Possibly damaged WiFi adapter on laptop?

fireshade

Estimable
May 10, 2014
2
0
4,510
Hi all,
So recently I've been having WiFi problems with my Samsung laptop. It turns out that past a certain very short distance, in my home the laptop either doesn't connect or even detect the WiFi signal (which is literally 2 rooms down a small house). I've been away at college until recently, and my dorm was one of the lucky ones that had an adapter in it (attached to the ceiling) so I have no idea how long this problem would have actually started. Any other mobile device such as my smartphone, tablet, etc is working fine in my room, so it doesn't seem to be the modem's fault. If I'm right next to the modem, the laptop connects fine and the internet is fast as usual. Also, when I visited home about 6 months ago, my laptop was not having this problem (it would connect at even farther distances in the house), so it would've had to been within that time.
Anyone know what might be wrong?
 

plaintuts

Estimable
May 5, 2014
163
0
4,660
the router you encountered may be using a different IEEE broadcast signal than what you have at home,

802.11 b, or a, or g, or n

most smartphones and tablets utilizes all these frequencies, being a mobile device.

and some older laptops only uses 802.11 g
 

mouse24

Distinguished
Nov 30, 2010
170
0
18,660
Suggesting this because it only takes a couple of minutes. Try reinstalling the wifi drivers.

Are you using windows wifi utility or one provided by your laptop manufacturer/wifi card manufacturer?