My laptop suddenly can't use WiFi anymore. What gives?

Hello folks,

I have another problem with my laptop, again. :( I sent it in for repair last week, and just got in back today. I was happy to have my laptop again, but then I found an issue. It can't connect to wifi at all. o_O

It's not just that I am unable to connect to my home network. I can't even scan for any connections at all. The only network option that shows is Ethernet cable, which I have never used before. I've tried to reset my network setting, uninstall and reinstall network device from control panel, check my firewall settings, etc. I still couldn't find a solution. It's like all of a sudden my laptop loses its wifi capability and can only connect wired. All of my other devices, desktop, phone and tablet, can connect to my home network just fine. I don't know what could have caused this. :mad:

I already sent an email to Eluktronics to inquire them about this. Just have to wait for them to respond back. In the mean time, I just want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong or missing any thing. Why the hell did this happen, anyway? If this is something they did wrong, then I fear it will be another hassle sending it back to them for repair again. :eek:

dozens of possibilities
1) some laptops have a switch to physically disable WIFI - if that was accidentally touched during repair you need to switch it on again before the WLAN can function again.
2) driver disabled, for example because the wrong chipset driver was installed.
However, this depends on whether you wlan card (which is NOT your network card) is still visible in the device manager and if they reinstalled your windows or not.
Is there a wlan card or an unidentified device inside your device manager? if yes, you need to update the driver there.
The device manager is NOT the network settings you've shown above, it's elsewhere in the control panel.
if not and if the windows wasn't reinstalled then this is something else
3) mechanical failure on repair: WLAN cards are often modular even in laptops, and they might have connected it wrong during repair. In that case nothing to do but wait until they can repair it again

Make sure bluetooth connection is enabled.
It seems to me like it isn't for some reason, thus you have to try to enable it.

Are you connecting via bluetooth or WIFI?
If you use wifi is it enabled?
Check these out and come back to us to give us feedback. We might solve this.

1. I tried to look for a switch but didn't find any. Pretty sure I have never seen a laptop with a physical switch. Doubt my laptop has one, either.
2. I know what the network setting is in the device manager. I didn't screenshot it, but I really did reinstall the network adapters, the Realtek thing. I am at work now so I can't show you the setting. Will do so as soon as I get back.
3. If this is the case, then that's pretty unprofessional and again demonstrates their lack of QA. o_O


I always connect via wifi. The wifi option is not even there for me to enable or anything.

They replied to me this morning. They asked me to navigate to device manager and provide a screenshot for the network adapter. Seems like this is what I should have screenshotted instead. I won't be home until 6:30 or so. :frown: Hope we can figure something out. :oops:

I'm not sure you understood what I mean.
The device manager has to have TWO network adapters, one for physical LAN (usually the realtek one) and one for WLAN/WIFI. Those are NEVER the same because they need different MACs and IPs if both are active.
So if you have only one realtek adapter there, then WLAN mnodule is missing completely.
If windows was completely reinstalled that can happen if the chipset driver doesn't detect the hardware correctly - in that case you'll have an "unknown device" listed. If there is no "unknown device" either, then we're at point three (missing hardware) or a really bad case of installation failure.
see attached picture

I can't say for sure. I'll have to get home and check it again later. o_O

Let me use my work desktop as example. This is what I see in the network adapters setting.

I think the red arrow that points to the Dell Wireless is what you are talking about? I think the one that says Realtek (or something similar) is what I reinstalled and updated on my laptop. I don't think I saw any ethernet option, though. No, windows wasn't reinstalled. I don't recall seeing any unknown hardware, either. Hm. :eek:

yes, the dell device is the wireless and the realtek is the regular LAN network adapter - and they're two different parts of the hardware. Your laptop needs those two different parts as well, and you need to get the correct driver into the wireless h option if it still exists - or send the laptop to repair again if it was removed.

Here's the screenshot. Looks like something is missing...?

Yup. The Wifi card is not being detected. The drivers appear to be missing for the Wifi card, or it's not properly connected, or (let's hope not) may even be dead. The Realtek device is the ethernet connection (That's what the "E" in "GBE" stands for). Are there any devices in the manager listed as "Unknown" with a yellow triangle on it?

You should try to find the switch before doing anything else. It's not always a physical switch, it can be on a keyboard key. Like pressing FN + F2 or something for example. Look for icons that could be wifi (waves or an antenna for example) on the number keys, F keys or any other keyboard key.
If wifi is disabled via switch the entire adapter can disappear in windows so it looks like some other issue.

