Poor wireless signal after SSD upgrade

[andrewmarcelli92]

Looking for some help/ideas with a friend's laptop. Specs are at the bottom if you're interested.

About two weeks ago a friend brought me his laptop complaining it was slow. I swapped his spinner for a SSD and did a fresh install of Win 10. A few days after I gave it back to him he told me the wifi was really weak and kept dropping out.

He brought it back to me and I experienced the same thing. The wireless was fine in the same room as my router, but take it 30 feet away into the next room or two and it completely loses signal. He insists this wasn't an issue before.

So far I have tried: Updating the wireless card's driver, rolling back driver, got driver from Toshiba, got driver from Intel, uninstalled device completely and scan for new hardware from device manager, winsock reset. I even put his old hard drive back in (hadn't wiped it yet) and the issue still persists. Toshiba's support website for this model did have an entry about weak wireless signal, but all it recommended was changing the wireless card's power savings mode in advanced power saving settings, which I did and it still doesn't work.

From a hardware perspective, I also ordered a new wireless card and replaced it just today. The signal strength seems to be even worse after that. I don't see any obvious damage to the antenna wires when I look in the laptop. Also tried a usb wireless adapter and signal seemed fine using that, but I'm sure he would prefer not to resort to that if possible.

Is there anything else to try that I'm missing? Thanks in advance.

Toshiba Satellite s55t-b5273nr
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 3160NGW

 

[engineer5261]

You made sure to connect the 2 antenna wires to the WIFI card? I once forgot to hook those up when I was putting a laptop back together.

 

[andrewmarcelli92]

You made sure to connect the 2 antenna wires to the WIFI card? I once forgot to hook those up when I was putting a laptop back together.

Yeah. I made sure the antenna connections were both attached and secured to the card. There was even a little piece of tape over them originally that I put back as well. Thanks for the response though!

 

[engineer5261]

At this point I would suspect the antenna wires, any way you can check them for continuity?

 

[andrewmarcelli92]

At this point I would suspect the antenna wires, any way you can check them for continuity?

The wires in the bottom of the case where I've been working seem fine, but I can't tell behind the screen or in the hinges. I was just trying to avoid taking the screen off/apart because this thing is an ultra-thin touch screen, but looks like I'll have to venture in.

 

[engineer5261]

At this point I would suspect the antenna wires, any way you can check them for continuity?

The wires in the bottom of the case where I've been working seem fine, but I can't tell behind the screen or in the hinges. I was just trying to avoid taking the screen off/apart because this thing is an ultra-thin touch screen, but looks like I'll have to venture in.

I myself would avoid opening those on a friend's laptop but you seem to be out of choices and brave / skilled enough to attempt it. Would your friend be open to using a USB WiFi dongle? You can get very low profile ones and it will be a 10$ fix.

 

[andrewmarcelli92]

At this point I would suspect the antenna wires, any way you can check them for continuity?

The wires in the bottom of the case where I've been working seem fine, but I can't tell behind the screen or in the hinges. I was just trying to avoid taking the screen off/apart because this thing is an ultra-thin touch screen, but looks like I'll have to venture in.

I myself would avoid opening those on a friend's laptop but you seem to be out of choices and brave / skilled enough to attempt it. Would your friend be open to using a USB WiFi dongle? You can get very low profile ones and it will be a 10$ fix.

lol. I don't know if skilled is the word I would use. If I was skilled I wouldn't be in this situation. I mean, I repair computers fairly often. I usually stay away from detailed laptop work. I've done a few screen replacements, but mostly Hard Drive to SSD upgrades. This is the first time I've had an issue like this.

I think I'll suggest he use a USB adapter and I'll refund him what I charged for the SSD upgrade. If he doesn't want to do that I'll either take it somewhere that does more detail work on laptops, or claim it against my business insurance.

 

[engineer5261]

At this point I would suspect the antenna wires, any way you can check them for continuity?

The wires in the bottom of the case where I've been working seem fine, but I can't tell behind the screen or in the hinges. I was just trying to avoid taking the screen off/apart because this thing is an ultra-thin touch screen, but looks like I'll have to venture in.

I myself would avoid opening those on a friend's laptop but you seem to be out of choices and brave / skilled enough to attempt it. Would your friend be open to using a USB WiFi dongle? You can get very low profile ones and it will be a 10$ fix.

lol. I don't know if skilled is the word I would use. If I was skilled I wouldn't be in this situation. I mean, I repair computers fairly often. I usually stay away from detailed laptop work. I've done a few screen replacements, but mostly Hard Drive to SSD upgrades. This is the first time I've had an issue like this.

I think I'll suggest he use a USB adapter and I'll refund him what I charged for the SSD upgrade. If he doesn't want to do that I'll either take it somewhere that does more detail work on laptops, or claim it against my business insurance.

Sounds like a plan. Sorry couldn't be of more help.