WiFi connectivity problems Aspire S3-391

Hi,

I have a Acer Aspire S3-391 win8 notebook.

Like many more (as learned on this forum) I experience wifi network connectivity problems. Bluetooth works fine. This is what happens:

- I connect to a network.

- Somewhere between 5 - 30 minutes the download speeds slow down drastically.

- My computer tells me I have "limited connectivity".

- I have to disconnect the network and reconnect to get it working again, sometimes twice or three times in a row.

I have tried the following things to fix it (in that order, as found on this forum in other threads):

- Updated to .217

- Updated to .217v3

- Rolled back to .75

- Updated the BIOS to 2.11

- Updated to .217v3

- Set the energy usage of the WiFi card to "maximum performance"

- The "LLDP-protocol" option is turned off

I have downloaded the .221 driver from the Atheros website, but it does not contain a .exe file I can run to install it, so I don't know if that will fix the problem.

I'm very frustrated because this is a important computer for me which I take everywhere to work on and obviously need to use a lot of internet.

Please hand me a final fix. I really don't want to send the computer in under warranty (but I will, if it can't be fixed) because exept for the internet problems its a nice computer at this price.

Thanks in advance

Accepted answers

All comments

Thijmen

I'd still love to get an answere. Smiley Sad

Tommy-Acer

Thank you for posting your extensive notes on what you have tried. It is appreciated.

We presently have several threads where a number of our community members are expressing their thoughts on similar issues.

I'm being told that there is a driver undergoing qualification testing.

As soon as it is ready, we will certainly be posting that information on the community for our members.

Thijmen

Hi Tommy,

Thanks for the reply. I'm (obviously) very curious about this driver. I do know about the other threads and I'm active on those, too. However I'd like some personal attention for the problems I face with my product.

Since my post, I have also tried the following:

- Updated to .218

- Turned "let windows shut off wifi controller" in wifi adapter settings

- Updated to .220

- Rolled back to .218

I did not yet try the .221 driver, as I could still not find a way to install this one (as stated in my first post).

All of these actions did not change, for better or worse, any of the behaviours of the wifi chip. Except for the .218 driver wich seems to lessen the kproblems a little bit (at least compared to .220).

In addition, I experience less problems when I'm using a wireless network with a (supposedly) much stronger signal. This happens when I use the computer at my university in proximity of one of the large routers. As soon as I have classes on the outer perimeters of the building the problems return as usual. Maybe this will help testing of the new driver. My home router gives a lot of problems, this could have corrolation with the fact that this of course is a product with a less powerfull signal.

I'd love to be updated about progress.

gabrieleformici

I've got the same problem (as I said in an infinite number of threads).

I've finally found a Technician answering.

I've read lots of hypoteses on the problem: sbd thinks about a driver problem, sbd opened the laptop and said that two cables are connected in a wrong way, sbd else thinks it's a software problem (such as win update).

I'd like to know WHICH is the problem and HOW MUCH time I have to wait to see it solved.

It's very annoying and nobody can give me an anwer...

I hope you will consider my request.

Regards

gabry

sh51sgh

I have been having the same problem. Tried everything uninstalling drivers, reinstalling them, uninstalling windows updates and reinstalling. Eventually I accessed my router's setup pages and changed it's channel. Everything's been great since. It's worth a try.

chrishattery

^ thanks. About to try that

sh51sgh

Let me know if it works.

PatoBB

I have just bought a S3-391 i7 with Win8, and am in despair because I loose wifi connection...

I discovered that plugging in any usb device results in a drop of signal. If I reboot the computer with the usb device plugged in, there is no way the wifi returns.

As well as some users point out, when downloading large files (as the wifi driver, for example Smiley Very Happy ) the connection gets lost forever.

Could it be a energy issue? I did everything I could find out on message boards and forums to solve the problem. Tried with the v75 driver but it got worse. Now I installed the latest driver available on the page and seems to work as long as I don´t plug any usb device.

If there is any final solution for this problem please post it! It is terrible to buy a new computer just to find out that there is an issue like this.

