Question Why is my signal strength only strong when I'm next to the router?

[Anthony2334]

Hello everyone. Im having the issue of my wifi signal strength lowering the moment i step out of the room where the router is located. Ive had this laptop for 3 months and never had this issue. All other devices are connected even a secondary laptop that i have connects from distance with no issue. I even took the laptop to someone else's home and it did the same thing. It seems it will only find the wifi or have a STRONG connection if im standing right next to the router. Ive also factory reset the laptop since this happened nothing is working. Any suggestions or ideas?

 

[pgodtree]

Are you using a dual or tri band router? Are you connecting your laptop to a higher band? How many devices are connected to your Wi-Fi? Most devices connect to the lowest band, 2.4GHz, which is more stable and passes through walls more easily than the higher bands. Your walking around can also confuse either your router or laptop or both as to whether they should stay connected. Unlike wired connections, Wi-Fi is a scattershot communications system in which thousands of tiny pieces of data are broadcast in all directions regardless of where the receiving device is located provided the broadcasting router or laptop knows the other is waiting for the signal. They know they're waiting because they request the data repeatedly until they get what they asked for or failing to get any reply, they stop talking to each other. Btw, your laptop may have a hardware problem with its antenna, in which case turn off the built-in Wi-Fi and plug in a Wi-Fi adapter to a USB port on your laptop and use that instead.