Internet Connectivity Problems

Check this out. Three computers... all of which are Alienware M17-R1s. One is running Windows 7 Ultimate and the others are running Windows Vista Home. The two running on Vista are both connected to our wireless router and running at 54 mbps. The one on Windows 7 is running at 1 mbps.

Unfortunately the Windows 7 computer is mine. Several weeks ago it began to slow down. Web pages would take several minutes to load and then they would just time out. Periodically the computer wouldn't be able to pick up any wireless signals around at all even though I'm sitting right next to the router.

Google searching seems to indicate it's another problem with Windows 7. Any idea on what could be causing this?

 

Check if both antennas are actually connected to the card and make sure that power-saving for Wi-Fi is either disabled or set to max performance.
Also make sure that the connection speed is set to Auto in advanced tab of your Wi-Fi card in device manager.

 

Well I did what you suggested, as well as a few other suggestions from other places, and it seemed to get it to work but only momentarily. My computer sped up considerably but now it loses contact with the DNS Server constantly. And when I mean constantly I mean within seconds. You can watch as it cuts in and out with "Internet Access" and then "No Internet Access" and so on. Now it's saying "your broadband modem is experiencing connectivity issues" however my computer is the only thing being affected. Xbox 360s still connect without a hitch as well as the other two laptops I mentioned before.

It's pretty irritating.

 

It could be a faulty wireless card.

 

True.

A259 you could borrow a Wi-Fi card from one of the other M17s and see how it works in your laptop.

 

Well I haven't gotten around to messing with the wireless cards but I've since noticed the problem spreading. Today my Xbox randomly lost connection to the Internet and when I did a network test it said test failed with "IP Address Error." I disconnected my Xbox from our wireless internet and when it re-scanned for wireless networks it failed to find any.

This is exactly what my computer was doing because it would lose connection and when I disconnected from it, the signal would vanish completely for a few seconds and then re-appear.

 

It may be the router then.
It may be also caused by overcrowded 2.4Ghz band.
Use inSSIDer to see how this looks and if your signal really periodically vanishes.

 

It would appear to be my router for sure but as of late it's been doing pretty good. But now my computer is giving me random blue screens. I posted a DxDiag if that will help find the root of that problem.