Laptop wrongly thinks there are "no connections available"

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  1. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
       #1

    Laptop wrongly thinks there are "no connections available"


    Until today, the wife's laptop had been connecting flawlessly to the wireless router and also showing multiple SSIDs of our neighbors. Then this morning, nothing. Did some fiddling and enabling/disabling the wireless adapter and then it worked for a short time. Now nothing again. It just says "no connections available" on the tray icon. At one point I was able to see our SSID, but without being able to connect to it. I'm not an expert, but this seems like a hardware issue, although I hope not.

    Background: (1) the laptop connects to the internet with a wired connection (I'm using that connection right now); (2) my macbook, printer, and apple tv all connect fine to the wireless network; (3) the laptop shows "no connections available" but the macbook still shows several of the neighbors' SSIDs.

    For these reasons, I conclude it must be a problem with the wireless adapter or wireless settings--hopefully not broken hardware--rather than a problem with the router.

    I have searched the internet and sevenforums and tried several things for the last couple hours:

    (1) restarting the router (multiple times)
    (2) restarting the computer (multiple times)
    (3) running the troubleshooting on windows
    (4) turning off and on the wireless with the physical switch on the keyboard
    (5) restarting the WLAN configuration service
    (6) turing off IPv6 (I've now turned it back on)

    I tried to do a system restore, but somehow that turned off. (There seems to be some problems with the settings there since when I tried to change the disc allocation for the restore, I got an error message)

    Also, the laptop runs quite hot. I guess I'm wondering if that could have contributed to a hardware failure.

    The adapter is an intel wifi link 5100 AGN. According to the device manager, it is working properly and does not need a new driver.

    The ipconfig info is here:

    Windows IP Configuration
    Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : STUDIO
    Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
    Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
    IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
    WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
    Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
    Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
    Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
    DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
    Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
    Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
    Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
    Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-26-B9-0A-9C-24
    DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
    Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
    Tunnel adapter isatap.{D1E4F85E-447C-443D-865D-2B0CC6C70C3D}:
    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
    Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
    DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
    Tunnel adapter isatap.home:
    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
    Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
    Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
    DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
    Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
    Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
    Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
    Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
    Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
    DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes



    I have no idea what these "tunnel" adapters are.

    I'm hoping to be able to fix these problems with the help of the experts here. But I would like to know if this problem could be fixed by buying an add-on usb adapter or if it is likely that there is something in the settings that would continue to malfunction.

    I would most appreciate help on this, as we cannot afford a new laptop right now!

    Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #2

    One more thing I already tried

    (7) I ran a full virus scan (Windows Security Essentials)
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 483
    Windows 8 64 bit PRO
       #3

    I sadly am not an expert in networking, i wish i was though. However I have a tip that may work.
    I need more information about the laptop though. Model and manufacture, my idea is to download the wireless drivers and save it to the desktop. Uninstalled the wireless drivers and restart. After we restart it's time to reinstall the driver.

    I search what the tunneling thing is here is what i found
    windows 7 - What is the Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface? - Super User
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Laptop is a dell studio 1555.

    One thing I also tried is to update the driver for the adapter through the Intel website. When I did that, the Device Manager said the adapter was not working at all. So then I did a rollback.

    I found a file on the Dell website called R246753.exe (24MB) which they say applies to Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100

    I am a bit hesitant to uninstall the current driver, though.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 483
    Windows 8 64 bit PRO
       #5

    I can't force you to try or attemp anything after all it is your system and your computer. However if you call up dell and tell them that your wireless isn't working and it wont detect any wireless SSID, they will very likely ask you to attemp my advice.

    A very safe way to do is to save it to the desktop, then uninstall/delete the wireless driver restart and reinstall.

    I have an idea though, How about you call Dell and your ISP provider. Try those options if they do not help you and you have nowhere else to go, you come back here and we can work together to try and solve this issue.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    OK, I uninstalled and then opened the aforementioned .exe file.

    After unzipping things, I get the message: "The software package cannot be installed on your system. The setup application will close."

    Now I'm a bit worried.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Decided to go to the Intel website and get the drive from there.

    Downloaded this file to desktop: Wireless_15.1.1_Ds64.exe

    When I open, I get the error window:

    Device driver software was not successfully installed
    Please consult with your device manufacturer for assistance getting this device installed.
    Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN X Failed
    Still worried.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Now more strange things are happenning.

    Decided to reboot and try installing the drivers again, but I got the same error messages. BUT: Now the wireless icon was picking up several SSIDs and prompted me for the password to our SSID. But the connection failed even though I'm pretty sure I got the password right.

    I opted for the network trouble shooter, and after that the adapter was no longer detecting any SSIDs at all. Now the device manager has the yellow exclamation triangle says that "The device cannot start (Code 10)."

    The Intel Driver Update Utility says that the driver is now up to date with versioon 14.3.2.1. This is odd since the one I downloaded manually was 15.1.1.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #9

    Have you tried updating from within the device manager?

    Start
    Control Panel
    Hardware and Sound
    Device Manager
    Network Adapters

    Right click you wireless adapter

    Properties
    Driver
    Update driver

    If that doesn't work, go Dell's site and enter the laptop's Service Tag (found on the bottom of the laptop) into the drivers and download section and find the latest driver's from Dell specific to that system.

    Update with that driver.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 39
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Thanks for jumping in . . .

    Yes, I tried those things already, but tried them again at your suggestion.

    1) Windows tells me my driver is up to date.
    2) The driver installer package from Dell I mentioned above is one that I got by allowing Dell to detect my service tag. That is the one that gives me the error message "The software package cannot be installed on your system."
      My Computer


 
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