My laptop is 8 years old. I have recently started having a problem in which I lose my wireless connection. My laptop tells me that my Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter is experiencing driver, or hardware-related, problems.

 

Most times, after I restart my laptop, I regain internet connectivity.  And when I go to my Device Manager, it says my Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter is "working properly." Device Manager also says that I already have the best available driver software. 

 

What to make of this?    Do wireless network adapters begin to die after 8 years?    Has the adapter become partly dislodged within my laptop?    What is the likely issue?   What should I do next?    Should I just buy a USB Wi-Fi adapter ?

Quite an old wifi card, what version of wifi drivers are installed (from windows?) Have you downgraded the driver or try the actual manufacturers drivers for that wireless card?

 

If the device is reporting problems then best to change it, they are quite cheap and best to get an Intel wifi card compatible with your laptop.

 

Doubt the wireless card is loose, usually those are inserted tight and screwed down, maybe it could be the antenna which has come loose, if so you would need to open the notebook and reattach it to the WiFi card.

 

Or just buy a USB wireless card dual band one for about 300 or 400 baht on Lazada/shopee and install it in a USB port. You can connect on 2.4 or 5 GHz bands then. There are some mini dual band wifi USB adapters which will not be noticeable when plugged in.

Just in general: I have an old ThinkPad and the WLAN had problems after every restart. I could disable it and enable it again and it worked but it was not really a solution.

At the end I bough a new very small USB WLAN adapter. It always works without problems. Then I disabled the internal WLAN - problem (kind of) solved.

 

It's a Windows 7 laptop.  

 

1 hour ago, userabcd said:

Doubt the wireless card is loose, usually those are inserted tight and screwed down, maybe it could be the antenna which has come loose

Oh, okay. That's interesting to know. 

 

1 hour ago, userabcd said:

if so you would need to open the notebook and reattach it to the WiFi card.

Hmmmmm. I can probably open up a desktop without creating a disaster, but I'm a bit scared of opening up a notebook. I once opened up a junky old notebook just to learn about what it looks like inside. I made a mess of things very quickly! Too many screws, etc....Would only attempt it again as a last resort. 

 

1 hour ago, userabcd said:

Or just buy a USB wireless card dual band one for about 300 or 400 baht on Lazada/shopee and install it in a USB port. You can connect on 2.4 or 5 GHz bands then. There are some mini dual band wifi USB adapters which will not be noticeable when plugged in.

Yeah, I think I'll just do that.  Thank you!