Laptop WiFi problems when on AC power

TekNinja81

TekNinja81

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OK, this one has me stumped. My new laptop (Asus VivoBook) generally works wonderfully, except for an issue with my WiFi. When on battery power, everything is fast and smooth; my 25/10 Fibe internet is fast as hell. When on AC power though, speed and connectivity turn to crap, and intermittently doesn't work at all. Doesn't seem to be my Power Management settings (and I'd expect opposite results if so -- it's odd that performance is poor on AC power but great on battery) but it definitely has to do with the laptop being plugged in. I *did* change the internal wireless card from a stock Atheros to the Intel 6230, but even before then I seem to recall occasional WiFi issues.

Any thoughts? One suggestion so far has been a grounding issue somewhere. I've got no idea if this is something I can fix on my own, or if the laptop has a defect that'll require servicing/replacement...


(Edit: Should've been more specific: Model is the Asus VivoBook S400CA, running the newest BIOS and newest drivers for all hardware. Win8 x64 with all updates, and Power Management settings to "Max Performance" on AC power.)
 
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Install the new drivers for the new card?
Otherwise a possible hardware short somewhere.

TekNinja81 said:
OK, this one has me stumped. My new laptop (Asus VivoBook) generally works wonderfully, except for an issue with my WiFi. When on battery power, everything is fast and smooth; my 25/10 Fibe internet is fast as hell. When on AC power though, speed and connectivity turn to crap, and intermittently doesn't work at all. Doesn't seem to be my Power Management settings (and I'd expect opposite results if so -- it's odd that performance is poor on AC power but great on battery) but it definitely has to do with the laptop being plugged in. I *did* change the internal wireless card from a stock Atheros to the Intel 6230, but even before then I seem to recall occasional WiFi issues.

Any thoughts? One suggestion so far has been a grounding issue somewhere. I've got no idea if this is something I can fix on my own, or if the laptop has a defect that'll require servicing/replacement...
Click to expand...
 
I don't think a BIOS update would have much impact as long as the wireless card works at all (i.e. laptop not using a whitelisting system).

So, just to be 100% sure, in the advanced settings for Power Options: Wireless Adapter Settings -> Power Saving Mode -> Maximum Performance?

Is the 6230 you installed a full length card, or a half-length card with an adapter? The 6300 I installed in my Dell D620 came with a questionable bracket, I covered part of it with tape to insulate it.
 
nfq said:
Install the new drivers for the new card? Otherwise a possible hardware short somewhere.
Click to expand...

Got the newest drivers as soon as I installed the card, so already eliminated that possibility; Win8 had built-in drivers so it also worked prior to updating. The hardware short is what I'm fearing to be the likely suspect here...


fastar1 said:
Have you looked for a BIOS update for that model?
Click to expand...

Indeed, running the newest BIOS. My model BTW is the 14" S400CA; I'm not sure, but I think the VivoBook link you provided may have been for the 11" model. Sorry I wasn't more clear in my OP, fixed that.


TwistedKestrel said:
So, just to be 100% sure, in the advanced settings for Power Options: Wireless Adapter Settings -> Power Saving Mode -> Maximum Performance?
Is the 6230 you installed a full length card, or a half-length card with an adapter? The 6300 I installed in my Dell D620 came with a questionable bracket, I covered part of it with tape to insulate it.
Click to expand...

Power setting is exactly as you suggested, I've even played with the settings between AC/battery modes to verify it's not a PM setting somewhere. Tried setting them both identically, still get the same issue. It's a PCIe Half-Mini card, as was my stock unit (Atheros), and no adapter or bracket etc came with it. Got it here and it was just in an OEM packaging. The tape idea may be something to look into, there was no shielding or anything on the original adapter that I recall, but maybe it could help regardless... hmm...
 
Just for ***** and giggles, does the problem go away if you shield the power brick of the AC cord with something?
 
Like tinfoil...serious.

Also...anyone using one of the mains current powerline extenders around.
 
More food for thought:

This could be a peculiar interaction between your laptop and your access point. Since Intel validates their equipment on just about everything, I would normally suspect problems with the AP first.

Also, there is an ideal maximum normal transmission power for 802.11n. Past that point, the signals on the upper and lower channels start to bleed into each other and reduces the quality of the network connection. You would never normally approach that limit in a mobile device, but since you're using a DIY configuration, there could be something funny going on.

Do you have the same number of antennas connected as there was with the original Atheros card? If there was only two connected originally and one loose (deliberately left unconnected), and you now have three connected, one antenna may have been intended for something else like WLAN and may be running alongside one of the other antennas. Usually it wouldn't be noticable, but it <i>could</i> be reducing the quality of the connection, especially if the transmission power goes up.

Finally, just because so many routers/APs ship with this turned off for some reason, is your router set to use 20mhz or 40mhz of bandwidth/spectrum/whatever? Having it set to 20 defeats the whole point of 802.11n, 40 will vastly improve connection quality and speed. That alone could make a huge difference.
 
Here's another whacky thought. The iPad has a weird reaction with WiFi signals that's associated (in some cases) with screen brightness settings. Changing the screen brightness has an effect on the connection to WiFi. I know on my laptop with my power settings the screen changes brightness and so perhaps there's a similar issue here?
 
Thanks for the further suggestions guys; I haven't really been home much to try any of them yet, but I do have at least one possible further update/symptom.

When I booted up tonight, I couldn't connect to anything on the web despite pinging the same URLs going through. For the hell of it, under Advanced Power Settings, I set the Wireless adapter to "Low Power Savings" when on AC power, rather than the "Maximum Performance" it's normally on. Oddly enough, as soon as I changed this, everything started working again.

I'm wondering if maybe when at full power, the adapter is getting overloaded somehow. The suggestion of it being a compatibility issue seems increasingly likely. The 6230 and the Atheros card both just have the 2 antenna connectors, so it's not that... but I do wonder if power management works differently between the two cards.


Another item of note: Avast Antivirus, which I run, is currently known to have some bugs under Windows 8. I've encountered some such bugs, where it appears to block internet traffic itself. But that said, even when completely disabled, I still encounter the issue when on AC power. So this has complicated matters even a bit further, though there is definitely an issue somewhere with the WiFi and AC power regardless.
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