4 ms·

Use your own WiFi connection test server in Windows

14 points by nanis 5y ago

treesknees 5y ago
One thing I've struggled with is some devices like to use this connection metric to determine when to switch from wifi to cellular, or switch wifi networks, or disable it completely (Android, iOS, Windows.) There have been many times where I'm actively doing maintenance or troubleshooting my network, and the loss of Internet access will completely kick me off my LAN.
- DrJokepu 5y ago
  At least on iOS what worked for me to stop this from happening is airplane mode + wifi enabled. It probably won’t stop it from jumping to another network though.
ComputerGuru 5y ago
This post was really hard to understand. Also, why wasn’t his dns resolving the default test domain ok? Wouldn’t an easier (and more correct) fix have been to address that? That way any other people on his network wouldn’t have a problem, either.
- XelNika 5y ago
  Yes, it's not good. > That way any other people on his network wouldn’t have a problem, either. Given that he's setting DNS servers statically on his own clients and has working DNS resolution on the DHCP-provided DNS server(s), that shouldn't really be an issue for other people.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- artificialLimbs 5y ago
  Yeeeh. Maybe it's a cheap (laborwise) and dirty solution if you don't want to muck about with networking too much. I set up my own subdomain for replacing msftconnecttest because I had similar troubles with Windows 10 showing not connected in task tray, but was actually connected. Maybe that's what he means by 'got flaky'?
  - nanis 5y ago
    > not connected in task tray, but was actually connected. That has happened to me as well. This was different. The system would go through connect/disconnect cycles and then disable the card etc. I thought it was a driver issue because every search resulted in people claiming to have solved their problems using older drivers etc, but I had no real luck with that. The true cause of the problem is still a mystery to me, but pointing the test to my own server gave me control over both ends and has worked fine for weeks now. Yes, it is trivial, but it is a much more preferable outcome than trying to figure out the real problem/solution using search results like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=7260+connection+problems https://www.google.com/search?q=7260+connection+problems
    - artificialLimbs 5y ago
      Wow, looks like Google has managed to get more horrible in the months I haven't been using it. Try "7260 connection problems" under Duckduckgo and results are much less spammy.
XelNika 5y ago
While the project is super interesting, this seems like network horror to me. Not only is something "wrong" with the network (guessing dns.msftncsi.com is blackholed), the author is setting DNS servers statically on his clients instead of using DHCP. If I'm right that the domain is simply blocked, I think it counts as yet another horror that the author did not realise that before buying a replacement WiFi card. It pains me that the blog post never explains the root cause of the issue nor whether it was intentional.
- zamadatix 5y ago
  The Wi-Fi upgrade story linked in the beginning is also a slightly weird solution. Rather than buy an mPCIe to m.2 adapter and 1st party Intel (or any modern) card he bought a half mini adapter and rebranded half mini Intel card for twice the price. Not to say there is anything wrong with a stream of consciousness blog about what one has had fun doing doing lately rather a heads up since this is being shared these fixes are just that, not high effort recommendations or whatnot normally posted on HN.
  - nanis 5y ago
    > for twice the price. Prices vary over time. Upon seeing this, I checked the current price and it is almost twice as much as I paid at the time and the item is listed as out of stock by this seller. Indeed, there is a 8265 listed at $21[1] and a converter listed at $8[2]. At the time, I did not know such converters existed. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-Ac-8265/dp/B01MZA1AB2/ https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-Ac-8265/dp/B... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/M-2-PCIe-Converter-Bluetooth-2010-2016/dp/B083YW3RM3/ https://www.amazon.com/M-2-PCIe-Converter-Bluetooth-2010-201...
    - zamadatix 5y ago
      Fair point, maybe some differences due to location as well as it shows in stock for me. FWIW the mpe-AX3000H is a repackaged ax200 not an 8265 (ac only chip). Doesn't change the price just noting it's a different chip than the 7260/mpe-AH3000H https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-AX200NGW-9260NGW-Upgrade-Wireless/dp/B07V86Q3WP/ https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-AX200NGW-9260NGW-Upgrade-W...

