[Carol D]

Hi
I am running Vista on an Acer Aspire 4530 with an Atheros AR5B91 Wireless network adapter. I used to get 2 bars of signal strength and suddenly the connection would go off and on. That was about a month ago. Now I get nothing at my normal spot, but if I sit right under the D Link router, I get 5 bars. We tested a Dell side by side and he got 5 bars to my zilch. He also tested his IPHONE - it worked. He tried a wireless dongle and it overheated.

I uninstalled the adapter, and rebooted, then set the power requirement not to save power.

Any help wpuld be appreciated - with thanks
Carol D

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It is possible your wireless card is failing or has now failed completely, something else to check is that the wireless on/off switch is fully in the on position and that it is working correctly.
Has the inside of the laptop ever been cleaned out of heat trapping dust, as dust can cause all sorts of problems and have many symptoms, not sure about the wireless dongle overheating though!
You may decide to ask a Tech to replace the wireless card or switch if it does turn out one of those is the problem but in any event here is a dis-assembly guide for your laptop; http://aspiregemston...full-guide.html

[phillpower2]

It is possible your wireless card is failing or has now failed completely, something else to check is that the wireless on/off switch is fully in the on position and that it is working correctly.
Has the inside of the laptop ever been cleaned out of heat trapping dust, as dust can cause all sorts of problems and have many symptoms, not sure about the wireless dongle overheating though!
You may decide to ask a Tech to replace the wireless card or switch if it does turn out one of those is the problem but in any event here is a dis-assembly guide for your laptop; http://aspiregemston...full-guide.html

[Carol D]

Hi Phillpower2

Thank You for the response - I thought about disassembling the computer, but Took it in to Staples instead, after the ISP guy threw his hands up. Turns out this puter model...Acer Aspire 4530 had a particularly weak wireless card. I added a wireless DLink dongle and am getting 88% strength. Am now back in wireless land.

Thank you for your assistance - Much appreciated - you confirmed my thots and pointed me in thee right direction

Regards
Carol

[phillpower2]

Hi Carol D

You are welcome and I am happy you got it sorted (albeit with some hassle and cost unfortunately) whilst researching info for your laptop I came across more than one reference to the installed wireless card failing in the first week so it would appear it was a known problem.
Thank you for letting us know how you resolved the issue it may save someone else some time and stress in the future