Laptops and computers on which Windows 11 is installed and which we connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi can sometimes suddenly disconnect from the Wi-Fi network, lose connection, speed may drop and the signal may drop. In short, these problems are unstable Wi-Fi, which makes it impossible to use the Internet connection. Constant cuts, disconnections, and generally poor Wi-Fi performance in Windows 11, this is not a feature of this particular operating system. On previous versions of Windows, I encountered exactly the same problems, and wrote about them. And in this article I will tell you how you can fix the Wi-Fi connection in Windows 11.
It is important to understand that the cause of these problems can be not only in the laptop, but also in the Wi-Fi router. Therefore, before applying any of the solutions from this article, I recommend trying to find out what exactly is the reason. Think about when and how Wi-Fi started to fail (after installing system updates or drivers, some program, replacing the router)at what moments breaks and shutdowns occur (when watching videos, online games, etc.) and what they are related to. Check how Wi-Fi works on other devices. If you have problems on different devices that are connected to the same router, then see this article.
Simple fixes for Wi-Fi problems in Windows 11
In order not to waste time and not understand some complicated tips, you can first follow simple steps. If this does not help, then see the tips in the next section of this article.
If the Internet via Wi-Fi in Windows 11 is poor and unstable:
- Restart your laptop or computer and router.
- Bring your laptop closer to the router (access point). Wi-Fi may be dropping due to poor signal or interference.
- If you have a PC (system unit) with an external USB Wi-Fi adapter, then check (if possible)how it will work on another computer.
- Do a network settings reset.
- Check how this problematic laptop or PC performs when connected to other Wi-Fi networks.
- If your router and laptop supports the 5 GHz band, then connect to the network in this range. If problems are on this band, then check on 2.4 GHz.
- Since this problem is ambiguous and can manifest itself differently for everyone, it is advisable to understand and determine what exactly is happening with connecting to a Wi-Fi network. For example, Windows 11 completely disconnects from the Wi-Fi network after a while and does not connect to it automatically, the connection status suddenly changes to “Not connected to the Internet”, Wi-Fi completely disappears on the laptop and it stops finding Wi-Fi networks . There may be many options.
Instructions with solutions to other problems that you may find useful:
You can always tell in detail about your problem in the comments and get an answer. Just a small request, first apply the solutions that you find in this article.
What to do if a laptop on Windows 11 disconnects from Wi-Fi, the connection breaks, the Internet stops working?
I have several proven and working solutions which I will share below. I also plan to update this article and add new ways. I will be grateful if you share useful information in the comments.
Wi-Fi adapter power management
- Right-click on the start menu and select “Device Manager”.
- Open the “Network adapters” tab, right click on the Wi-Fi adapter (the name will be Wi-Fi, 802.11, AC, AX) and select “Properties”. Or just double click on the adapter.
- Go to the Power Management tab and uncheck next to “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
Click Ok, close all windows and restart your computer.
Setting the channel width in the properties of the Wi-Fi adapter in Windows 11
This method very often helps to solve a variety of problems with Wi-Fi. Including constant breaks, poor signal and speed, slowdowns, etc. The channel width can also be changed in the router settings. If you have access to the router settings, you can try. The item “Channel Width” is usually located in the wireless network settings. Set it to 20 MHz.
- You need to open the device manager. I showed you how to do it above. You need to right-click on the Start menu and select “Device Manager”.
- On the “Network adapters” tab, open the properties of the Wi-Fi adapter (double click).
- Click the “Advanced” tab. Find the property “802.11 n channel width for band 2.4GHz” there (Channel width for 2.4GG)or “802.11n channel width for band 5.2GHz” (Channel width for 5 GHz) and set to “20 MHz” instead of “Auto”.
Changing the settings for 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz depends on the range in which you connect to the Wi-Fi network.
After changing the settings, it is advisable to restart the laptop. Also there you can have a 40 MHz option. If Wi-Fi continues to work unstable when choosing 20 MHz, set it to 40 MHz.
Enable maximum performance in power settings
To do this, click on the battery status icon and go to the power settings. There in the item “Power Mode” set “Maximum performance”.
If Wi-Fi is buggy and unstable, then set the power mode back to balanced.
We change the additional properties of the Wi-Fi network when the connection is unstable
In previous versions of Windows, Wi-Fi drops and disconnections could be resolved by enabling one feature in the Wi-Fi network properties. In Windows 11, you can also try to do this.
- We need to open the old control panel. To do this, open Start and start typing “Control Panel”. Run her.
- Where the view is set to “Large icons” and go to the “Network and Sharing Center”.
- Click on your network. A window will open in which you need to click on the “Wireless Network Properties” button. Next, another window will appear where you need to check the box next to “Connect even if the network does not broadcast its name (SSID)”.
Click OK, restart your laptop and reconnect to the network.
Disabling the firewall
This is a tip from the same article, only for Windows 10. They wrote in the comments that they managed to solve the problem with poor Wi-Fi performance by disabling the built-in firewall. You can try. I have a separate article on this topic: how to disable the firewall in Windows 11.
Wi-Fi not working properly on laptop due to driver
The driver is responsible for the communication of the device itself (in our case, this is a Wi-Fi module) and systems. And if the driver was not developed specifically for Windows 11, or it was installed with some errors, or was somehow crooked, then various problems may occur.
Update the Wi-Fi adapter driver. If this does not help, roll back the driver to a previous version. Or replace it with another version (usually there are several driver versions installed on the system).
I wrote about this in great detail in the article Wi-Fi adapter driver in Windows 11: update, rollback, replacement to solve various problems and errors. There are detailed, step-by-step instructions.