Interesting one

[mustpost]

Not too concerned, but will throw myself to the lions with this one.
New problem last night with this (very reliable Acer lap).
Lost wireless (to the next room).
Refreshed everything, no result - unless removed mains plug. Fine on battery, the moment plugged in -'no wireless networks within range'.
WTF?? :O

[green granite]

Change the psu (the one that plugs into the wall socket).

[mustpost]

Ta gg, but mr acer charges a lot, any reason why this should happen? -I can do a bit of tech info..
Cheers

[green granite]

Can you borrow one that would fit? Possible reasons, over voltage or noise. No specific reason why it should be that unit but it's the easiest to eliminate.

[Loose rivets]

Strange fault. Thinking laterally.

Do you remove the plug from the wall and not from the laptop?

If not, do so, and see if the link is still okay.


What I'm getting at is that the wire is being used as an antenna - but it's no use when powered up.

This would imply that the normal miniature antenna in the laptop is not working or being swamped with something else and needs a boost from such a length of wire.

[srobarts]

Following Loose rivets post, have you tried changing channels and changing the power settings for the network card?

We had weird network problems when a neighbour set his box up on the same channel. Change channel and hey presto back to normal.

[FullOppositeRudder]

An interesting problem .... It does suggest that the power supply has taken to generating a spurious signal which is swamping the desired signal from the router/modem however .....:confused: However suggested earlier tests will soon confirm or eliminate that.

It can be helpful to have something like Net Stumbler NetStumbler.com (http://www.netstumbler.com/) available - ideally on a laptop - to see what's going on in the immediate area. This won't identify the possibility above, but will let you see what channels the other networks in the area are using. Given the popularity of the 'net, it would be surprising if there weren't a few accidental clashes of 'same channel' in some situations.

Caution: You may find that some neighbors use very interesting names for their network SSID. I won't expand on a few that I have seen around here :mad:

Good luck,
FORudder

[mustpost]

Hi all

Thanks v much for the suggestions, tried all of the above and already had NetsTumble thingy installed, all OK, same thing happens when I plug in my neebs Acer charger.:confused:

(FORudder, 'Steel Eye Span' was the easiest, demographics of the other 6 were also easy to spot, told 2 that I could hack in. "Crikey do I need to build a lead shield between my house and yours?" :E)

Power settings discombulated??

Added, and so they were,small trojan had attacked the Acer power settings and modified it to disable wireless on mains. (Using Avast free...)
Thanks all....:)