I need tech support

[Tonkaman]

I’ll start this with a disclaimer that I am not tech savvy at all, thats the wife’s department. I know things are really screwed up when she is asking me to help figure it out!

The problem started 2 days ago when the Xfinity went out. When the internet service came back, all the devices in the house re-connected to Wi-Fi except one laptop. This one laptop does not see our network in the available list. However the laptop does see a dozen other networks from our hotspots, or neighbors Wi-Fi. I’m trying to understand why this one device (laptop) is having trouble. It can connect to our hotspot just fine, and seems to otherwise be behaving normal.

Is it a Wi-Fi problem or a laptop problem?

The modem/router is an Xfinity Gateway
The laptop is an ancient PC Laptops Dominator running windows 10 pro.

 

[mbryson]

I'd start with the laptop as the other devices are good to go. You probably just need to a) restart the computer, b) update the wifi driver c) delete the "wifi network" (SSID -- look up "forget this network" on the google) or d) take it to your friends at PC Laptops and have them fix it for you with their lifetime warranty

 

[Tonkaman]

Also, there seems to be “hidden network” but we can’t get it to connect to that either. She tried to enter the SSID from our router, but it don’t work.

Not sure what any of that means, but I figured it’s important 🤷‍♂️

 

[mbryson]

Also, there seems to be “hidden network” but we can’t get it to connect to that either. She tried to enter the SSID from our router, but it don’t work.

Not sure what any of that means, but I figured it’s important 🤷‍♂️

 

[Tonkaman]

You probably just need to a) restart the computer, b) update the wifi driver c) delete the "wifi network" (SSID -- look up "forget this network" on the google) or d) take it to your friends at PC Laptops and have them fix it for you with their lifetime warranty

Thanks for the quick reply

A- done
B- all options show up to date
C- it can’t forget our network because it doesn’t show in the list. Also the hidden network can’t be forgotten because we can’t connect to it.

D- I guess I could. The strange part is that it’s working fine other than this.

 

[mbryson]

Thanks for the quick reply

....D- I guess I could. The strange part is that it’s working fine other than this.

If it were a Dell, I'd be sort of helpful ? (I don't do a lot of diagnosing these days and I'm sure my guys roll their eyes at my old ways sometimes)

Being that you don't have internet access, I might delete the actual device (the wireless card whatever that might be) from the Device Manager. If it were a Dell (or probably an HP or a Lenovo or similar), you could go to the website and download the driver under the serial number of the unit. Being that you don't exactly know what wireless card is in the unit, I might skip that step and either call Totally Awesome PC Laptops or take it in? Supposedly they have lifetime tech support? My suspicion is that you'll get "upsold" with new gadgets in your old laptop? I have no idea of their business practices and such and maybe they won't do that?

I would bet that "hidden" network you mention is possibly what you'd want to delete? You may have to dig in the registry or similar to do that? Probably best left to someone that knows how to get in there and is familiar with things.

 

[Herzog]

We had a similar problem when the mother in law visited, her laptop couldn't find our wifi network while all others could. In the end, I figured that my access points were too new and the wifi card on the laptop was old and we couldn't find up to date drivers for it.

Your situation is different though, since it previously connected. Did something change with the wifi access point?

 

[Tonkaman]

We had a similar problem when the mother in law visited, her laptop couldn't find our wifi network while all others could. In the end, I figured that my access points were too new and the wifi card on the laptop was old and we couldn't find up to date drivers for it.

Your situation is different though, since it previously connected. Did something change with the wifi access point?

Nothing should be different. I was out of town, so I only know how she experienced it.

Funny thing is she said not everything lost WiFi connection and that the various devices came back online randomly over the next day. Luckily she was able to work off of a hotspot for a few hours until her work computer would connect again.

That’s why this whole thing feels very strange.

