Acer E1-572 laptop - wifi problem 'limited connection'

mjb1975,

In my experience, wifi extenders (range extenders) are nothing but trouble.  I know you said it actually works fine with your extender and the extender isn't the problem, but since they are on the same network, you should try unplugging your extender and then "forget your network" to your superhub and reconnect..... and then see how it works for a test period without the extender. 

 I will try to briefly explain my reasoning for temporarily turning off the extender.  Often times "limited connectivity" is related to an IP address conflict.  Or at least in the case of using an extender, you're not dealing with a typical IP address conflict that results from a misconfiguration of two routers (eg..double natting on the same LAN segment).  I'm assuming that your Netgear is not actually a misconfigured router (with a NAT), but was sold with the single purpose of being a range extender.  Some routers and range extenders are actually bridges too (smart bridges).  And to make a long explanation short, sometimes these "bridges" have bugs or aren't compatible and get confused...which can commonly lead to something minor like an error in the log or possibly even the dreaded "limited connectivity".  It's a very common problem when you are trying to sync wireless settings between two APs (same channel, same SSID etc) on consumer grade wifi equipment.

Having said all that, on one of my old computers, I have a newish Broadcom chipset wireless adapter.  And my newish wireless router is also Broadcom chipset.  At one point in time about about 18 months ago, the Broadcom wireless adapter wouldn't work properly on 5 Ghz with that same Broadcom chipset wireless router.  However, that same Broadcom chipset wireless adapter worked perfectly fine with a different wireless router that had a Marvell chipset.  Go figure. The wifi router manufacturer admitted that the problem was with their firmware (wireless driver) and subsequently fixed the problem 6 months later with a firmware update.  Sometimes getting wireless to work right even when their chips are manufactured by the same company can be hit or miss.

These are the settings that I recommend for wireless settings when troubleshooting.

1. On the 2.4 Ghz band use "20 Mhz only" channel width

2. Use unique SSIDs

3.  Use something like inSSIDer to *help* identify possible interfence.

4.  Always use channels 1,6, or 11 and don't use AUTO.

5.  If your trouble is on the upper 5 Ghz channels, then try the lower ones.

There's is a whole bunch of other things to check in Advanced Wireless Settings such as DTIM interval.  Some AP's use 1 as default, and some use 3 as default.  If you don't change one of them so that they use the same DTIM interval, you can easily get wireless drops, freezes, and limited connectiviy due to "confusion".

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/wireless-basics/31576-the-best-way-to-get-whole-house-wireless-coverage

Ok, your response helps me rule some things out.

Here is a link to a free wifi analytics tool that can help you determine which channel would be best for the super hub.  Sometimes you really have to experiment with changing the channel.  Everyone's home environment is different in regards to 2.4 Ghz interference.  Ideally you wouldn't want the netgear and the superhub on the same channel, but in some cases, having them use the same channel might be the only option depending on how close your neighbors are.  And just because a channel looks heavily used by neighbors, it might actually be the best you have in your environmenmt.  Anyway, experimenting with all of the channels is a basic troubleshooting step.

http://www.ampedwireless.com/wifianalytics/

As far as resetting your PC to factory defaults...unfortunately it is a troubleshooting step that I would recommend too. 

If you ultimately decide its probably a compatibilty issue betweent the Atheros wireless card and the superhub, I would take this quick, relatively inexpensive fix:

I would disable the 2.4 Ghz radio on the superhub and put an AP about 2 feet away from it and connect the AP to the superhub with a CAT5E ethernet patch cable.  And then use the AP (in AP mode). 

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WA801ND-Wireless-300Mbps-Repeater/dp/B004UBU8IE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

I would be able to get away with the 150 Mbps model since my internet speed is only 30 Mbps.  Since you have a fiber connection, you'd probably want the 300 Mbps model (which would give you up to about 170 Mbps download speed).  300 Mbps is the only the link speed.  A 300 Mbps link speed usually translates to around 170 Mbps of actual throughput.