My HP laptop running Windows 11 stays connected to my home Wi-Fi for about 4–5 minutes, then disconnects for roughly 2 minutes before reconnecting. The cycle repeats continuously. Other devices work normally on the same router, and the laptop has no trouble connecting to other Wi-Fi networks. I've already restarted both the laptop and the router, so I'm trying to figure out whether this is caused by the laptop's Wi-Fi driver, saved network settings, or compatibility with the router. What troubleshooting steps should I try?
3 Answers
Check Windows’ wireless diagnostics to see what happens at the exact time of each disconnect. Open Command Prompt and run `netsh wlan show wlanreport`. Windows will create an HTML report showing connection events, errors, and adapter details. The report can help identify whether the issue is authentication, driver-related, signal-related, or caused by the router.
Try updating the laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter driver first. A driver problem can cause repeated disconnects with a particular router, even when the adapter works normally on other networks.
Forget the home network in Windows and connect to it again. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage known networks, select the router’s network, and choose Forget. You’ll need to enter the Wi-Fi password again afterward. If the router has separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz network names, try each band since one may be more stable.
I’ll try forgetting the network and reconnecting first. I’ll also test the two bands separately if they’re available.
That sounds useful, especially since the disconnects happen on a predictable cycle. I’ll generate the report after the next few failures.