Windows HP laptop takes a long time to connect to Wi-Fi

[Justinh]

Our HP Spectre often takes a long time to connect to the 5GHz Wi-Fi on the RT-AC68U. Everything is latest updates, not a new issue. If I just sit and wait it might take up to a few minutes after boot to connect. Sometimes, instead of waiting, I can restart the adapter and it will connect immediately. Every once in a while it will connect immediately at the log in screen as expected.

After connection there is no problem until the next reboot.

Wondering if there are settings on the router or the laptop that could make the connection faster and more reliable?

We also have a couple of NVIDIA Shields that seem to take more than a few seconds after being turned on (out of sleep, not booted). What makes this strange to me is that they seem to have an active connection all the time, so there shouldn't be any delay in connecting to net resources.

 

[Tech9]

I've seen this happening with RT-AC68U with newer clients. Some AC Wave 2 and AX connect only after Wi-Fi on/off. One such client is my own HP laptop. Keep in mind BCM4360 was an early AC Wave 1 radio that arrived with the first AC-class routers in 2012 and compliant with Draft specifications. I did play with settings, nothing helps. Newer products apparently are too far apart in technology. The same laptop connects instantly to my APs or to newer Asus routers. Perhaps another reason to replace RT-AC68U?

 

[jasz]

Swap WIFI card?

I recently acquired a Mediatek 6E card and its complete garbage next to an intel AX200/210. Very slow resume and has throughput accelerations issues on 5G band.

 

[Tech9]

Swap WIFI card?

Unfortunately, with many modern laptops this is not possible. They are built like tablets with everything on single PCB or integrated into the SoC used.

 

[jasz]

Unfortunately, with many modern laptops this is not possible. They are built like tablets with everything on single PCB or integrated into the SoC used.

Modern Intel based stuff is usually going to be CNVi integration but can also be PCI-E if manufacturer chooses so. AMD CPU's will use a standard PCI-E interface.

Unless it's a proprietary design which was made in conjunction with a major WIFI manufacturer (Nothing comes to mind via x86 CPU) It's more than likely going to be a swappable M.2 key with either interface.

Only proprietary design I can think of at the top of my head is an Apple Macbook.

 

[Tech9]

I personally won't open and lose the warranty on a new >$500 laptop just to save an old <$50 router.

 

[sfx2000]

Our HP Spectre often takes a long time to connect to the 5GHz Wi-Fi on the RT-AC68U. Everything is latest updates, not a new issue. If I just sit and wait it might take up to a few minutes after boot to connect. Sometimes, instead of waiting, I can restart the adapter and it will connect immediately. Every once in a while it will connect immediately at the log in screen as expected.

Most of the HP consumer laptops come with a lot of "bloatware" - McAfee is one of those things to remove...

See the link below, and I recommend using their MCPR tool, as this will definitely clean things up, not just for the OS, but also for the browser plugins.

I've cleared many networking issues by removing McAfee - both ethernet and wireless

I would remove the HP support software, as it's not really needed - driver updates, and most recently, even things like UEFI updates are available from Windows Update.

 

[sfx2000]

Only proprietary design I can think of at the top of my head is an Apple Macbook.

Apple used a few different chipsets in their 802.11n days, but from 802.11ac and later, it's all been Broadcom silicon - obviously Apple writes their own device drivers.

 

[sfx2000]

Wondering if there are settings on the router or the laptop that could make the connection faster and more reliable?

What router are you using?

 

[Justinh]

RT-AC68U

 

[jasz]

I personally won't open and lose the warranty on a new >$500 laptop just to save an old <$50 router.

I mean it's a swappable part.. Basically like changing a NVMe SSD. Most warranties only last a year. $500 isn't much money in current economy.. but to each their own.

I'm just making the argument incase it's a MediaTek unit. Absolutely the worse experience I've had in modern HW.

Intel AX2XX has been flawless for me on multiple PC's, at least for general real world usage.

Apple used a few different chipsets in their 802.11n days, but from 802.11ac and later, it's all been Broadcom silicon - obviously Apple writes their own device drivers.

It's Broadcom, but proprietary implementation and soldered to PCB. X86 PCs are going to be M.2 Wifi card in 99% of situations.

5G N was still BCM as far as I remember on my old 2011 MBP. Had a 3x3 config when most mobile hardware was 2x2.

 

[Tech9]

I mean it's a swappable part..

I mean... if it works properly with newer APs I'm not going to bother changing it because of an >10 years old End-Of-Life router.

 

[sfx2000]

RT-AC68U

Ok, so it's not the router...

Again, I'll repeat that many of the consumer devices come with a fair amount of bloatware, and both Norton and McAffee anti-virus are notorious for causing network issues like this.

I stil think this is a client SW issue, and likely the config on the HP device.

There's a few ipconfig and netsh commands that one can do as Admin to completely reset the Windows network stack...

Resetting the network stack​

Note that these commands affect all of your networking adapters, both physical and virtual, both used and unused, so you will see some errors when running these commands, where the resets targeted adapters that are not being used. These errors are perfectly normal, and not a cause for concern. Complete each step in order, even if you have done some of these previously, and even if you encounter errors.

1. In the search box on the taskbar click Start, type command prompt, right-click the command prompt result and then select Run as administrator and confirm.
2. At the command prompt (decline restarting your machine until you have entered the final command):
   1. Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
   2. Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.
   3. Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter. (This will stall for a moment.)
   4. Type netsh int ip reset and press Enter. (Don’t restart yet.)
   5. Type netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
3. Now restart your machine using Start > Power > Restart once more and test to see if the issue is resolved.

 

[jasz]

Well we don't know what card OP has. I'd agree on software if his HP Spectre has an intel WIFI card.

If its Mediatek... Well... it's just crap.

I tossed a brand new MTK 6E card because it pissed me off to no end. Ping time, Connectivity time frame, and random throughput issues when downloading. Everything solved swapping to an intel AX 2XX.

 

[Justinh]

UPDATE: I did the network stack reset suggested by sfx2000, and after a reboot no change - it still took a long time to connect.

I then poked around in the NIC driver and turned off all the WOL features and set the Tx power from med-high to med. Then I disabled the Bluetooth PAN adapter.

Now it seems to be consistently connecting to the Wi-Fi immediately. All is good. Not sure exactly what fixed it but is much better now.