Wi-Fi turns off on a Windows 8 laptop. Wi-Fi on a Windows laptop has disappeared. There is no Wi-Fi adapter in device manager. Hardware enablement of the Wi-Fi module of the laptop

Recently I began to notice that the more people buy different equipment with WiFi - routers, modems, access points, TVs, tablets, etc. - the more problems arise with the wireless network: the signal disappears or it is very low, the data transfer speed jumps or it is very low, devices periodically fall off and can no longer connect. There are many reasons why Wi-Fi turns off, and it can be either software settings or a hardware malfunction. In general, a wireless network itself is a very capricious thing, the stability of which depends on many factors and conditions. Today I will talk about the most common problems and failures that can cause poor reception or the WiFi signal disappearing altogether.

The WiFi signal suddenly disappeared

— the router shut down. Try rebooting it by turning off the power for a couple of minutes and turning it on again.

— If you have a laptop or tablet, check the battery charge. On many mobile devices, the Wi-Fi module can be forcibly disabled to save energy. Moreover, on laptops with Windows 8 and Windows 10, this option is often enabled in the adapter properties.

It is also worth checking the settings of the power supply circuit used.

— Approach the router at a distance of approximately 2 meters. No signal? Then for the test you need a known working device with a wireless network interface - a tablet, smartphone, telephone, etc. If it works without problems, but your laptop cannot connect, then most likely there is a problem with the adapter driver. Try reinstalling or updating it.

It didn’t help and WiFi still turns off on the laptop? Take it to the service center.
By the way, on laptops and tablets there is often a case when, due to poor contact, the antenna turns off during shaking. In this case, you need to open the case and solder it back.

If the test device also does not see the home network, then the problem is on the router’s side. Try resetting it to factory settings using the “Reset” button and setting it up again.

If it doesn’t help, take it in for repair.

Poor or unstable Wi-Fi signal level

The reason for the deterioration in the quality of a wireless home network is most often the presence of several more access points in the neighborhood. This is another common reason why Wi-Fi turns off. Lately in apartment buildings this has been some kind of punishment. Almost every apartment has a router and in every entrance there are a dozen or two networks. In this case, there are two options: the right one and the cheap one.
—Correct option, but more expensive. Why? But because you will have to buy equipment operating at a frequency of 5 GHz, fortunately now it is already relatively inexpensive. An inexpensive dual-band router will cost about 3 thousand rubles. For example, Totolink A2004NS router.

I think it’s clear that for a computer and laptop you will also need to buy additional adapters - that’s another couple of thousand. But with smartphones and tablets, things are worse - some already have support for the 5 GHz band, but simpler and cheaper ones will have to be left in the old range. But there will be no more problems with channel overlap and interference from neighbors.
— The cheap option is labor-intensive and hemorrhoid-intensive. Firstly, you will need to constantly scan the range with the inSSIDer program in search of a free channel, and then set it in the router settings.

Secondly, you will still have to drag most devices closer to the modem or router, since even if the selected channel is free, interference can come from busy neighboring ones. And there’s no getting around it. Just cover the house with 5 layers of foil.

I don't have networks in my neighborhood, but WiFi still turns off. Why?

In this case, the most common reason is the incorrect location of the access point in the apartment. To provide it with maximum coverage area, it must be located as close to the center of the home as possible. If you have points where Wi-Fi from the router still does not reach, then you need to install an additional device - a repeater.

The quality of the wireless network signal is greatly affected by:
- plasterboard (walls made of it or their finishing with plasterboard)
— reinforced concrete walls(reinforcement has a critical influence)
- water. Very often in houses or apartments they like to place a large, very large aquarium against the wall. After this, a pandemonium with the network may begin in the next room and the owner will be visited by the question “why is Wi-Fi turned off?!”
— electronic devices. If there are a lot of electronics (TVs, microwaves, radios) and the like in the space between the router and the computer (laptop, tablet, smartphone), then you will immediately notice a deterioration in the quality of work.

