There are two laptops, three mobile phones and one desktop in my household. The desktop is having WiFi connectivity issues. The signal strength varies greatly, and the signal is lost very often. All other devices connect fine. Is this a problem of my WiFi card? It is a Rail Link RT3290. If this is so, what would be a suitable substitute? Are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of when buying a new WiFi card?
Internet connection problem on a desktop computer
Try reinstalling the Wi-Fi adapter on your computer. If all other devices receive steady signal especially the mobile phones and it is only the desktop PC that has an unstable Wi-Fi reception, your Wi-Fi adapter is probably not functioning properly. If you still have the installer for the Wi-Fi adapter, uninstall it in the Device Manager then click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools then select Disk Cleanup.
Select drive C then click OK. Check Setup Log Files and “Temporary files”, click OK then click Delete Files. Restart the computer. Your computer should detect the Wi-Fi adapter on startup. When it prompts you to install the driver, run the installer to reinstall it and then check if it now receives stable Wi-Fi signal.
If you no longer have the installer for the adapter, download RT3290 PCIe for Windows. It supports Windows 98, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. For Linux users, download RT3290 PCIe for Linux. If the signal reception is still unstable, try moving the PC to another location where the signal is stable.