14 points by nanis 5y ago

One thing I've struggled with is some devices like to use this connection metric to determine when to switch from wifi to cellular, or switch wifi networks, or disable it completely (Android, iOS, Windows.) There have been many times where I'm actively doing maintenance or troubleshooting my network, and the loss of Internet access will completely kick me off my LAN.

DrJokepu 5y ago
At least on iOS what worked for me to stop this from happening is airplane mode + wifi enabled. It probably won’t stop it from jumping to another network though.

ComputerGuru 5y ago

This post was really hard to understand. Also, why wasn’t his dns resolving the default test domain ok? Wouldn’t an easier (and more correct) fix have been to address that? That way any other people on his network wouldn’t have a problem, either.

XelNika 5y ago
Yes, it's not good. > That way any other people on his network wouldn’t have a problem, either. Given that he's setting DNS servers statically on his own clients and has working DNS resolution on the DHCP-provided DNS server(s), that shouldn't really be an issue for other people.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
artificialLimbs 5y ago
Yeeeh. Maybe it's a cheap (laborwise) and dirty solution if you don't want to muck about with networking too much. I set up my own subdomain for replacing msftconnecttest because I had similar troubles with Windows 10 showing not connected in task tray, but was actually connected. Maybe that's what he means by 'got flaky'?
- nanis 5y ago
  > not connected in task tray, but was actually connected. That has happened to me as well. This was different. The system would go through connect/disconnect cycles and then disable the card etc. I thought it was a driver issue because every search resulted in people claiming to have solved their problems using older drivers etc, but I had no real luck with that. The true cause of the problem is still a mystery to me, but pointing the test to my own server gave me control over both ends and has worked fine for weeks now. Yes, it is trivial, but it is a much more preferable outcome than trying to figure out the real problem/solution using search results like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=7260+connection+problems https://www.google.com/search?q=7260+connection+problems
  - artificialLimbs 5y ago
    Wow, looks like Google has managed to get more horrible in the months I haven't been using it. Try "7260 connection problems" under Duckduckgo and results are much less spammy.

XelNika 5y ago

While the project is super interesting, this seems like network horror to me. Not only is something "wrong" with the network (guessing dns.msftncsi.com is blackholed), the author is setting DNS servers statically on his clients instead of using DHCP. If I'm right that the domain is simply blocked, I think it counts as yet another horror that the author did not realise that before buying a replacement WiFi card. It pains me that the blog post never explains the root cause of the issue nor whether it was intentional.

zamadatix 5y ago
The Wi-Fi upgrade story linked in the beginning is also a slightly weird solution. Rather than buy an mPCIe to m.2 adapter and 1st party Intel (or any modern) card he bought a half mini adapter and rebranded half mini Intel card for twice the price. Not to say there is anything wrong with a stream of consciousness blog about what one has had fun doing doing lately rather a heads up since this is being shared these fixes are just that, not high effort recommendations or whatnot normally posted on HN.
- nanis 5y ago
  > for twice the price. Prices vary over time. Upon seeing this, I checked the current price and it is almost twice as much as I paid at the time and the item is listed as out of stock by this seller. Indeed, there is a 8265 listed at $21[1] and a converter listed at $8[2]. At the time, I did not know such converters existed. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-Ac-8265/dp/B01MZA1AB2/ https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-Ac-8265/dp/B... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/M-2-PCIe-Converter-Bluetooth-2010-2016/dp/B083YW3RM3/ https://www.amazon.com/M-2-PCIe-Converter-Bluetooth-2010-201...
  - zamadatix 5y ago
    Fair point, maybe some differences due to location as well as it shows in stock for me. FWIW the mpe-AX3000H is a repackaged ax200 not an 8265 (ac only chip). Doesn't change the price just noting it's a different chip than the 7260/mpe-AH3000H https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-AX200NGW-9260NGW-Upgrade-Wireless/dp/B07V86Q3WP/ https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-AX200NGW-9260NGW-Upgrade-W...