Hello Everyone,
I bought my wife a new laptop for Christmas, an HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, with a Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 wireless chip.
Now, I realize that this is a Linux forum, and I have been a member for many years, but this laptop is running Windows 8 because my wife just refuses to break away from Windows. But no where on the net are there more networking experts than right here. So, if no one wants to respond because I am asking a Windows question, I understand. But I am hoping a Windows networking expert will be kind and try to give me a hand with this. I am using WPA/TKIP security with a passphrase.
I set up her laptop for her, and having never seen Windows 8 before, I am glad that I use Linux. What a load of rubbish! It truly looks like Microsoft has attempted to copy Ubuntu, but made a wreck out of it. Underneath all the crap, it looks like the same old Windows. Anyway, here is my problem:
I set up the laptop in about half an hour and for about ten minutes the wireless connected to Zyxel router easily and I was on the net. After about ten minutes, it stayed connected to the router, but would no longer connect to the net. Since then, it will not connect to the net but does connect to the router easily and is assigned a network address. I first tried restarting the router, and it did work for another five minutes and then stopped connecting to any web sites, but again connects to the router just fine. Each time I would restart the router it would work, but only for five minutes. The tech guys at Curry's, where I bought the laptop, are worthless. They are trying to convince me that I have a faulty router, even though I have three other computers, 2 ipads, 2 iphones and 2 ipod touches, and a PS3 which ALL connect to the net just fine, never an issue until now. Here is what I have tried so far:
1. Restored the laptop to factory settings (nothing to lose here since it is new)
2. Reset the TCP and Winsock stack using admin priveledges
3. Turned off the Norton system to rule that out
4. Used both Windows and Norton troubleshooters to try and diagnose the problem (windows reports that there is issue connecting to the net. No kidding....)
5. Pinged
www.google.com which works for the short time it is connected, so not a DNS problem
Can anyone else who is well read with Windows networking offer any other suggestion to try? I am pulling my hair out here and getting very close to the date I can no return the laptop.
Many thanks to anyone who replies.
Bob