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Disappearing Wireless adapter
A few days ago, after a Windows update, my wireless adapter disappeared in such a way that i can't even try to look for wi-fi connections. As it happened with a similar case here in the forum to Andy Mann, the machine updated and auto-rebooted overnight, and suddenly I had no wireless adapter in the Device Manager, the Network Settings page had no Wireless section, and I thought it was a Windows update problem.
I tried toggling Airplane mode and rebooting a couple of times, but it didn't help. After shutting down the laptop completely and turning it on again, though, the adapter suddenly came back - I don't know which adapter comes with my Inspiron 15, 7559.
The problem is, suddenly, today it happened again, i changed rooms in my house and when i arrived at the living room table, everything was as I'd left it, except that again, the wireless adapter has disappeared, I can't see a Wireless section in Network Settings, and a list of available networks to connect to. I'm using a cable at the moment, but this time it shows no signs of reappearing.
Refreshing ("scan for hardware changes" in Device Manager) doesn't make it reappear either; i updated all possible drivers from windows, delll and intel, rebooted several times, tryied turning it off and on as i did last time, even tryied changing places where the laptop is at, tryied some cmd commands that seemed to fix the problem to people that updated from windows 7/8 to 10, but nothing seems to work for me.
How can i fix this? Please help!
System info: Inspiron 7559, Windows 10 (64-bit) version 10.0.15063.
KR3Y
2 Posts
0
December 24th, 2018 12:00
I have this problem on my e7440. I have tried installing Windows, Ubuntu, trying all sorts of BIOS settings, wifi drivers, I've tried a new Intel wireless card. Occasionally the wireless will work for a minute and disappear again. The problem is a hardware block stuck on and it must be a BIOS/motherboard problem.
ZONEWULF
1 Message
0
January 6th, 2019 22:00
I used this link from Intel below. I had the same issue. It happened outta nowhere but I went here and updated everything and it’s fine now. I did connect my laptop with a Ethernet cord to the modem/router to get to the internet, but I think you can also download the Intel(R) dual wireless file and transfer it with a flash drive.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html
VardaChris
2 Posts
1
January 15th, 2019 00:00
Hello everyone,
Personally, I fixed this issue several times through the BIOS.
Each time this happens, the wireless adapter seems to be "not present" according to Windows (10). I simply reboot, go to the BIOS settings and find out that it was somehow miraculously disabled (?!?)... So you just enable it again, "Save and Exit" and restart windows. It worked everytime.
Hope this helps,
Chris.
bmccoy11
3 Posts
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January 17th, 2019 17:00
I'm still having this problem, and it hasn't gone away for the last 6 months. I've even changed motherboards and had the same problem with the second board, and multiple NGFF WiFi adapters from Intel and Qualcomm (the one that came with the laptop) still have this issue - I cannot figure out why this is still happening. It seems like there's a bug in the UEFI that's preventing anything in the M.2 slot from being recognized at boot, but that's just my guess. Sometimes I'll get lucky and my laptop will boot up and recognize the adapter just fine, but then after a week or so of that Windows will restart to automatically update and I'll have to go through that process again. Dell's diagnostics sometimes show that the wireless switch is "off", and other times show that it's on but still doesn't pick up that a WiFi card is installed. The strangest thing about this is that even when the WiFi interface isn't picked up in Device Manager (or anywhere else), the Bluetooth interface running on the same exact chipset works just fine - which tells me that this isn't a hardware issue.
I'd like to hear someone from Dell actually chime in on this (and not just give us a script, telling us to update our drivers or try another irrelevant workaround) or send out a BIOS update to fix this if possible. But since most of our laptops are obviously out of warranty, I doubt that will happen. I'm never buying a Dell product again because of this, and my two year-old laptop is essentially unusable without being tethered to a router now.
VardaChris
2 Posts
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January 21st, 2019 20:00
Hi Bmccoy11,
Did you try going to your BIOS settings when booting to see if 'by chance' the adapter is simply disabled and change it back to enabled?
This solved my problem every time it happens.
King regards,
Chris
bmccoy11
3 Posts
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January 24th, 2019 21:00
Unfortunately, I've tried enabling and disabling the integrated NIC in my BIOS settings to no avail. Doesn't make a difference at all.
Pharkurnell
2 Posts
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February 19th, 2019 21:00
Sulzyc
1 Message
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February 23rd, 2019 06:00
Yeah. I just had the same thing happen to me. And I've only had the Dell g3 for two days. It stopped detecting the wifi card while playing apex legends. Checked drivers. Only to find device not even detected in device manager. Checked to see if bios is detecting device. Nothing. TWO DAYS. Ordered it on the 16th received it on the 21st played games flawlessly then bam. I'll be calling dell today to try and resolve this issue
BasicUnicorn
1 Message
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February 26th, 2019 09:00
This solution works for me as well, except that its so inconvenient. But in my case, I have to restart, go to 1-time boot menu, then Bios Setup. If I check system configuration, the wifi device is "uninstalled". Select load defaults and restart and voila! Back to normal. However, I usually lose a lot of unsaved work that I have been doing, since the wireless adapter shuts down without notice. BTW, I have a XPS 13, windows 8 and this issue has been on-going for 3 years. This is the only solution that I have tried that works. Also I have figured out that the wireless adapter disappears when I move my laptop while its connected to any wireless network. And by move, I mean pick it up or slide it on my desk. Dell has replaced the physical hardware for me, but that didn't do a thing.
fretule
1 Message
0
March 13th, 2019 11:00
Exactly the same situation on my gf's G5 15. Once a day I need to restart to BIOS and choose default settings and then Wifi re-enables. DELL please fix this!
mandy48
3 Posts
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March 18th, 2019 05:00
How to find if the wifi card is defective or not? For me, I'm not able to access wifi. Can anyone tell me any external card that I can plug on the USB port for temporary wifi need?
robert p
4 Operator
4 Operator
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9.4K Posts
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March 18th, 2019 09:00
Hi mandy48,
Thanks for posting. Apologies that your system is not performing as expected.
Have you been able to run a systems diagnostics yet? Please run Dell SupportAssist, make a note of any error messages found and post back. If there are none, then the issue may be either software or driver related.
Here is information from the Dell knowledge base you may find helpful:
Connecting and Troubleshoot Internet Connectivity Issues on Your Dell Computer
WiFi Not Connecting
If you still require assistance and the system is under warranty, you may contact me privately. Be sure to include your personal information (name, address, telephone, email) and your computer's service tag number in your message. Thanks.
If there is no warranty, then you could contact our Out of Warranty team to get a quote for a paid service request.
Eden JOJO
2 Posts
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March 25th, 2019 06:00
JPBLAND
1 Message
1
March 25th, 2019 11:00
It appears that the Bluetooth function of the card is overriding the WiFi function. I had to take several steps to get my wireless card back.
Eden JOJO
2 Posts
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March 27th, 2019 10:00