What to do if the computer does not search for wifi. The computer does not see the Wi-Fi adapter, and the adapter does not see the network. Trying to change the Wi-Fi driver

We all sooner or later encounter a problem when our device (computer, tablet, laptop, smartphone) for some reason does not see the wifi network. It seems like we connected correctly and configured everything, but there are no available connections. Let's look at possible options for correcting this situation.

Why doesn't my laptop/computer see the WiFi network?

Check if Wi-Fi is turned on on your laptop. On the work panel at the bottom near the language switching there is a corresponding icon (if the networks are not displayed when you click on it, then Wi-Fi is still turned off).
If this is not the reason, we will have to check the operation of some systems of our laptop ⁄ computer (suitable for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10).

Let's look at the possible reasons for the lack of network:

1. your device simply does not see any of the Wi-Fi networks (they are not displayed as available) - let's call it error 1;
2. your device sees neighboring Wi-Fi networks, but it doesn’t find yours - error 2.

• A hardware error (i.e. network card error) pops up. In this case, your device does not see the wireless WiFi adapter because it is either broken or there is a problem with its drivers.
• The network hardware driver is not installed (check the driver in the Device Manager tab, in the “Properties” folder). If necessary, install the driver or reinstall the software (from the disk or from the manufacturer’s website).
• The wireless connection is turned off (check in the Network Control Center in the Wireless network tab or the Wireless network connection tab).
• The Wi-Fi module does not work (in case of a malfunction, the module must be replaced).
• Software failure or other problems (this may require the help of a specialist).

System diagnostics

Why doesn't my Android smartphone see the WiFi network?

• You are out of range of the router (sometimes you just need to move around the room to find the network).
• An incorrect access password has been entered, network authentication (the problem can be solved by entering the correct password, taking into account the case, or by rebooting the smartphone).
• The router freezes (the problem can be solved by rebooting the router).
• Lack of support for router standards by the smartphone (see the instructions for the router).
• A large number of connected devices (in the router settings you need to find the number of devices with which it can work and remove unnecessary ones).
• Installing new applications (this situation is typical for some Android devices, try deleting the last saved programs).
• Incorrect router settings (exact settings are entered in the router menu).
• Broken router or smartphone.

Regular connection failures may indicate that the problem lies in the phone settings themselves. The solution may be a complete reset to factory settings. Typically, this will require you to go to Settings and open the Security tab. After rebooting the phone, try to find a new Wi-Fi network.

As you can see, there can be quite a few reasons for the lack of a Wi-Fi network, but the ones mentioned above are the most common and, in principle, should help.

All laptop owners, sooner or later, may encounter the fact that the laptop does not see wifi. The difficulty is, in principle, common, and some of the solutions will help any wireless network users. The article will give a complete answer to the question of what to do if the laptop does not see the wifi network. Let's consider what reasons can lead to such consequences, how to deal with the difficulty that has arisen, and the nuances of eliminating it on various platforms.

The case when the laptop does not see Wi-Fi networks at all

In such cases, when you turn it on, you do not detect wireless networks as such. In the “tray” (the space that, according to default settings, is located in the lower right corner and is presented as a line with notes), instead of the connection icon you will see a red cross. It is also possible that the icon will be standard, but the computer does not see Wi-Fi, and you are sure that there are wireless networks within the radius of the receiver (easy to check using a phone or other device with a Wi-Fi adapter). The difficulty is obvious, and in another case, you would have to call a specialist, but after reading this article you will be able to solve such a problem yourself.

Reasons

• The most common reason why a laptop does not see WiFi is that the laptop's wireless adapter is turned off. Often it is accidentally turned off manually, although there are cases when this happens due to the fault of the installed software. It can be turned off systemically, by a combination of buttons on the keyboard or in the wireless networks menu. It is also possible to physically turn it off using a button on the laptop body.
• A possible reason for the difficulty is the absence or incorrect installation of network card drivers, installation of the wrong version of software (Software) for the network card, or installation failure.
• The reason that the laptop has stopped seeing the network is the lack of active wireless networks within the range of the device.

