Problem with wireless network card

[Duckula]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a TP-LINK TL-WN350GD wireless network card, inserted it into a PCI-E slot and installed the drivers, but can't seem to get it to work. It appears in Device Manager as 'Atheros AR5007G Wireless Network Adapter' and apparently 'this device is working properly', but infuriatingly it won't detect any wireless networks. I've tried using the drivers that Windows 7 installed automatically and also the drivers that came on the disk with it, but all to no avail. When I troubleshoot the card, I get the message that 'there might be a problem with the driver for the Wireless Network Connection 2 adapter', but this is all I can find. It's especially irritating as I picked the (admittedly lower-end) card because it's definitely compatible with Windows 7 (I already tried one which wasn't).

My PC has Windows 7 64-bit, has an AMD Athlon 4600 dual core CPU and 2 gigs of RAM. I can give more detailed information if you need it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[wilywombat]

Hi Duckula, welcome to sevenforums. You need to give us a bit more info such as router type and how you have it configured.

 

[Duckula]

Hi Duckula, welcome to sevenforums. You need to give us a bit more info such as router type and how you have it configured.

Thanks for the reply. My router is a D-Link DIR-615, but I don't know what you mean by how it's configured. Is there something I can copy and paste from some command/program that can provide you with more info on the configuration?

Thanks.

 

[wilywombat]

Did you buy the router new or secondhand? Either way you need to follow the setup exactly as in the manual. If you don't have a copy, go here:- ftp://ftp.dlink.co.uk/dir_products/dir-615/DIR-615_Manual.pdf and download a copy. You will need to get the setup settings from your Internet Service Provider(ISP) and put them in at the correct places according to the setup.

 

[Duckula]

Did you buy the router new or secondhand? Either way you need to follow the setup exactly as in the manual. If you don't have a copy, go here:- ftp://ftp.dlink.co.uk/dir_products/dir-615/DIR-615_Manual.pdf and download a copy. You will need to get the setup settings from your Internet Service Provider(ISP) and put them in at the correct places according to the setup.

We bought the router new a few months ago, but I don't think that the router's the problem, as other machines, e.g. my laptop, can easily connect to the network without any problems.

 

[DeaconFrost]

How is the router configured refers to how your wireless network is configured...what type of security, passcode, etc.

 

[Duckula]

How is the router configured refers to how your wireless network is configured...what type of security, passcode, etc.

The network works fine. We do have a passcode on it, but surely if that were the issue then it would at least appear when I search for networks?

 

[wilywombat]

You could try going to control panel/system/device manager and delete the network card and reboot. The system should then "discover the network card and then try and set it up from scratch.

 

[Duckula]

You could try going to control panel/system/device manager and delete the network card and reboot. The system should then "discover the network card and then try and set it up from scratch.

I just tried that, and it rediscovered the card and installed some drivers, but it still won't detect any networks. It's odd, as I tried my father's wireless card and it worked almost straight away, but annoyingly he wanted his card back, and so I ordered this card, and I can't seem to get it to work. Any other ideas?

 

[alphanumeric]

Try that card in another PC. It doesn't happen very often but you may have gotten a dud right out of the box. If I couldn't get it to work in another PC I think I'd return it as defective.

 

[Duckula]

Try that card in another PC. It doesn't happen very often but you may have gotten a dud right out of the box. If I couldn't get it to work in another PC I think I'd return it as defective.

Okay, I tried it in another PC and had basically the same problem, so I returned it and got an upgraded version, the TL-WN851N, but I still have the same problem! What could be causing this? It says that it's working fine in Device Manager, but still just doesn't pick up any networks.

 

[alphanumeric]

My Guess is one of the other WIFI utilities turned off a service that is required for the Windows Built in WIFI utility to work. I don't have a wireless adapter on this PC at the moment so I'm not sure if I'd see all of them in my services. Look for anything that may be related to wireless, like Wired AutoConfig. If they are not started start them. Just type services in the start menu search box.

 

[Duckula]

My Guess is one of the other WIFI utilities turned off a service that is required for the Windows Built in WIFI utility to work. I don't have a wireless adapter on this PC at the moment so I'm not sure if I'd see all of them in my services. Look for anything that may be related to wireless, like Wired AutoConfig. If they are not started start them. Just type services in the start menu search box.

Hmmm, I started any processes that vaguely resembled anything internet-related, but it made no difference. Any other suggestions?

 

[Anthony]

Did you install the software and driver for the card or just the driver?

 

[Duckula]

Did you install the software and driver for the card or just the driver?

Just the driver, because if you're using Vista or Windows 7, it doesn't actually let you install the software.

 

[Britton30]

Just a shot in the dark. Take the WiFi adapter out, go to Device Manager and UNinstall/delete drivers. Reboot with the adapter removed. When fully booted plug it back in and see if it gets recognized.

 

[static1120]

Check what networks the wireless card can read, some wireless cards only read wireless G which is the most common and others read G/B networks but if you have a Wireless N router, your wireless card will not be able to connect to that network

 

[Britton30]

Check what networks the wireless card can read, some wireless cards only read wireless G which is the most common and others read G/B networks but if you have a Wireless N router, your wireless card will not be able to connect to that network

Good point and overlooked. Thanks.

 

[alphanumeric]

The card he has now is a TL-WN851N and supports N networks. I'm not 100% percent sure but I believe that all wireless networks in rang will show up even if you only have a G adapter. The only ones you wouldn't see would be N networks on the 5 GHz band or networks with the SSID hidden. He's not seeing any networks at all in his available networks list. Somethings messed up, but I am at a loss as to what it is. I hate to say it, but if it was me, I think I would start over with a clean slate and do a clean install. I might even take the card out until I have windows all setup again and create a restore point before I install it. Sometimes the more you try to fix something the worse it gets.

 

[wilywombat]

Personnaly, I would take the card out and uninstall any software from either of the cards and then start over again with the installation of the software for the new card.