Wi-Fi that drops out is usually one of two very different problems. Either your device has a weak signal where you are sitting, or the Wi-Fi network itself is dropping and taking everyone with it. The fixes are not the same, so it is worth spending a minute working out which one you have.

Work out which one it is

• Only you, and only in one spot (the back office, the warehouse, the corner meeting room): that is signal. Move and it improves.
• Everyone, all at once, wherever they are sitting: that is the network. The access point or router is restarting, overloaded, or has lost its own connection. An access point is the box on the ceiling or wall that broadcasts the Wi-Fi.

Try this first

1. Move closer to the access point and see whether it steadies. Signal drops off fast through brick, concrete, plasterboard with foil backing, metal shelving and lift shafts. Standing still for a minute in a better spot tells you a lot.
2. Check what is near you. A running microwave, a cordless phone base or a wall of stacked stock between you and the access point will all knock a signal about. This one catches everyone.
3. Check which network you are actually on. On Windows, click the Wi-Fi icon at the bottom right. On a Mac, click the Wi-Fi icon at the top right. On a phone, open Settings then Wi-Fi. Make sure you are on your normal work network, not the guest network and not a neighbouring business whose network you joined once and forgot about. Guest networks are often deliberately limited and will not reach your files or printers.
4. Forget the network and rejoin it. Select your network, choose Forget, then pick it again from the list and type the password. This clears a stale saved connection, which is a common cause of one device dropping while everyone else is fine.
5. Restart the device. A full restart, not just closing the lid. Wi-Fi adapters do get stuck, and a restart resets them properly.
6. Turn Bluetooth off briefly if you are on a laptop with a lot of accessories paired. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi share the same airspace and heavy Bluetooth use can make a marginal signal worse.

If that didn't fix it

Log a ticket with the specifics. What we need to know:

• Where in the building it happens, and whether it is fine elsewhere.
• Whether it is one device or several.
• Whether it drops for a few seconds or stays down until you rejoin.
• Roughly when it started, and whether anything changed around then, such as new shelving, a new fridge or a renovation.
• Whether it also happens on a mobile phone standing in the same spot.

When it is a design problem, not a fault

One access point cannot cover every building, and no amount of restarting will change that. A metal-clad warehouse, a double-brick building, a long narrow shop or a two-storey office with a concrete slab between floors will all defeat a single unit sitting in the front office. The signal is not faulty, there just is not enough of it where you are standing.

That is a coverage design question. The fix is more access points in the right places, cabled back properly, set up to hand devices between them cleanly. Adding a cheap range extender usually makes things worse, because devices cling to the extender long after they should have moved on.

If your Wi-Fi problem is really a coverage problem, tell us the areas that suffer and we will look at what it takes to cover them properly and quote it in writing before anything is bought.

Still stuck?

Log a ticket at portal.yougrowit.com.au or email support@yougrowit.com.au. If it is stopping you working right now, call 03 9028 4358.

Support hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm Melbourne time, excluding Victorian public holidays.