Remedies

The case when the laptop does not see a specific network

The difficulty when your laptop does not see WiFi is also solved. Let’s say the device does not find the router’s network, but sees signals from a neighboring office or building without difficulty. This difficulty is puzzling, especially if you look for a solution in a laptop (the fault is not always located in the computer, sometimes it does not catch Wi-Fi due to third-party reasons).

Possible reasons

The reason that the laptop does not find a specific network is very often (in about 85% of cases) one. Due to the fact that wireless networks have become a very dense part of our lives, often in large cities there are about 10 Internet distributing routers per reception signal. Each new access point that appears is looking for a free range. In the settings of wireless networks, for the most part, automatic range search is set. When you turn on the laptop, it does not find WiFi because it accidentally tuned into the range of a neighboring WiFi connection.

Solving the problem

Nuances on Windows 10

• If your laptop with Windows 10 installed does not see Wi-Fi, try changing the network name along with the channel width (as written in the instructions above), or as this option was described in the “SSID” interface. Change the “Region” in the same settings window.
• One of the frequent difficulties on the “tens” is the drivers. Be sure to check them and reinstall them just in case. In this operating system, wireless adapters often fail due to incorrect operation of the drivers.

Friends!
Before thoroughly understanding the topic of why the computer does not see the laptop via WiFi, I want to note that the number of questions related to the fact that after all the settings made on the router, connection problems arise on some devices - they They see the network, connect, but cannot access the Internet or cannot access the shared folder on some other computer within the network.

Organization is a rather delicate matter and requires attention when setting up, because any extra enabled function on the router can completely undo all the manipulations made before, and for a beginner, looking for a small error in the huge admin panel of the router is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, treat this carefully and accurately follow all the instructions given in the articles on this blog.

The idea to write today’s post was inspired by one message from our reader. Here it is:

This is the case.
I have a router with wifi. Computers and laptops connected via LAN see each other, those connected via wifi see each other, but in general they all do not see each other, that is, from a device via wifi I cannot connect to a device connected to the network by cable, and vice versa.

I don't care about network security. I don't want to create a unique working group. I don’t want the hassle of passwords, so I don’t want to create a Home Group. I want access to be available with the settings that are there, because in theory it should be there.
The fact is that periodically, for reasons unknown to me, this access appears for some time (obviously before resetting the router session or rebooting the computers). I don't know why this access appears, how and why it is not between LAN and WLAN.

This is what I want to know. Windows 7 on all devices.

Why don't computers connected to the local network via cable see laptops connected via WiFi?

Cool question, in fact, which until now has remained on the sidelines. In general, this behavior is more typical when computers running different operating systems are running within the network, for example, Windows XP and Windows 7, due to the different Workgroup names that are assigned to them by default. The same problem can happen in this case.

Working group

All computers must have the same workgroups.

When I described how to connect two computers directly to each other, this is the first thing I talked about. You need to set the same workgroup on all computers. In order to do this on Windows 10, go to any folder, and then right-click on “This PC” in the left column and select “Properties”.

You need the “Computer name” tab.

Click the “Change” button and enter the workgroup name we need, which is set on all other computers on the local network. By default on all versions of Windows this value looks like WORKGROUP.

It is advisable to come up with your own to ensure safety. After that, save the settings and restart the computer.

On Windows 7 this happens in a similar way. The easiest way is to right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Properties”. In the window that opens, go to “Advanced system settings”.

Here we open the same “Computer name” tab and, just like in 10, enter the name of our workgroup, then save and reboot.

One subnet

In the router settings, the WLAN must have the same subnet as the LAN

Another common cause of the error when computers with a wireless connection do not see those connected to the router by cables is when the cable and wireless networks have a different subnet. That is, the router is configured in such a way that essentially these are two completely different networks - LAN and WLAN, which are not connected to each other in any way. Not all routers can work in this mode, but it happens, and can be used, for example, in a cafe, when you need to separate office devices from the laptops of vacationing visitors.