Welp. Found no switch. No icons on laptop either. No unknown devices shown on Device Manager. I think their email confirms this as well:

How the hell is this even possible...? o_O
So I tried all the screwdrivers I have last night, but not sure what the deal is, I couldn't open any of them! :eek: I have something like this:

Will try again tonight. Otherwise, I might have to bring it to a repair shop...
Also... I am not sure I know what a wireless card would look like once I open it up. Would it be something obvious like this?
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Acer+Aspire+5742+WLAN+Card+Replacement/12157
I assume, since I am not replacing the card, I would just have to connect those wires (should they be disconnected) to the card, right? Anything else besides that? :rolleyes:

Edit: I have opened up the laptop. However, I am not sure where the wireless card is. Can someone point it out to me?

The fact that no unknown devices show up on the device manager is worrisome. It sounds to me that the computer is not even "feeling" the card. Let's worry about that later, though. What you want to fiddle with, is the card with the two black wires, right above the longer card with the blue and white label that says "WD" (That one is your Solid State Drive).

First, make sure there is zero power going to the laptop. The battery must be disconnected, and the charger unplugged (Don't worry about the watch battery). What is the email suggesting you do? If you decide to remove the card, try not to damage the silver screw holding it in place. *BUT don't do it if their email hasn't instructed you to do so* The two cables are there just to work as antennae, so it makes no difference in the laptop detecting the card or not.

(Unrelated: 16GB of RAM in a single module? HOLY CARP. Must be a high-end laptop.)

I had a feeling it was that one. But... I don't know what to do with it! Looks like the cables are connected properly and haven't been touched at all. So... now what?

Their email only asked if I can open the laptop on my own. I shot them another email asking which one is the wireless card, but have yet to get a response. I don't know what else to do now, either, besides sending them another email asking for further instruction. This is infuriating!

Heh, thanks. It's not exactly that high end, really.

What is the model number and make of the laptop?

It's possible they put a non-working Wi-fi card in when you sent it for repairs. I'd suggest you took out the card, clean the contacts with a pencil eraser, then put it back in to make sure it's properly connected, but it's better if you wait for further instructions from them, for the sake of keeping your warranty.

This is the one. Except that mine has a 1050Ti because it's an older version that I bought last year.
OK why the hell can't I insert link from amazon? What's with this media crap?
Editing...
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7YTLD0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

...Why would they need to tinker with anything, though? :rolleyes: I only asked them to replace the lid which was cracked. I could give it a try. But would it really be okay to remove that tape? It's not going to lose adhesiveness, is it? My warrant expired already, lol. Charged me 180 bucks to replace the broken parts, then this happened. o_O

They asked me this morning to send them a screenshot of everything in the device manager. Have yet to hear anything back from them. This is their email:

Nothing unusual, is there?

While in windows, does anything happen if you press F4 or fn + F4?

No. Nothing happened at all. :confused:

I also tried to go into Bios setting, by pressing F2, to see if there is an option to enable or disable wifi. I did get into some kind of boost setting, but I didn't see any wifi option like that. It didn't even look like ang typical Bios setting screen. Perhaps I pressed the wrong button. :oops:

Oops, should have mentioned they put a non-functional card by mistake. Didn't mean to sound like they tried to screw you on purpose. I'm puzzled by the fact the Bluetooth works if it's handled by the same card. Can you post a close-up pic of the wireless card, with the model number clearly visible? Just want to make sure it's the right one.

The guy I am talking to was wondering the same thing. Well... the bluetooth icon shows up, but whether it really works or not, I can't be sure, either. :rolleyes: At least it's not MIA. The guy also told me to install some kind of Wireless program from Intel, which did nothing either. :frown:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...com/28143/a08/WiFi_20.80.0_PROSet64_Win10.exe
I asked if there's any way to enable or disable wifi in Bios setting, and how to sccess it. Gotta wait for his response again.

Now, here is where I think I made a major mistake. After getting no result from that program, I did something on my own. I went to device manager - view - shows hidden program. I saw a grayed out program under network adapter that says "Intel Wireless" or something like that. I believed it has to be the Wifi card. When I clicked on it, it says "Error 45: hardware not connected." Like a fool, I hastily uninstalled the program, checked for hardware change, and restarted the laptop. I thought it would be reinstalled after the restart and this would fix the problem. :confused:

Nope. Still no wifi. When I checked in device manager again, it was gone. I couldn't restore it, nor do I remember the full name. Tried to check for hardware change and restart the laptop many times, still didn't see it back. :eek: I think there is an option to install additional program to the network adapter, but it's not like I know which is the right one. But it seems like a hardware issue with the card.

I can take another picture but I will have to reopen it again. If you really have to see it, I will post it tomorrow night. Hope they can figure out something by then. o_O