Many users have reported a problem with the Razer Viper Ultimate disconnecting and cutting out at random. A related problem is where the mouse will go to sleep after a few seconds or minutes of inactivity. After this it will not reconnect.
Here are a few tried and tested solutions to the problem.
Table of Contents
Check the Wired Mode
Razer Viper Ultimate connects to the PC in two ways
- Wired using a Speedflex USB Cable
- Hyperspeed Wireless using a USB dongle
Connect to your PC with the USB cable
Does the problem go away? If it does, then that’s a hint that the problem is due to the wireless connectivity.
Update the Firmware
As a first step, we recommend doing the easiest thing – that is to update the firmware to the latest version.
Check the battery
Ensure that the battery is charged. A red flashing light indicates that the battery is low and it’s time to recharge the battery.
Clean the Optical Sensor
Over time the Optical sensor under the mouse collects dirt. This could result in the mouse cutting out at random. To resolve this, the sensor needs to be cleaned.
Check Wireless Dongle
Try another USB port on your PC
Check to see if the USB port is faulty by moving the wireless dongle to another port.
Move the wireless dongle to another PC
Try a USB port on another PC to see if it’s your PC that’s the problem or the wireless dongle.
Note that Hyperspeed dongles can be replaced. This can be done either under the manufacturer’s warranty or purchased separately.
Move any USB 3 devices away from the Mouse
Most peripheral devices such as hard drives support a USB 3.0 connection. This is much faster than a USB 2.0 interface. However this speed comes at a cost.
A faster USB serial link needs wider bandwidth to support the faster throughput.
USB 3.0 ports are therefore very noisy from a Radio perspective. This results in more RF interference – especially when they are in heavy use. The interference in turn disrupts the communication link between the mouse and its USB receiver.
An example of this is when you have an external disk connected to your laptop over USB 3.
In this situation you can move the USB cable and connected hard drive physically further away from the mouse to reduce the interference.
Use a USB Extender Cable
As the mouse moves further away from the dongle, the strength of the communication signal between the two decreases. In other words, the signal gets weaker.
The weaker the signal the higher the likelihood of the mouse cutting out.
Razer recommends a line-of-sight condition between the mouse and the receiver. Put simply this means the mouse should be able to see the USB dongle during operation.
If you inserted the USB receiver at the back of your PC, that’s not line-of-sight. In this case, the PC itself is an obstacle to communication.
You can do one of two things:
- Move the USB receiver to a port that’s on the front of the PC.
- Use a USB extender cable to move the USB dongle closer to the mouse. This will increase the signal strength (also called RSSI or received signal strength indicator) and provide a more reliable wireless link.
- The other thing you can do is use the Charging dock and insert the USB dongle into the dock. The charging dock should be moved closer to the mouse.
Move Wireless Router and Phone
Wi-Fi routers transmit very strong wireless signals that interfere with the operation of wireless mice. Even a nearby phone with Wi-Fi on can have the same effect.
The primary reason for this is that they operate in the same 2.4 GHz frequency band. To reduce interference:
- Move wireless access points or routers away from where the Viper Ultimate mouse is being used (gamers will often have their router on the same desk as their laptop/PC to maximize connection speed)
- Turn your phone’s Wi-Fi Off
Change the Wi-Fi Band to 5 GHz
Most Wi-Fi routers operate on the 2.4 GHz band by default. This is the same frequency range that is used by the Viper Ultimate mouse. As a result signals from your router interfere with signals between the mouse and the USB dongle.
You should be able to configure your router to operate on the 5 GHz band. This will reduce the amount of interference to the Razer Viper mouse.
Summary
In this post we have presented the reader with 8 potential solutions to the problem of a wireless mouse cutting out. These solutions can be applied to any mouse. Although in this post we have focused on the Razer Viper Ultimate which is very popular.
As a recap here are the 8 techniques for solving the Razer Viper Ultimate mouse disconnect problem:
- Update the Firmware
- Check the battery
- Clean the optical sensor
- Check the USB dongle
- Move any USB 3 devices away from the Mouse
- Use a USB extender cable
- Move Wireless Router and Phone
- Change the Wi-Fi Band to 5 GHz
