Acer Aspire v5 wireless range problems

ninjadude
ninjadude Member Posts: 12 New User
edited January 2018 in Nitro Gaming

I have this issue with my laptop. It can't connect to my wifi unless I am within close proximity. Kinda bothers me because it only limits me to use my laptop only in my room. Even though the signal strength is strong, I am still unable to connect to the wifi in other rooms such as the living room. Does anyone know a way to fix this? Thanks.

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Answers

  • Tommy-Acer
    Tommy-Acer VIP Posts: 6,317 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon

    It is helpful to let the community know the following:
    What specific computer do you have?
    What operating system is on the computer?

     

    In this instance, what version of the wireless driver is installed?

    Have you attempted to update the driver?

  • ninjadude
    ninjadude Member Posts: 12 New User

    The driver is up to date. I have the "Qualcomm Atheros AR5BWB222 Wireless Network Adapter"

  • Tommy-Acer
    Tommy-Acer VIP Posts: 6,317 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon

    That doesn't answer the questions asked above.  Please answer all of the questions.

    I need to know specifically the things asked.

  • ninjadude
    ninjadude Member Posts: 12 New User

    pc info.png

  • skewer
    skewer Member Posts: 3 New User

    My v5-573p has the same wifi card. And of course I have exact same problem as you have. I think replace this garbage wifi card is the only solution. Other suggestions such as turning off the power off feature or updating driver do not help you solve the issue. Do a simple search of your wifi card in this acer community. You will find lots of users have similar issue as you. But what is outrageous is that Acer still use this card.

  • ninjadude
    ninjadude Member Posts: 12 New User

    What wifi card should I replace mine with?

  • austen
    austen Member Posts: 2 New User

    Did you manage to resolve this? I replaced the Atheros with a Broadcom in my V5 573 and the problem remains.

  • ricky124
    ricky124 Member Posts: 10 New User

    I have V5-573P-9899.  I believe that same card and similar issues.  I have trouble connecting close or far and when the machine connects it goes very slowly (28kbps style) and that happens when it is close to access point.  The repair center has look at it three times now since I have owned the computer and still does not work.  I was just testing after having received it back from the repair center for the third time and it still does not work.  The tech support person said that I could get a replacement computer if the issue persisted past the 3rd time of being at the repair center.  I have spend time and effort and I still can't use the computer for surfing the web, something that is very important.  I have tested the computer in different networks and the same issue persists.  My now five year old laptop has better wifi capabilities.  I have to say, I am dissapointed with this the machine but more dissapointed that Acer has not been able to fix it.  Three tries to repairs and no cigar Smiley Sad . Something is not right here.

  • austen
    austen Member Posts: 2 New User
    My wifi primary antenna was broken where it bends into the screen. I swapped to the secondary antenna by swapping the white and black wires on the wifi card. It now works fine.
  • mikek753
    mikek753 Member Posts: 3 New User

    hi,

     

    I have exact the same issue.

    the primary wi-fi "white" wire is broken and that's just after a few months of use laptop.

    no, I can use another "black" wire antenna for ch0 due to it'll disconnect BT, which is needed in my case

     

    if yoiu don't use BT than it might work for you, otherwise ... no go

     

    if you have tester than you can check for resistance to know exactly which wire is connected to the antenna and which isn't - so simple as that.

    the expected resistance is 2 Ohm

     

    no, another wi-fi cheap will not help with broken wire issue

     

    I plan to ship my laptop to repair center for this matter as I have no idea how to fix this inside display. It'll cost me s/h about $25 IMHO. what else can be done in this case?

     

  • ricky124
    ricky124 Member Posts: 10 New User
    Send it to the repair cente. If tthe same issue persists, they will pay shipping and handling fees. All, after they tried to repair my computer 3 times, they gave me a new one. I actually received and upgraded model with an sshd, smaller at 500 gigs vs my 750 gigs but noticeably faster. Also, I went from 6 gigs of ram to 12 and what I loved the most was that I also go a dedicated graphics card. I got lucky after all my hard work and a few hours on the phone with techs.

    I'm happy to report no Wi-Fi issues. It has an Intel WiFi card and it works very well.
  • jswhale
    jswhale Member Posts: 1 New User

    ricky124 wrote:
    Send it to the repair cente. If tthe same issue persists, they will pay shipping and handling fees. All, after they tried to repair my computer 3 times, they gave me a new one. I actually received and upgraded model with an sshd, smaller at 500 gigs vs my 750 gigs but noticeably faster. Also, I went from 6 gigs of ram to 12 and what I loved the most was that I also go a dedicated graphics card. I got lucky after all my hard work and a few hours on the phone with techs.

    I'm happy to report no Wi-Fi issues. It has an Intel WiFi card and it works very well.

    I had the same issue with a V5 - looks like it's a design or assembly flaw with certain Acer Laptops.  The wire was severed cleanly so likely pinched by the 2 sides of the hinge plastic when initially assembled.  So much for quality control.