Don’t forget that the reason why WiFi turns off can be software or hardware. router malfunction.

In my memory, there is one case with the D-Link DIR-615 K2. The owner complained to me - “Wi-Fi is disappearing!” I checked the settings - everything is correct. But after some time the access point simply turns off. And through the LAN ports of the router everything works fine. The solution was a simple firmware update, after which the problem was successfully resolved.
Another case was with a device from QTech, where when it fell from a table, the contact of the internal antenna fell off. The manufacturer regretted the solder. We opened it, soldered the antenna and WiFi does not disappear. Although, if you are not comfortable with a soldering iron, then if you suspect that Wi-Fi is disappearing due to a hardware malfunction, take the device to a service center.

Very often there are cases when Wi-Fi on a laptop turns off on its own. Now we will figure out why the Internet disappears via Wi-Fi and how to solve this problem. If you came to this page, then you most likely already have this problem. We connect our laptop to Wi-Fi, the Internet works, but sometimes it disappears. There is one important point here: Wi-Fi does not turn off completely, but simply goes into the status “No Internet access” or “Limited” (and a yellow exclamation mark appears). Well, the Internet doesn't work. Although, there are times when the computer is completely disconnected from the wireless network. This problem is not uncommon on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. So it doesn't matter what operating system is installed on your laptop.

As a rule, the Wi-Fi connection disappears periodically, or after waking up from sleep mode. There are times when the Internet stops working for a few seconds and then appears again. In any case, this creates a lot of inconvenience. You have to wait, reboot the laptop, downloading files, watching movies, etc. are interrupted.

Important point! We will look at solutions when the Internet turns off on only one laptop. That is, other devices that are connected to your router continue to work normally. If the Internet disappears on all devices, both via Wi-Fi and via cable, then this is already a problem with the Wi-Fi router, or some kind of problem with the Internet provider.

If you have a problem only on one computer, then now we will try to solve it.

Why does the Wi-Fi connection on my laptop disappear?

The main reasons for losing the connection to the router:

• There is interference on the channel on which your Wi-Fi network operates. Or, a weak wireless signal.
• Disabling the Wi-Fi adapter to save energy (Wi-Fi disappears when waking from sleep mode)
• Unstable operation of the Wi-Fi adapter driver.
• Problems with the router

I will show using Windows 7 as an example. If you have Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 and the Internet also disappears every 5 minutes (maybe more often or less often), then these tips will suit you. As for Windows 10, it is now full of problems with drivers. Therefore, if the connection in the “ten” is broken, I would first advise experimenting with the drivers of the wireless adapter and try to follow the recommendations from this article:.

Wi-Fi disconnects due to interference and weak signal

Our home wireless network operates on a specific channel. As a rule, there are many other neighboring networks within a radius that can cause interference. Interference may also come from other household appliances. And coupled with a not very stable wireless network signal, this can lead to a disconnection of the Internet on the laptop. A yellow exclamation mark "without internet access" may appear and work again after a while.

Also, disconnection can occur due to a poor signal when you move far from the router, and on the laptop, where the signal strength is displayed, one or two bars remain. In such cases, the connection may disappear altogether. If the Internet constantly cuts out in those rooms where the Wi-Fi network signal is weak, then we need to strengthen the signal of our network so that the connection is more stable. I wrote about this in the article: .

As for problems with interference, here you need to experiment with the channel on which your network operates. You can try using a special program to find the freest channel and set it in the router settings. Or, just set some static channel in the router settings. I described in detail how to do this in the instructions: If you already have a static channel, then set it to Auto.

This is what changing the channel looks like on a Tp-Link router:

Please note under what conditions the Internet connection occurs. This could be, for example, moving around the house, or only in certain places (rooms). Then it will be easier to find the cause and eliminate it.

