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I have a Windows 10 Asus Vivobook laptop with Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter, which can’t keep a stable connection to any Wi-Fi network. Sometimes it can detect the network, sometimes it does but won’t connect, other times it connects and then disconnects after a minute or two.

What I have tried so far:

  1. Connecting to three different devices: TP-Link Router, Asus Router, Android Phone hotspot.
  2. Changing the driver installed using third party software Driver Booster.
  3. Manually download the latest driver I have found which was dated 2019 from a site called “Driver Identifier.”
  4. Doing a fresh install of Windows 10.
  5. Going through command prompt command to make sure the adapter itself is intact, which is: 
    netsh wlan show interfaces

Which gave me the following status, every thing seems to be OK hardware wise:

Name                   : Wi-Fi
Description            : Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter
GUID                   : 24f978e4-e363-4903-b686-9764f57af0a7
Physical address       : d0:c5:d3:11:8c:97
State                  : disconnected
Radio status           : Hardware On
                         Software On

Update: Versions of Wi-Fi each device supports:

  1. Qualcomm Atheros AR956x: 802.11b Preamble.
  2. TP-Link modem W8961N: 802.11n.
  3. Redmi Android phone: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band.
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2 Answers 2

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First, check signal quality and strength. There are applications such as Nirsoft's free WiFiInfoView or an alternative, which can show that, as below.

WiFiInfoView

  • RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) is the electrical power, in dBm of the signal.
  • Sig... is the Signal Quality, from 0 to 100, based on number of missed packets. This takes into account noise and interference, as well as power.
  • Avera... is the time-averaged signal quality.

Since dBm is negative logarithmic, a lower absolute value indicates a stronger signal (-54 is better than -65). For signal quality, a higher number is better (86 is better than 80).

If the signal quality is low, perhaps below 50, the issue is likely hardware. The WiFi adapter antenna may have come loose (likely after service to the PC), the router and PC may be too far apart, there might be intervening walls, another device might be sharing the band and channel (also shown above), or electromagnetic noise from an appliance could cause issue. You might find it worthwhile to buy an inexpensive USB WiFi adapter with antennae, which could improve reception.

If the signal quality is good, then look to OS (operating system) issues. To eliminate Windows and it's drivers, as well as Qualcomm's, as a possible cause, boot from another OS. One easy way to do so is to create live Linux installation media, such as for Ubuntu. There is no need to install Linux, just boot from USB, and see if there is a solid WiFi connection. If Linux works, then the issue is in Windows, or with the drivers, or a background application causing disconnection.

BTW, if you winder why I use a weaker signal on the 5 GHz band, rather than the stronger 2 GHz, it's to take advantage of faster I/O.

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  • Thank you for your response, I have used the software you suggested, and the signal quality is good. So I moved yo the next step and booted from Ubuntu. The connection was seamless and stable. So I think it's a windows and/or driver issue, how can I find the correct driver for my adapter? Is there any software or some way I can match my OS version with the right version of the driver? Commented 6 hours ago
  • It's doubtful the issue is due to the driver, if you can connect at all. However, download directly from Microsoft, then in Device Manager, Network Adapters, double-click Qualcomm Atheros AR956x and update the driver. More likely, you've got some background app messing with the connection. Check Autoruns and Task Manager for suspicious processes. (Or switch to Ubuntu, which does work, and is still supported. Support for Win10 ended months ago.) Commented 2 hours ago
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It may be worthwhile checking the energy saving options for the device in the device properties. The Ethernet card in my PC has two places I'd check. Most obvious are the options under "Power Management" in the "Properties" dialog accessed through the device manager with a right-click on the device (I use the Ethernet adapter properties on my stationary PC for illustration since I don't have a WLAN adapter):

"Computer may not switch off device" option

The second place to look are detailed device settings in the "Advanced" tab of the dialog. These details are specific to the device and driver; some adapters, like mine, may have power saving options there:

Advanced tab, power saving mode disabled

The idea is to disable all power saving options, under the assumption that Windows is too eager to save energy, switches the adapter off too quickly and has trouble to seamlessly restart it. (As an aside, the WLAN chip may actually use significant power, also when not connected (because then, it scans for available networks with full power in the hopes to find a known one), and it may be worthwhile to switch WLAN and Bluetooth off completely in order to extend battery life in a given session.)

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