If I’m having new (and seemingly increasing) problems with getting and keeping a connection to my home wifi from my aging Windows laptop — this has been a growing problem since upgrading my storage to SSD and switching to Windows 10… Best Buy experts looked at it and confirmed nothing seems to be physically wrong with the adapter — would switching to Linux with the same hardware resolve that issue?
@reay I’m going to venture a guess - because I haven’t worked with Linux in Y E A R S - but possibly not. If you really feel like spending the time tinkering and making yourself a Linux rig, sure. But the reality is, not all hardware is supported/supported well. Furthermore, have you checked that there are no problems with your access point/router/whatever?
@reay It’s been years, 20+ really, since I’ve tinkered with Linux. I’ve been Mac-only (again, ha!) since 2015ish and have been blissfully and forcefully unaware of all other OS/hardware since. Anyway, so that sounds like a driver problem… like maybe the driver for your network adapter isn’t fully supported by the current version of windows? I realize that’s not super helpful, but the best guess I can venture at this point.
@eatsshootsknits I was wondering if it may be something like that. I hadn’t considered a driver specifically — I think the tech types at Best Buy checked on that — but more just thinking if the laptop is (relatively) old enough that such a recent OS is having some trouble making the outdated bits of hardware work smoothly.
I mean, the motherboard is old enough that a) I can’t upgrade beyond its 4 gigs of RAM and b) it uses a type of RAM old enough that no one sells it any more. Sooooo…
@reay yeah… might be time to determine if it’s truly worth trying to get to the bottom of the issue or less time/cost intensive to move on. I ended up needing to upgrade about a year ago I think… I’d bought myself a Cricut a couple summers ago and its regularly updated software suddenly deemed my then ten year old Mac unsupported… frustrating, but I knew it was also in the “no longer receiving system updates due to age” camp too.
@eatsshootsknits Well that’s just it: This laptop is… 7 years old? 8? Not more. Which yes, isn’t super recent, but also shouldn’t be so old that it just can’t be upgraded more.
Same with my older Mac, which is capped at running El Capitan. It’s always outperformed the laptop, but because Apple isn’t down with upgrading components (… yet), I’m stuck with a still very nimble computer that can’t run some programs. Even software that predate the OS has updated itself beyond the Mac’s forced limits.
@eatsshootsknits I was only half-kidding when I posted recently that I’m kinda holding out for the Right To Repair movement gaining enough traction that Apple finally allows upgrading of older components. In which case I could get enough brought up to speed on the Mac that it could finally run more modern programs.
@reay I mean, it’s not IMpossible to update the Mac. There are ways to do it. I’ve got a friend nearby who bought some 3rd party components and an SSD replacement hard drive and has gotten like five more years out of hers… that said, I’m not sure the OS is still updating. I can’t stand forced obsolescence. My husband has an insulin pump that simply stops working because of that, and the replacement window doesn’t match the insurance eligibility. It’s dumb.
@eatsshootsknits True enough. I actually got the Mac for free from a friend who didn’t want it any more because something had gone wrong with it and it wouldn’t even turn on.
I took it to a local official Apple repair place and they confirmed the harddrive was dead. Asked if I wanted to get a new one put it with an OS on it. I said yes, opting for the 3 TB drive (because go big or go home), and voila. Perfectly working Mac.
So they can replace broken parts but not upgrade working ones? 🤔
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