What to do if the Internet disappears after waking up from sleep mode

This happens because Windows turns off the Wi-Fi adapter during sleep mode to save power. And when you exit sleep mode, the adapter can no longer work normally, and you need to restart the laptop. Also, problems are often observed when the laptop is running on battery power. We need to disable the wireless adapter from turning off, and set maximum performance when running on battery power and mains power.

Let's set up the power supply first. Press the keyboard shortcut Win+R. Copy the command control powercfg.cpl in the "Open" line and click on the button Ok.

A window with power plans will appear. I advise you to choose Balanced. Next, click next to this plan on the link Setting up a power plan.

Next we open Change advanced power settings. Looking for a section Wireless adapter settings, open it and install Maximum performance when operating from mains and battery. Click Apply And Ok.

We prohibit disabling the Wi-F adapter to save energy

Disabling the adapter will not save us a lot of electricity, but problems with its operation may appear. Therefore, you need to prevent Windows from turning off the adapter.

Click Win+R, copy the command mmc devmgmt.msc and press Ok.

Device Manager will open. Find and open the tab Network adapters. Then, right-click on the Wi-Fi adapter (its name should contain the words "Wi-Fi", "Wireless") and select Properties.

Go to the tab Power management, and uncheck the box Allow this device to turn off to save power. Click Ok.

We reboot the laptop and check how the Internet will work via Wi-Fi.

Internet may disappear due to driver problems

If the Wi-Fi adapter driver is outdated, or the wrong driver is installed, then a variety of problems with the wireless connection may appear. Open Device Manager like I showed above (press Win+R and execute the command mmc devmgmt.msc). Open the tab Network adapters. Find your wireless adapter (the name will include "Wi-Fi", 802.11n, or "Wireless"). There may be a yellow exclamation mark next to the adapter. This means that the device is not working properly.

Even if there is no warning icon, try updating the driver for this adapter. Perhaps this will solve the problem with Wi-Fi disconnecting. Just don't update through Device Manager. (the system will say that the update is not needed), and download the driver from the official website of your laptop manufacturer. Required for your model and your operating system. Download and install the driver. I wrote in more detail about driver installation in the article.

You can also try selecting one from already installed driver versions, removing the driver, or rolling back it. I described all these actions in more detail using Windows 10 as an example in a separate article:.

What to do if the Internet periodically disappears on all devices?

If your Internet connection disappears simultaneously on all connected devices, then the problem is already in the router. I wrote about this at the beginning of the article. On computers, the connection status becomes "no internet access".

And on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), the Internet simply stops working. And after such failures, you always need to reboot the router, only after that the Internet starts working again. Moreover, such interruptions usually happen at moments when the router is under heavy load: we are downloading something (especially from torrents), watch online videos, play online games, connect some other devices to Wi-Fi, etc. And basically, this problem occurs on inexpensive routers.

This is understandable, they simply cannot withstand the load and “fall”. Only a reboot saves. My friend has exactly the same (which is from the Kyivstar provider). After connecting the smartphone and laptop, everything works well. As soon as you turn on watching online video, after a while the Internet disappears.

What you can do:

• Connect the Internet without a router, directly to the computer, and check the operation. To eliminate interruptions on the provider's side.
• Update the router firmware, this often helps. We have instructions on our website for all popular router manufacturers.
• Disable torrent clients on devices (if there are any). They create a load due to which the Internet disappears.
• If you have Internet via a 3G/4G USB modem that is connected to a router, then such interruptions most likely occur on the provider’s side.
• Well, buying a more powerful router.

It seems like I didn't miss anything. Write in the comments how you managed to get rid of this problem.

