Chromebook

[nickfry]

I am also having a lot of trouble connecting my Acer C720 to my Belkin N1 router. Sometimes it does connect when I connect manually. It eventually complains that DHCP lookup failed. At first (Nov 2013) I had no problem but it is gradually getting worse and now more often than not I cannot connect. Once connected I stay connected. I have found that turning off WPA/WPA2 security always enables me to connect however this is unsafe. I have no MAC filtering and have tried changing channels which makes no difference. We have Android phones, tablets and a wireless PC win7 which NEVER have any problem making a connection even when the Chromebook does. I have tried disconnecting all the other devices but this does not help.

Is there anything else I can try to connect with WPA security switched on or will buying a new router solve an expensive problem?

[Acer-Cory]

So, I noticed that this thread has had a few of you mentioning the same problems the connectivity and seeing additional issues when the battery began discharging but we haven't seen any follow up, results, troubleshooting or resolutions. Acer is not aware of any systemic issue involving the wifi, but that doesn't take away form the issues you all are having and the fact that an issue could possibly be identified through this conversation.

If you're having issues with connectivity, I'd suggest starting by reviewing support of wireless networks here. I'd like to which Chromebook you have C720 or C720P (P is for touchscreen devices), what type of network your connecting to; home, work or public. If you're at home, what kind of router and have you done things such as connect to a different channel, have you udpated your router's firmware, have you been able to try another network? Do some networks work better than others?

Also, has anyone been able to test and come up with anything substantial with the wireless connectivity changing on battery power?

[jayywitt]

I have the C720 and have tried connecting to both home and public networks. They do seem to connect but have terrible signal strength. I have a Belkin N600 router. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to improve this extremely poor wifi connection. All of my other devices connect to my wifi just fine and do not have issues like the C720 Chromebook. Is it better to just return this chromebook? Help.

[Acer-Cory]

@jayywitt

What are the troubles you're having? Can you explain this a bit better for me?

As for a quick answer, I would suggest contacting Acer Support and seeing what they have to offer.

Cory

[ianpblue]

Hi

I also have a new Acer C720 Chromebook and my WiFi drops continuously through the day (I connect via an industrial strength network at work).  All PC laptops connect perfectly to it.  I'm not sure how Acer can say they're not aware of a systematic issue given the number of complaints now.  What do we do to get it resolved?

Ian

[kpucci]

I have just purchased the C720P (1 week ago) and I also have this wifi connection issue.  I have tried changing DNS but issue still persists.  Perhaps if we all created tickets with Acer, they would take this more seriously.

[Acer-Cory]

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kpucci wrote:

I have just purchased the C720P (1 week ago) and I also have this wifi connection issue.  I have tried changing DNS but issue still persists.  Perhaps if we all created tickets with Acer, they would take this more seriously.

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We take issues with our products very seriously. We have call centers around the world to help when you have these types of issues, but I want to point out that this thead is nearing 6 months old and we're at less than 6 unique threads claiming to have the issue.

To troubleshoot the issue, I'd suggest trying other routers to see if you are continually having the issue. It could be a compatibility. It may be worth it to update the firmware on your router.

[mbonadie]

I am a wireless engineer and I have been testing this Acer Chromebook for the last few days and here is what I have found.  The 802.1X supplicant drivers do not work correctly, which means that the supplicant driver is failing, not the wireless system.  Layer 3 devices (routers) have no idea what is going on in the Layer 2 (access point association, 802.1X, switches, DHCP) processes.  The Chromebook will associate to the access point just fine, and then the failure happens during the EAP 4-way handshake authentication process and the wireless system drops the client.  As a result, the client never gets an IP address because it can never pass the wireless authentication process to move onto the DHCP process.  Other wireless engineers have found that if they use TKIP instead of PEAP that the Chromebook works great.  But, TKIP is slower and not secure and PEAP MSCHAPv2 is part of our design.  We wouldn't change to TKIP for such a small amount of wireless clients plus that would open up potential security issues.

So, since 802.1X is client-derived, and the Chromebook is failing 802.1X, it's only safe to assume that there is a issue with the Chromebook's drivers.  Maybe Acer & Google should look into the bug together since they made the device.

[Acer-Cory]

Thanks for this information. It's a bit over my head, but I'll make sure the right people can review it.

[mbonadie]

Thanks for the quick reply.  If a quick resolution could be implemented, this would make a lot of end-users happier with their perceived "wireless experience".  Keep us in the loop!