     

    I pulled it apart and soldered it back together - seems to be ok now.  Strangely, the white wire (primary antenna) was the one broken though I didn't get any better performance when switching to the black (secondary) antenna.  The 2 ant. wires run up through the right side hinge (which is where the white wire broke) and the white goes left across the bottom of the screen and up to the top where it terminates.  The black just runs up the right side of the screen.  Perhaps the longer white wire is what makes it the more important antenna.  In any event it's working now.

     

    I would be interested in how many others with this problem find their antenna wire is broken (i.e. those brave enough to pull their machines apart).  Note that when soldering, the outer shield part of the wire should be connected and the inner part connected separately, such that they don't touch.  I used some heat-shrink tubing to keep things insulated.  Beyond that there wasn't much to it.  The wifi card is pretty close to the right hinge underneath the computer so you can just pull the wire through, solder it, and re-slot it through the hinge and back to where it goes. FYI, the screen just pries apart - quite easily actually. 

     

    I concur that no change of card will solve this, nor change of driver, nor tweaking with power settings, etc.

  • mikek753
    mikek753 Member Posts: 3 New User

    I soldered white wire by myself as well.

    I didn't want to ship it to Acer, as it works the next to router just fine and I didn't get it back with "works as normal" ...

    It took me 1 hour overall.

    yes, heated shrink tubes were used.

    but, I'm not sure for how long it will work due to design?

    keep in mind that this soldering isn't recommended, while new wire / cable has to be replaced completelly.

    I also enforced with extra heated tube.

    The next my move will be to buy and replace 2 antennas with new wires.

     

  • danieler
    danieler Member Posts: 1 New User

    I've been having this same issue of range connectivity. It started about 1 month ago when I wasn't able to connect to internet from the living room anymore. I can only connect to the internet if I'm about 2 meters from the router. I've tried everything; trying all the different settings on my WLAN Controller and Battery settings. I guess the only way to fix it is to call for technical assistance. 

  • ricky124
    ricky124 Member Posts: 10 New User

    Yes, the best thing is to call tech support.  As I mentioned before, I had to send my computer in for repair three times.  After the second time, I finally spoke to Level 2 support (advanced support).  The person in Level 2 told me that if my wi-fi issue continued after the third repair, that he would look into replacing my laptop.  My laptop was replaced and I was lucky to receive an upgrade because i know have a V7-582PG, which very much like my previous V5-589 laptop, except that now I have an interl Wi-fi card which is excellent! and I have a dedicated graphics card, which I don't really use but it's nice to have Smiley Happy when I decide occasionally play games.

     

    Best of luck Smiley Happy

  • happenh
    happenh Member Posts: 1 New User

    Finally found the solution after 2 years!

     

    Like many of you, I could only connect to the internet if I was about 2 meters from the router. I've tried everything; trying all the different settings on my WLAN Controller and different power and bluetooth settings. And of course updating the driver – the same old solution everyone suggests! Nothing worked for me.

     

    In the end – here’s how I fixed it. I unscrewed the back of the laptop and opened it up. Inside I found the wifi card – marked WLAN. Then I switched the white and black wires. Apparently this switches to the secondary antenna. Probably, the main antenna was faulty in some way.

     

    Apparently there is also a way to switch these antennas without opening the back (see:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2511082/problem-wlan-component-laptop-cables.html)

     

    But this was quite easy too.

  • mikek753
    mikek753 Member Posts: 3 New User

    and you will loose BT by reattach good antena to wi-fi, while BT is connected to bad (former wi-fi) antenna

    if you do not use (care) about BT than this is the way to go

  • azayaka
    azayaka Member Posts: 3 New User
    I also switched the connection of the black and white wires and this completely resolved the proximity issue. Strangely, the white wire wasn't severed, just kinked.
  • rordonez
    rordonez Member Posts: 1 New User

    Same here on a aspire v5-573p-9422,
    Sent to warranty because motherboard failed and came back with the wifi problem.

    I opened back cover and pulled gently the cables (black and white ) and realized they were both chopped,

    I pryed the screen open carefully starting from the top left edge (its snapped by pressure, use a plastic piece to avoid damage to the casing, and stay away from the glass of the lcd)

     

    Peeled the cables (they are coaxial ) and had enough spare to rejoin them.
    Wifi now works like a charm.


  • Stingray
    Stingray Member Posts: 2 New User

    Same problem with my wifes Aspire V5-573PG, what a *****!

    I have been struggling with new drivers, power saving settings etc with the same no result as you all.

    Thanks to you I found out that the antenna was impaired, did the easiest thing and swapped black and white cables on the WLAN card inside.

    Now it´s working fine again with no range problems. Probably the range for the Bluetooth is gone instead.

     

    Thanks again guys!!

     

    And shame on Acer for this design flaw and for not telling people about it.