The symptoms are described, so I’ll go straight to the cause of the problem: first, the fault was with the router provided by the provider. But on Windows 7 everything worked fine. The reason turned out to be at the intersection of the operating system and the router (or provider settings). After several calls to the provider's support service and specifying the Google DNS server (8.8.8.8) in the IP protocol settings, I was surprised to hear that one of my colleagues had approximately the same problem. And he found a solution with the help of Microsoft support. I am very grateful to him for this decision, and he advised the following: change the packet size (MTU - Maximum Transmission Unit) for WAN connections (PPP - Point-to-Point protocol) for Windows 8. The procedure and link to the Microsoft KB are below, but first Rather than go into technical details, I’ll write why not all users (but many) are affected by this problem:

1) Depends on the type of connection and equipment used by the provider

2) Router model - in most cases, the provider provides the router itself, the firmware on it is hardcoded, it may have problems detecting or transmitting packets of a different size

3) Windows 8 may have changed the default packet size used in previous versions (perhaps to support a new standard or router models or connection type), but older routers cannot handle them by default.

So the solution

To change the packet size for the PPP protocol, you can use the following Microsoft KB:

KB is designed for earlier versions of Windows, but my experience shows that it is more relevant than ever for Windows 8. The FixIt attached to KB will not work on Windows 8; it is designed for previous versions of the system.

In short: you need to edit the registry in the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NdisWan\Parameters

Go to the Parameters section, click on Edit in the top menu – Create – Section. We create a new section (not a registry key, but a section that will appear as a new folder in the registry) and call it Protocols.

Go to the Protocols folder, click on Edit in the top menu – New – Section. We create a new section (not a registry key, but a section that will appear as a new folder in the registry) and call it 0 (the number zero, not to be confused with the letter o). In this folder you need to create 3 registry keys:

ProtocolType, DWORD – value 800 (in hexadecimal notation, this is important)

PPPProtocolType, DWORD – 21 (in hexadecimal notation, this is important)

1500 is the default value for legacy Windows systems. When saving keys, the value will be shown in decimal, this is normal. The final setup looks like this:

Wireless technologies, including WI-FI, have long and deeply entered our lives. It is difficult to imagine a modern home in which people do not use several mobile devices connected to one access point. In this state of affairs, situations often arise when Wi-Fi turns off “in the most interesting place,” which causes a certain discomfort. The information presented in this article will help solve this problem.

The wireless connection can drop for a variety of reasons and under different conditions. Most often, Wi-Fi disappears when the laptop wakes from sleep mode. There are situations where communication is interrupted during work, and, in most cases, a reboot of the laptop or router is required to restore the connection.

There are several reasons why such failures occur:

• Obstacles in the signal path or significant distance from the access point.
• Possible interference in the router channel that includes the home wireless network.
• Incorrect power plan settings (in the case of sleep mode).
• Problems with the WI-FI router.

Reason 1: Remote access point and obstacles

It was not in vain that we started with this reason, since it is precisely this that often leads to the device being disconnected from the network. Walls, especially solid ones, act as obstacles in an apartment. If only two divisions (or even one) are displayed on the signal scale, this is our case. Under such conditions, temporary disconnects may occur with all the consequences - download interruptions, video stops, and others. The same behavior can be observed when moving a long distance from the router.

In this situation, you can do the following:

• If possible, switch the network to 802.11n in the router settings. This will increase the coverage range as well as the data transfer speed. The problem is that not all devices can operate in this mode.
• Purchase a device that can function as a repeater (repeater or simply “extender” of a WI-FI signal) and place it in an area of ​​poor coverage.
• Move closer to the router or replace it with a more powerful model.

Reason 2: Interference

Interference on the channel may be caused by neighboring wireless networks and some electrical appliances. If the signal from the router is unstable, they often lead to connection interruptions. There are two possible solutions:

Reason 3: Energy Saving Settings

If you have a powerful router, all the settings are made correctly, the signal is stable, but the laptop loses the network when exiting sleep mode, then the problem lies in the Windows power plan settings. The system simply turns off the adapter during sleep and forgets to turn it back on. To eliminate this problem, you need to perform a number of actions.