 

[Tonkaman]

If it were a Dell, I'd be sort of helpful ? (I don't do a lot of diagnosing these days and I'm sure my guys roll their eyes at my old ways sometimes)

Being that you don't have internet access, I might delete the actual device (the wireless card whatever that might be) from the Device Manager. If it were a Dell (or probably an HP or a Lenovo or similar), you could go to the website and download the driver under the serial number of the unit. Being that you don't exactly know what wireless card is in the unit, I might skip that step and either call Totally Awesome PC Laptops or take it in? Supposedly they have lifetime tech support? My suspicion is that you'll get "upsold" with new gadgets in your old laptop? I have no idea of their business practices and such and maybe they won't do that?

I would bet that "hidden" network you mention is possibly what you'd want to delete? You may have to dig in the registry or similar to do that? Probably best left to someone that knows how to get in there and is familiar with things.

Thanks. I guess She had the same thought process and couldn’t identify what driver we had.

I’ve taken it in to PC Laptops before. It’s always taken a couple weeks and ended up costing me money in the end.

 

[mbryson]

Thanks. I guess She had the same thought process and couldn’t identify what driver we had.

I’ve taken it in to PC Laptops before. It’s always taken a couple weeks and ended up costing me money in the end.

Grab a screen shot of the "device manager" in the network cards (something like that). Maybe we can help with finding a driver?

As @Herzog alludes to, maybe its old enough your latest update doesnt support the card any longer? I dont run stuff older than 4-5 years old

 

[Tonkaman]

I think you guys are in the right track that one of automatic updates just isn’t compatible with the old hardware anymore.

Is this screenshot what you’re thinking?

 

[mbryson]

RTL8188EE Software - REALTEK

www.realtek.com

Looking at this website, it looks like the last update for that device was in 2017? That's at least 75-80 years old in computer years. Without knowing if that's the correct driver for the hardware, I'm not sure if I'd move fwd with changing that out or not. I'd likely get with your buddies at PC Laptops and at least verify that's the correct driver for the device. If the computer is that old, I'd let that dawg die?

 

[Tonkaman]

RTL8188EE Software - REALTEK

www.realtek.com

Looking at this website, it looks like the last update for that device was in 2017? That's at least 75-80 years old in computer years. Without knowing if that's the correct driver for the hardware, I'm not sure if I'd move fwd with changing that out or not. I'd likely get with your buddies at PC Laptops and at least verify that's the correct driver for the device. If the computer is that old, I'd let that dawg die?

View attachment 167663

Dude you’re a cyber Jedi. Thanks for digging into this for me.

Man time flies. I know it’s old, but dang that’s old! 😆

 

[Stephen]

Does the laptop have an ethernet port, or do you have a USB-ethernet adapter? If so, can you plug into the router directly and does it get a network connection?
Are there multiple user accounts on the laptop? If so, does this happen on every account, or just one? If there is only one account, try creating a new one for testing.
Have you tried disabling and re-enabling the wireless? You can do this by right clicking on the Realtek RLT.... device in Device Manager and selecting "Disable". Wouldn't be a bad idea reboot the laptop and then Enable the device again.

 

[Tonkaman]

Does the laptop have an ethernet port, or do you have a USB-ethernet adapter? If so, can you plug into the router directly and does it get a network connection?
Are there multiple user accounts on the laptop? If so, does this happen on every account, or just one? If there is only one account, try creating a new one for testing.
Have you tried disabling and re-enabling the wireless? You can do this by right clicking on the Realtek RLT.... device in Device Manager and selecting "Disable". Wouldn't be a bad idea reboot the laptop and then Enable the device again.

Thanks for the help. She tried all of these steps and still got nothing.

The good news is she bought a cheap USB WiFi driver and it works that way. She’s back in business for now.

She uses this laptop for all of her crafting business stuff so it was full panic mode yesterday 😆

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[Stephen]

Thanks for the help. She tried all of these steps and still got nothing.

The good news is she bought a cheap USB WiFi driver and it works that way. She’s back in business for now.

She uses this laptop for all of her crafting business stuff so it was full panic mode yesterday 😆

Thanks everyone for your help!

Sounds like the driver or firmware for the internal WiFi card is bad. I bet a fresh install of Windows would resolve it.

 

[shortstraw8]

Try the steps from the first two comments on this community post
If that doesn't work I don't know cause Im not a windows guy or a fresh install, I like that idea.