Thijmen

Hi,

A couple of months ago I had the same problems. Now, countless driver updates and a (unnecessary) replaced WiFi card my issues are mostly gone. Somehow the only place I have issues now is in my livingroom at home where shomehow my router signal is very weak.

I suggest you update the drivers with the latest availeble on the Acer website. I did this too (after reinstalling the OS to get rid of all the Acer OEM programs which I hate) and my connection is near perfect now. Except when I'm in my livingroom but that probably has to do with my router.

I hope this helps.

Regards

PatoBB

None of you experience a drop of signal when plugging in any USB device?

I reinstalled the OS, upgraded all drivers and turned off windows updates because everything started after one of the updates. It seems to work now. Unless I plug in any USB device (it includes a mouse...)

alfie3

Had a similar problem with my S3-391 - web browsing would start off at normal speed but slow down after a few minutes with pages taking minutes to load. Solved it by updating the Atheros driver using a free program called Drivermax. This suggested updating from 10.0.0.225 to 10.0.0.255 (21/6/13). Everything seems OK now. Hope this helps.

fissh

I was having the same problem, I use a replicator for my WiFi at home to extend the signal through the whole house- I upgraded from Win 8 to Win 8 Pro and the problem is solved.

GrislySquirrel

Still waiting for a fix.

I don't like this kind of problems, I think in the future I'll probably avoid Acer computers.

timfg

I've had exactly this problem this week, on an S3-391 that I bought 12 days ago - suddenly started happening out of nowhere a couple of days ago. The only change in the environment that could have any bearing on the issue - to myk knowledge - is that I switched to a new USB wireless mouse the day the issue started appearing - I note others have suggested that there could be a conflict with USB devices. I've been running the 225 driver since the day I got it and let Windows update pick it up. Between then and the day the problems started I've downloaded GBs of stuff, mostly through synching all my stuff back from Dropbox, Skydrive and Evernote.

So: I wasted about three hours yesterday trying to resolve the issue. Spoke to the retailer and had extensive chat session with Acer Support, both of whom were sane and helpful, particularly the retailer, SaveOnLaptops, who even advised me to log the issue with Acer within 14 days of purchase otherwise they would not class it as DOA and it would be a little trickier to get my money back (although, frankly, the UK Sale of Goods Act gives me a lot of protection anyway).

The best Acer could offer was 'We have some new drivers - the 225 version'. When I told them I was already running this version, next step was 'We advise you do a full system restore', which I declined. I've tried reverting to 217 and some older 9 series drivers I found somewhere. I've tried these combinations as a 'standard' install and with a complete purge of the existing driver set (removing them from the adapter settings if necessary. No fun in a machine with no other means of connecting to the network!

Have I resolved it? I think so - by installing the 10.0.0.255 drivers referenced earlier in the thread. I too found the only way I could get hold of them was to install DriverMax and let it find them - they just don't appear to be available anywhere else, so I'd love to know where DriverMax source them from! I had to try a couple of times with the install, fully purging the old drivers from the adapter settings the second time as DriverMax does all the installs from its proprietary interface. Second time round, it appears to have worked - suddenly I'm back to decent throughput and no drops in the last 12 hours. Suggest anyone suffering try this resolution - I almost didn't, assuming that the reference to 255 earlier in the thread was a typo for 225, given than Googling it turned up nothing...

alfie3

The 10.0.0.255 drivers don't seem to be available other than through Drivermax. I've used the program before with good results. I installed the driver about a month ago & have had no problems since. Would recommend this fix to anyone with WiFi problems on the S3-391.

Australia-100

Are all current Acer laptops experiencing this bluetooth/wifi issue? It seem to be the case!

mivec

After reading this post I updated my drivers using Drivermax (to version 10.0.0.263 I think) and my wi-fi has been working just great for a few days now.

alfie3

10.0.0.263 is the latest version on Drivermax & works fine. Smiley Happy I note the Acer support Driver download site still has 10.0.0.225 which is useless. Smiley Sad

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