Please Help Me - New laptop with Intel Wireless-AC 7260

[roshe]

Hello,

This is my first visit to the forum.

Just bought the Toshiba Radius P55W-B5224. It has the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 driver.

Despite my awareness of all the problems, I wanted this laptop so much that I bought it hoping that somehow I might be blessed with a miracle -- that somehow it would be immune to the Wifi defect.

Alas, there was no miracle. Streaming video quality and buffering is horrible at these speeds. As much as I would love to keep this laptop, it has to go back.

Can anyone recommend a fix?

If there is no current fix, can anyone recommend an alternate laptop?

Thanks,

Rick

[tvete]

Buy an 802.11ac router and enjoy lag free, very stable and very fast WiFi. No problems whatsoever with my 7260 here.

Also try to disable U-ASPD and background scanning with a registry tweak (though I never needed to do these)

[roshe]

Thanks theveterans !

I currently have a 3801HGV Gateway supplied by ATT Uverse. It provides an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi access point. I just called ATT and was told they would not allow me to substitute my own router.

Any tips on how I can get around their policy?

[tvete]

Buy a router and set it as access point for 5 GHz 802.11ac (use a search engine for steps to do this).

More Tweaks to help and see if you really need the 802.11ac access point or not:

Performing all of these tweaks should make your 7260 connection with ATT a lot more reliable.

Use maximum performance on both battery and plugged in for WiFi under power options.

Disable USB selective Suspend under power options

disable PCIE link state power management under power options

use 802.11a/g wireless mode under Intel 7260's advanced options

perform the registry tweak called "scanwhenassociated" (the link for steps is here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-8-and-8-1/SOLUTION-latency-spikes-and-network-unstability-on-Intel-WLAN/td-p/1461487 [SOLUTION] latency spikes and network unstability ... - Lenovo Community

[roshe]

Buy a router and set it as access point for 5 GHz 802.11ac (use a search engine for steps to do this)

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but would the new router be a complete substitute for the Uverse router, or used in addition to it ?

Here's the reason for the dumb question: When I originally asked ATT about getting my own router, they told me third party routers won't provide the all in one capability needed for U-verse bundles of phone, TV and internet, whereas their router is designed to handle three services with one unit.

[tvete]

You keep the Uverse router since ATT uses this for their Uverse TV, etc.

You just extend your WiFi by attaching another router to it (configured as access point).

See the pic below

Think of Uverse as the wired or wireless router. Then you attached a router in Access Point mode via Ethernet. Your router in AP mode can then broadcast WiFi in 802.11ac, bypassing the 802.11g limitation of your Uverse. AP mode in a sense is like your cell phone on the WiFi hotspot mode turned on.

[roshe]

Wow, thanks for your help. I'm assuming the RT-N12 pictured above is simply for illustration and not the desired router.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, I buy an 802.11ac router and connect it to the Uverse router via ethernet cable. Then, on my laptop, check for available wireless networks and connect to the new router? Would that require a different security key be entered.

[tvete]

Yes you will have TWO WiFi networks. One is the Uverse "ATTxxxx" SSID where x is random number (this is coming from the Uverse router) and another one is your customized SSID and password for your 802.11ac router. You can connect to both WiFi and you should be able to see all your devices regardless. Also, your customized SSID will only be broadcasted on the 5 GHz frequency since 802.11ac only works on 5 GHz while 802.11g only works on 2.4 GHz band.

You will also have different IP for your 802.11ac router. Make sure that the IP for your 802.11ac router is on the same subnet as the Uverse gateway.

Instructions from Belkin covered pretty much on how to do it here:

http://www.belkin.com/us/support-article?articleNum=8067 Official Belkin Support Site | Configuring your wireless Belkin router as an access point

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/1014-how-to-convert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point - Spiceworks

Here are different scenario that you might encounter with different brands:

If you buy an ASUS or Netgear, you must use the AP Mode that they provide. This is the easiest AP mode setup out of all brands and setup should be trouble free.

If you buy a Linksys, there's no AP mode. You must follow Belkin's tutorial and choose option 2: Disabling the DHCP Server per tutorial page. The IP address must match the subnet of the Uverse router, but the last digit must be out of the DHCP range. This might be a little complicated for someone who never tinker with router settings.

Hope this helps