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did I mention I hate computers

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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HP laptop just old enough to be out of warranty - can't find any wifi networks - have troubleshooted just about everything and am 90% sure it is a hardware issue. Ah well, the laptop store has reopened.

arrrghh

fortunately I bought a wifi extender two weeks ago for Mrs JP and it has a ethernet plug in in it - so at least can still run the computer from a comfortable location.
 
slight update - turns out it is still under warranty - will see if it amounts to anything
 
A lot of the laptops have the WiFi card separate from the mainboards. Even if it's under warranty, I'd say remove your hard drive before you submit it to the company. They should be sympathetic about that.
 
DrEntropy said:
A lot of the laptops have the WiFi card separate from the mainboards. Even if it's under warranty, I'd say remove your hard drive before you submit it to the company. They should be sympathetic about that.
Click to expand...

not to worries about that bit, almost nothing on the hard drive so will back it up before it leaves the house
 
JPSmit said:
slight update - turns out it is still under warranty - will see if it amounts to anything
Click to expand...

JP - just my two shekels, but before taking it apart, I'd suggest taking it to the laptop store you mentioned. Just ask them to try connecting your laptop to their in-store wi-fi as a test. That'll give you a clue, whether it's hardware or settings.

If it's just settings, they'll probably take care of it in a few minutes no charge. If it's hardware, then ask if your warranty covers it.

I remember an update a few years ago, that auto-magically deleted all the wi-fi settings, and turned the wi-fi off. Reminds me of the old IT joke: pretty soon the system will be 100% secure: no data in, no data out.

Tom M.
 
I won't be taking anything apart trust me :smile:

Part of the reason I suspect it is hardware is that it can't see any networks at all, but we shall see.

This computer (which I actually like quite a lot) has had to go into the shop once already as it needed a cable replaced - came that way from the factory just took a while to figure out - the camera isn't great - and it seems like at least some of this is due to trying to make a thinner, lighter machine.
 
Are you sure it is not the wifi router? Those things have usually been the issue when I have problems.
 
Is there a nut loose on the keyboard? :devilgrin:
 
I've a separate WiFi router from the provider's unit, that has been set up as a simple bridge. The WiFi router inside the LAN was intermittent a couple weeks ago, Mitsy's iPad was dropping connection. I swapped out the "wall wart" power transformer of the router and all was back to normal. That has been my experience on many occasions. Matters not the brand of router, if the transformer drops part of the diode bridge or a leg of the transformer, the router goes bye-bye.
 
GregW said:
Are you sure it is not the wifi router? Those things have usually been the issue when I have problems.
Click to expand...

I wondered but, everyone else still has wifi and typically I would see a dozen or so networks - now I see none
 
I had to shut down my router this morning and reboot, have to do it every month or two, don't know why but it slows down to a crawl, fine now. PJ
 
PAUL161 said:
I had to shut down my router this morning and reboot, have to do it every month or two, don't know why but it slows down to a crawl, fine now. PJ
Click to expand...

Paul - same thing happens to me. Found that eating prunes helps.

:jester:
 
If it's any help, I've had my laptop occasionally lose the wi-fi. One time a Windows update actually nuked the device driver for the built-in wi-fi. When I realized I had no internet connection, the troubleshooter determined there was no wi-fi adapter present. Sure enough, device manager showed "unknown network adapter" and I had to reinstall the drivers. Another time the hardware switch on the side was on, but somehow it had turned itself off in software. I had to do the key combination to turn it back on.
 
Looking forward to hearing what JP's laptop store guys diagnose.
Tom M.
 
and all of a sudden it reappears which arguably make me hate computers even more. :madder:

This morning I had probably an hours worth of updates - and then this evening another 10 minutes or so and though I would give it a try, as I have been and, tada!

did I mention I hate computers. :rolleyes: :cheers:
 
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