Wireless Connectivity disappeared off Laptop.

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Wireless Connectivity disappeared off Laptop.

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#16208 29-Sep-2007 12:13

My computer was working fine connecting from a TelstraClear cable modem to a Belkin Wireless G router then connecting through to my compaq Laptop.

I then decided to bring it downstairs into the lounge with me, after that it appears the wireless connectivity on my computer has completely disappeared.

The bluetooth works fine, these is NO option for a wireless connection or to search for a wireless network.

I have restarted the computer, done a system restore, called Harvey norman - who were so rude I eventually hung up. and i spoke to another technician who advised it appears my wireless drivers have disapeared.

Anybody have any info or suggestions or remedies??

Thanks in advance

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Seriuously...........huh?

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115 posts

Master Geek

#88642 29-Sep-2007 14:54

I went ontp the COmpaq website and downloaded the broadcom wireless LAN driver and run it on the laptop and it still hasn't helped.

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Seriuously...........huh?

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foobar

186 posts

Master Geek

#88643 29-Sep-2007 15:25

Don't know which OS you are running, but if your current OS doesn't give you any more options to trouble shoot this problem, and if you want to make sure it's not a hardware issue, I would recommend trying a different OS to see what happens.

If you are running Windows, you might be inclined to boot into Linux and see what it can discover. You can boot from a LiveCD, so that your current Windows installation doesn't get touched in any way.

I found that for me the WiFi worked very well and out of the box on Ubuntu, so I would recommend downloading Ubuntu 7.04 and see if you can get a signal again. You can get it from here: http://www.ubuntulinux.org/

Burn the ISO to a CD, insert and reboot. After the boot into Linux is completed, you should see an icon for wireless connections somewhere towards the upper right corner...

Sure, that's a slightly bigger download (one CD full), but at least you will have some certainty.

The blog: foobar on computers, software and the rest of the world: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/foobar

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#88908 1-Oct-2007 13:38

Thanks for the reply - but that is a little advanced for my computer experience.

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Seriuously...........huh?

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JonC

425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#88927 1-Oct-2007 16:15

Because restarts haven't helped, maybe the wireless is physically turned off? On my Dell laptop, I think itt's Fn-F2 or something like that that turns the wireless on/off. The other thing to try out is to go into the BIOS (hit F2 or something similar when booting up) and check to make sure it's turned on there.

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#88969 1-Oct-2007 20:10

I have a physical switch that turns the wirless/bluetooth on and off and it wont work but i will check to see if its turned on wheni reboot

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Seriuously...........huh?

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DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#90558 10-Oct-2007 22:20

Still no luck......anymore suggestions?

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Seriuously...........huh?

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HP

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JonC

425 posts

Ultimate Geek

#90581 11-Oct-2007 07:40

Try finding out what type of wireless card it is (check your purchase invoice, or ask Harvey Norman), then find the driver for it on the internet (or on a CD that came with the computer) and re-install it.

riahon

946 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#90583 11-Oct-2007 07:54

So I take it you had wireless connection successfully before you took it downstairs but even when if you the laptop back upstairs there is still no connection.
On my compaq when the switch is activated a 'blue' light indicates wireless is on while a 'orange' light indicates off.
Are you sure that the wireless router still has the wireless turned on?

Panq

42 posts

Geek

#90588 11-Oct-2007 08:29

Does either the wireless card or "Unknown Device" show up in Device Manager (Start => Run => "devmgmt.msc" in XP, probably the same or similar in Vista)? Should be under Network Adaptors.

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#90762 11-Oct-2007 23:28

I have checked in the drivers and there is nothing there, and I have re-installed the Broadcom Network Adapters Driver and the Broadcom Wireless Lan drivers, from the Application and Driver recovery section on my comp and also tried from the Compaq website.

It was connected wirelessly upstairs and the router was downstairs, so I picked up the laptop, did not close it or anything and just carried downstairs about a metre from the router, and it was gone,

The Wireless switch which normally switches on the Bluetooth and wireless now only turns on the Bluetooth and there is no longer ANY option on the computer for any wireless activity.

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Seriuously...........huh?

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richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10208

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90767 12-Oct-2007 00:09

This happened on a friends HP laptop - cant recall the number but its that little widescreen one that everybody has that has a remote that pops into the cardbus slot on the side. Just the wifi card disappeared one day. Was still in there.

Was under warranty so it was just a trip to datacom (I think) and it came back working.

Never seen it before, and since it still had warranty he didn't want to go trying the minipci card in another machine incase they can tell its being out somehow.

Richard rich.ms

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lky

1 post

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#91535 18-Oct-2007 15:23

Okay, I'm new to this site. I was just googling my way to find a solution for an issue on my Compaq V3000 series laptop which I bought about a year ago (which in fact I don't think it's even one year full). And what problem did I encounter? The exact same problem as Mr DonkeyKong here... Though not that I brought my laptop to another floor but I did something on my laptop before this really happens (in which my wireless device simply... disappeared).

What I did was installing a supposed-to-be freaking awesome XP transformation thingy which converts (transforms) the very boring-looking Windows XP into Microsoft's latest OS's layout/look (indeed, everything, from logon screen to icons to toolbars to sounds, your whole OS simply got Vista'lized and would fools anyone rather than the owner itself), that software was Vista Transformation Pack 7.0 (I think some of you might know what it is as it has made quite a fuzz out there). I was really amazed by it and it was really cool (yep it is) but it was just before I suddenly realized that I can't use my wireless anymore... There is a switch on my laptop as Mr. DonkeyKong's (I think we are of the same model, it's a design which HP interpret on its recent line-up of Compaq laptops... They all have a dedicated switch for Bluetooth and WiFi altogether). When I turned on that switch, like usual the light changed from orange to blue (which indicates that it's turned on), but to my surprise the notification popup near my taskbar only indicates that Bluetooth has been turned on, and the supposingly there WiFi is no where to be seen.

I've even check my Network Connection and to my horror again, it was no where to be found (the wireless connection is supposed to be there even if that switch is not turned on). Checked the Device Manager, NOTHING. While cursing my way to grab my long sealed Windows XP disc I reformatted my laptop, having in thought that it'd be solved.

Guess what, after all the effort (backing up, reformatting, and REINSTALLING ALL THE GENUINE DRIVERS for my laptop including WiFi's), NOTHING! Still, my wireless device is no where to be seen. That usual popup notification window still show no sign of my WiFi, only Bluetooth. I was like... WTF. Now what should I do (T_T). Do you guys think that there is a system flaw in Compaq's new line-up???

By the way, I accessed my BIOS setup and see the usual settings but WiFi, it's not even there... Please help T.T

-Shack

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#94368 8-Nov-2007 22:47

Yep I spoke to the HP tech team who said I need to send it in for repairs - it looks like the wireless hardware has failed.

We went through all the troubleshooting but still no luck.

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Seriuously...........huh?

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leck

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#94601 10-Nov-2007 20:48

hi,

i bought a v3000 about 9 months ago.. and it was a good cpu.

untill the exact same thing happened yesterday..

really stressing..

can anyone shed some more light on the problem?

it sounds as if im going to need to send it awayy..

Arrrgggh!

manchesten

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#94764 12-Nov-2007 08:44

I have a compaq presario v6000 with the same problem that donkey kong and leck describe, only intermittently (that is, on some days, after a reboot) the blue light will come on and the wireless will return. The HP tech guy said other people had the same problem. I'm beginning to think that they've screwed up the whole series and that we will have to send our laptops in.

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