wireless mouse reception gone bad?

My parents came into my apartment and moved stuff around to "clean" it. When I came back, I noticed my wireless mouse on my laptop was working terribly. It turns out my wireless receptor is plugged into the left side of my laptop, and the meager 15 in. distance is now enough to make my mouse not work. So I have to plug the receiver into the right side of my laptop in order for my mouse to actually work.

What could have caused this?

BTW. my mouse is Logitech V220

 

I've seen this often. It is (probably...) not the mouse/receiver that is at fault; it is the environment that is interfering with it (somebody else moved/changed something nearby your location to be causing this issue... - maybe a neighbour bought the same/similar wirless mouse, for example).


You can try:
to unplug the wireless mouse reciever from the notebook, remove the batteries from the mouse, unplug the notebook from the A/C power (wall) and remove the battery from the notebook and press/hold every button on it to discharge any static buildup it may have (also click/rotate all the buttons/wheels on the mouse itself with no power source connected too).

When you have done the above, leave the system and mouse/receiver unplugged and with the batteries removed for an hour or so (even 1/2 an hour should be enough though...).

This will rule out any static electricity as the cause of the 'issues'.

Also; make sure to put in FRESH (alkaline, Duracell) batteries in the mouse (rechargeables are a poor substitue, imo, especially for 'mouse use' duties).

If the issue still persists after the 'de-staticizing' procedure above, then the guess that the environment changed (coincidentally with your parent's cleanup visit!) is still the most probable cause, which unfortunately is not something in our control to 'fix' easily (unless you can evict the offending tenant or make them stop using their interfering equipment? :^) ).

You can also ask your parents if they sprayed anything on/near your equipment when they were cleaning (or used a duster/vacuum on your system) and ask them nicely to not do that again!

Good luck.