Firewall

Also for security reasons, any router has a firewall that blocks external connections. As a rule, it works on the WAN port, that is, it denies access from the Internet to your local network, but advanced models have settings for blocking access from a WiFi network (WLAN) to a cable network (LAN) or vice versa.

By the way, for the same reason the firewall works - when you activate various filters, you may not be able to display some elements of Internet pages, even though everything seems to be configured correctly on the computer itself.

Virtual network

Also, many router models have a function called “Virtual Network” - that is, emulation of another virtual access point of a wireless network from which there will be no access to the local network - again, it is convenient to turn on WiFi for clients waiting in the office without the ability to penetrate your main office network. If your computer is connected to this particular WiFi, then it will not be able to see other devices connected to the main WiFi network or cable network.

These are the explanations that can be found for the case cited by our reader. I hope these examples will help you solve your questions!

Thank you! Didn't help

It is difficult for a modern person to imagine his life without the Internet, and even wireless. But it happens that the laptop does not see the wifi network, why this happens and what to do then, let’s look into it in detail!

Why the laptop does not see the wifi network: possible problems and their solutions

Let's go from the most likely to the most difficult - by elimination. Let's get started.

Most common

So why doesn’t the laptop see the wifi network? This can happen due to the fact that there is no wireless Internet at all!

1. Let’s make sure that there is wireless Internet in the coverage area by using other devices: a tablet, smartphone, laptop or PC and check whether they see wifi on the laptop. If yes, we follow further, if not, then he does not see wifi.
   We found out that there is Internet, but the laptop does not see the Wi-Fi network, why - that means something is wrong with our device, as a rule, and here there are extremely banal solutions.
2. See if the adapter is turned on; as a rule, the indicator lights up on the keyboard:

• turned off - looks like the screenshot below.
  
• turn on with the keys, according to the device layout, + from to .
• after that the search for networks should begin with a notification in the tray and a yellow star near the antenna, see screenshot.
  
• if everything works and the laptop sees the Wi-Fi network – enjoy surfing, otherwise further
• Let's try to run troubleshooting - right click on the antenna → "Diagnosing problems"
  
  
  

• the procedure helps in most cases, otherwise we are looking for another reason why the laptop does not see wifi.

The driver is an important component!

We urge you not to forget that the driver is the link between the hardware and the OS. Without this talented negotiator, everything works quite crookedly or does not work at all - this may be the answer to the question - why the computer does not see the Wi-Fi network. Regardless of whether it is a laptop or a desktop PC, whether the adapter is connected externally or internally, the solution is common.

• In the taskbar you can see another icon - a crossed out monitor, see the screenshot.
  
  If Windows 7 or 8, follow:
• “Start” → right-click “Computer” → “Properties”
  
  
• " Device Manager"
  
  
• Expanding "Network adapters"→ we are looking for “Intel(R) Centrino”, “Atheros...” is also possible, etc.
  
  
  It should look like on the screenshot, without any marks
• if there are red or yellow symbols, right-click and select "Engage"– Most likely, a driver update will be required.

If Windows version 10, follow:

We see that the drivers are not installed:

• go to the manufacturer and download the appropriate drivers.
• install → restart system
• check, if it works, we’ll finish here, otherwise we’ll look for other reasons.

Let's adapt - adaptation!

There is such a word as adapter - this is the main opportunist in the name of the advent of the Internet, and if it is disabled, nothing will be visible!

Let's check if it is enabled:

Sees everything, but not what is needed!

Why doesn't the computer see my Wi-Fi network, but catches everyone else - and this happens. Here you already need to understand the router settings. Let's look at it visually on Asus models, and write it down with commands for the rest. First, connect to another available Internet - for example, you can distribute it from your phone.

Now, regarding TP-Link equipment:

What's in my name...?

One involuntarily recalls the words of the classic A.S. Pushkin. Do not think that this is a joke, sometimes there is an SSID conflict, your computer does not see Wi-Fi, but everyone else does. And believe it or not, it turns out that his change and Voila are enough!

We change it using the example of the Asus router with screenshots.