

 

It would appear to be a proximity issue.

But why would it deteriorate over such along period and how can it be fixed?

 

@david555 Don't have an ethernet cable

18 hours ago, prophet01 said:

What might be a clue is that the HP only sees my router whilst the other two can see about 12 neighbouring networks suggesting a weak receiver type of thing.

Maybe a bad connection to the internal antenna. 

You could open it and check the connection.

 

This image is not from your notebook. It's just an example

Can't hurt to have a quick look today.

I'll post back with findings later.

 

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe a bad connection to the internal antenna. 

You could open it and check the connection.

A loose or disconnected cable would definitely fit the symptoms

 

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

This image is not from your notebook. It's just an example

Nice example, Dr Frankenstein.

Not sure how I feel bout you resurrecting the dead.

 

OP, if you open up the notebook look for a small sub-board with one or more RP-SMA snap-in antenna connectors. Make sure they're press-fit securely on the board:

 

https://www.advice.co.th/product/wireless-network/wireless-usb-adapter?sort=price_asc

For a few baht you can buy a USB "Aerial" to plug in the side....????

Well, opened it up but couldn't see anything obviously amiss.

Have a one man band IT repair guy 10 minutes drive away who I've used several times.

I'll let him take a look.

Thanks for the input all.

I would by a new WIFI card for the laptop. Problem solved. Cheap.

16 hours ago, Damual Travesty said:

I would by a new WIFI card for the laptop. Problem solved. Cheap.

Since it's an older HP laptop, maybe a USB wi-fi adapter would be faster, easier and cheaper?

A USB stick for wifi is for sure the cheapest fix. You also can check if you have the best channels for your router. Often new routers from other people in your area might change a good selection you had a while ago if they use the same channels. Also avoid things like microwave ovens next to a router - when they are operating they might disturb the signal.