1. Let's go to "Control Panel". This can be done by calling the menu "Run" keyboard shortcut Win+R and entering the command

   

2. Next, we set the elements to be displayed in the form of small icons and select the appropriate applet.

   

3. Then follow the link "Setting up a power plan" opposite the activated mode.

   

4. Here we need a link with a name "Change advanced power settings".

   

5. In the window that opens, open one by one "Wireless adapter settings" And "Power Saving Mode". Select a value from the drop-down list "Maximum performance".

   

6. Additionally, you need to completely prohibit the system from turning off the adapter in order to avoid additional problems. This is done in "Device Manager".

   

7. Select our device in the branch "Network adapters" and move on to its properties.

   

8. Next, on the power management tab, uncheck the box next to the item that allows you to turn off the device to save energy, and click OK.

   

9. After the manipulations have been completed, the laptop should be rebooted.

These settings allow you to keep the wireless adapter always on. Don't worry, it consumes very little electricity.

Reason 4: Problems with the router

Such problems are quite easy to identify: communication is lost on all devices at once and only rebooting the router helps. This occurs due to exceeding the maximum load on it. There are two options: either reduce the load or purchase a more powerful device.

The same symptoms can be observed in cases where the provider forcibly resets the connection when there is increased load on the network, especially if 3G or 4G (mobile Internet) is used. It’s difficult to advise anything here, other than to minimize the work of torrents, since they are the ones that create the maximum traffic.

Conclusion

As you can see, problems with turning off WI-FI on a laptop are not serious. All you need to do is make the necessary settings. If your network has a lot of traffic consumers, or a large number of premises, you need to think about buying a repeater or a more powerful router.

Connecting a laptop to a wireless, Wi-Fi, network does not always go smoothly. If you're having problems, check out the step-by-step instructions to help you troubleshoot. We recommend not to ignore this or that action, but to perform everything sequentially, as in the article.

Diagnosing the source of the problem

To determine the source, connect your iPad, smartphone, computer (any other device) to a Wi-Fi network. If the connection on any of the devices is successful, the conclusions are obvious - the problem lies in the laptop. And if you fail to connect via a wireless network, as in the first option, it means that the router is not configured properly. We will consider both cases separately. So, what to do if the problem is in the laptop?

Hardware enablement of the Wi-Fi module of the laptop

To solve it, the first thing you need to do is check the status of the wireless adapter of the “problem” device. It may be disabled, and therefore the Wi-Fi network does not work on this device. The adapter is connected with a specific set of buttons and shows operation using a light indicator.

To connect the wireless network module, a specific key combination is required. Any combination begins with the Fn modifier key, to which one of the functional keys is added - F1-F12. If you look closely at the function keys, you will see a wireless, wi-fi, network icon.

Acer laptops differ from more modern models in that they turn on the wireless network module using a special two-position switch. If you have a laptop from this company, you will most likely find this switch on the side. In the screenshots below we showed how the Wi-Fi adapter is turned off or on on laptops from different manufacturers.

Acer: Fn+F3

Software enablement of laptop Wi-Fi module

If you have Windows version 7 operating system, follow these steps::

Step one To enable the Wi-Fi module, go to the “Network and Sharing Center” section (where the time is shown).

Step two On the left, click on “Change network module parameters”.

Installing/reinstalling drivers for the Wi-Fi module

Important information! If in “Network adapters” you do not find the name of the wireless module installed on the laptop, it means there are no drivers. Download them from disk or find them on the official website of the manufacturer.

Troubleshooting connection problems in the router

What to do if the problems lie in the router settings? We cannot consider each individual case, since there are a sufficient number of routers and software (firmware) installed on them. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to only general tips that will hopefully help you solve the problem with connecting to a wireless, Wi-Fi, network.

1. Place the router next to the computer.
2. Check if the wireless network adapter is turned on (if the indicator light is on).

• Is the wireless network module turned on?
• Is the broadcast channel enabled in the Service Set Identifier?
• Check to see if your laptop's unique identifier (its MAC address) is on the blacklist.

After performing the operating system diagnostics described in this article, you should solve the problem of connecting Wi-Fi on your laptop.