Windows 10 not seeing some wifi networks

[carmen617]

Friend's computer, so of course there's a lot of work and little money in it, sigh. Went there to help with a different system, was told this laptop (Dell, about 3 years old) needs to be replaced because it was having trouble connecting to the internet. Wine was spilled in the laptop about a year ago, requiring a keyboard and touchpad replacement, so replacing the laptop not a terrible idea, but I hate waste. The wifi adapter wasn't finding any networks at all, while the other computer saw 5, including the home network. Thinking that the internal wifi adapter is bad, I thought, hey, easy fix, let's run out and get a USB wifi adapter. That should solve everything.

Well, at their house the USB wifi adapter didn't see any networks either. I tried turning on my phone hotspot and it didn't see that. So I figure, some windows problem, if a brand new external USB wifi adapter is not seeing networks, it's software not hardware. Took the system home with me cuz, well, I'm a sucker.

Long story short, as soon as i got it to my house it saw all my networks EXCEPT my phone hotspot, which is still on. I'm assuming whatever keeps it from seeing my phone hotspot will also keep it from connecting to my friend's home network. My phone hotspot has WPA2 PSK security - I didn't check what they have at their house.

The system needed some work - SFC /scannow repaired corruptions, Windows updates weren't working (now they are). I ran Net Adapter Repair, I ran Windows Repair All in One, I checked for updated drivers for the USB network adapter. The internal wifi adapter is disabled - when I enabled it at my house, it didn't see any networks. The USB adapter seems to work great except it still can't find my phone hotspot, so I presume it still won't see their home network. What am I missing here?

 

[HFultzjr]

Can you connect "any other" devices to their WiFi.

 

[mr m]

This is a weird one but they all are when experienced techs ask for help. It is good to help out friends.

So the USB adapter sees your WiFi but not your phone hotspot? WTF! Does his onboard NIC work correctly?

I'd be curious to see what your favorite flavor of boot disk sees. Boot a Hirens or Knoppix and see if his internal adapter finds a wireless signal or not. I'd also consider physically removing the internal adapter as part of your troubleshooting. I'm not sure what disabling the internal adapter via the BIOS or Win actually does.

I have seen NIC's disabled via software yet still causing jabber on the network although I have never seen this with a wireless adapter.

I'd also switch between wireless connection managers (Dell and Win) and see what happens.

Good luck. You are going to need it!

 

[HCHTech]

I'd also switch between wireless connection managers (Dell and Win) and see what happens.

+1 for removing the internal adapter and nuking any wifi-manager.

 

[timeshifter]

Double check and make sure there is not a hardware switch or a keyboard function to disable Wi-Fi.

Boot a live Linux distribution and try.

 

[carmen617]

Been out all day but thanks for the suggestions. The internal wifi sees my home networks but it unable to connect to them - when i try to connect it stops seeing any networks at all. That's what caused me to try an external usb wifi adapter. The internal is disabled right now, but i will remove it altogether when i have a minute. Right now the system seems to work perfectly, except it still doesn't pick up my phone hotspot. I'll try booting from linux and see if my hotspot is found - it's not found when I am in safe mode.

The other computer at their home was able to see and connect to their wifi and my phone hotspot, and see a bunch of neighbors networks. I know it's weird, and i don't want to give it back to my friend not working. Hate not figuring this stuff out!

 

[fincoder]

It's not a 2.4GHz / 5GHz issue is it? If a router or WiFi hotspot is 5GHz only, a older or cheap 2.4GHz card/adapter won't see it.

 

[Metanis]

Was Googling on your problem... one thought is that the Wireless manager has "forgotten" the networks you want to re-join.

Check HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SettingSync\Wireless\DeletedProfiles

Which would point to a User Profile fix.

 

[carmen617]

Tried replacing the internal wireless card with one i pulled from a dead laptop - windows was unable to start the device. So gave up on that, put a different USB adapter in the system and that magically found all. So I'm going with bad wifi card slot or antennas or some such from wine spill, cheap USB adapter that didn't see all bands. My recommendation will be keep the laptop with the other USB adapter, until the next time something goes wrong, then ditch it.

Thanks for all suggestions and help!

 

[backwoodsman]

I may have missed it, but I don't see where you ever tried booting a Linux disk to nail down whether it's a hardware or software problem.

 

[carmen617]

I may have missed it, but I don't see where you ever tried booting a Linux disk to nail down whether it's a hardware or software problem.

I didn't - because it worked with a different USB wifi adapter. No need to troubleshoot further.