Laptop won't connect to wi-fi or see any networks

Sorry posting from tablet.

My Pavillion laptop randomly won't show any available networks or connect to wifi.

It started when I moved my laptop and had to jiggle the power cord to get it to charge.

It works fine plugged directly into the router.

Wifi came back on one time at restart and then while online my pc randomly restarted itself and wi fi was lost again (denoted by that little square symbol which has become my bane).

Wifi came back on one other time at restart.

(Yes I've run through all the trouble shooter options, restarted the router, used a restore point, reinstalled windows, reset network options, uninstalled and reinstalled wifi drivers, airplane mode is off)

Any help or should I take it behind the barn and shoot it?

a reply to: abe froman

Open device manager. Find wifi adapter. Go to properties. There should be a tab with a checkbox to allow the computer to turn the device off to save power. Uncheck or check as necessary to keep it on.

Maybe try turning power profile to max performance if that doesnt work.

Check event viewer for errors.

I dont think your faulty barrel jack is a related problem. They are easy to replace if you have a soldiering iron.

Hp laptops are not that great. They have a bottom mount gpu that gets crazy hot and often becomes unsoldiered from the board ( google search hp laptop gpu reflow to check for yourself. In the future i would go with a Lenovo.

a reply to: drewlander

Tried it, no luck.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help.

Try reinstalling the WiFi adapter driver software and make sure you have the current version. If that fails you can buy a tiny USB WiFi adapter on Amazon for under $20.

ETA: I saw one for under $10 bucks.

Link

This is my humble opinion
When you moved the laptop , the wireless card became unseated
Thus the reason for intermittent connections and reboots
Go to HP's website
Look up your exact model
See if the wireless card is under a cover on the bottom or installed in a slot in the side
You will also find a manual on where it is , and how to replace. Follow the instructions to reseat as you would to replace.

Some laptops have a button on them which can enable/disable wi-fi and also some have FN+key(s) to activate/deactivate features which with fat finger syndrome can easily happen.

Sounds like a loose connection to me, see if the wi-fi card is near the power, maybe whatever damaged your power input has also dc'd a wifi xard connector?

a reply to: abe froman

yep yer lap tops stuffed

Going in to the device manager and disabling your wireless adapter then re enabling it sometimes fixes this issue.

If your laptop is an older variety.

It's really best to just get a new usb wifi adapter.

a reply to: abe froman

I'm going w keyboard button for wifi...it should be lit

originally posted by: abe froman
a reply to: drewlander

Tried it, no luck.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help.

I actually had an hp pavillion laptop a long time ago. It was an 8xxx series, i want to say 83xx to narrow it down. Screen was a glossy big b@$tard, which made me learn to hate screens without a matte finish. I too had this problem, and i cannot say for sure what I did to resolve it but i think it either had something to do with the bios, or with the wireless card software conflicting with zero wireless config built into the os. Also i recall it ran windows vista.

Came home from work restarted my PC and wi-fi is back on again.

wtf???

originally posted by: abe froman
Came home from work restarted my PC and wi-fi is back on again.

wtf???

lololol.... Normally if i have a computer misbehaving like this. I turn it all off and give it time to think about its role in life whilst I go make a brew and do some chores or something. It sounds like it had thought better of itself and didn't want you attempting open heart surgery.

a reply to: abe froman

I've seen this before with power on some laptops

the WIFI adapter is on, but shows no networks and its intermittent (ive only seen it on windows 10 machines tbh)

try closing apps, turning off blue tooth, lowering display brightness etc and reboot if required and see if that fixes it (when it happens)

if it does try updating the power monitoring software/drivers

It's probably a physical issue with the laptop. Sometimes you can wiggle something back into place and you are good for a long while (or even forever). But probably it will go out again if you twist or unplug something in a certain way. Usually if it is software / OS based, it's more consistent of a failure.

Hp laptops are not that great. They have a bottom mount gpu that gets crazy hot and often becomes unsoldiered from the board ( google search hp laptop gpu reflow to check for yourself. In the future i would go with a Lenovo.

Some are fine. Their elitebook series are solid, as well as their spectre / x360 laptops. Their consumer-based laptops, not so much. Lenovo is a solid unit, aside from the Chinese company who creates them, installing tracking malware in their firmware. : )

They have removed it, but I don't trust Lenovo.

Got this same problem with a clients laptop right now.

Uninstalling, WiFi device with or without removing the drivers does not work. I also tried another USB WiFi adapter and it still gives the same dreaded "Can't connect to this network."

New SSID with or without WEP or WPA does not fix it.

I'll let you know how I get it fixed if I can.

I have a hunch it is 1803's fault since that version also wipes out VPN connectivity.