Connect by Ethernet cable but not wirelessly?

Hi thai,

I’m sorry it didn’t stay fixed. The fact that it appeared to work for a longer time does point to a hardware problem (electronic component in the adapter going out), but we should exhaust all software options before making that conclusion.
The next steps involve the wireless adapter and the drivers that run it. Briefly what these steps do is reinitialize the adapter with default drivers and if that doesn’t work, upgrade the drivers to the latest version available. BEFORE we jump into that we need to look at the adapter and what drivers are currently in use and if the current drivers have been updated…..big clues as to what is going on. Thus the steps that follow should be followed in the order given.

Data Collection

With the wireless connection not working we will collect information from the Device Manager.
In the Start Menu search bar type in Device Manager and above it you will see Device Manager control app listed above. Click it to open the Device Manager.
In the list of devices find Network Adapters, click the > to expand the list of network adapters.
Locate the wireless adapter in the list, right click and select Properties to open the Properties window for the adapter.
In the General tab under Device status it should say This device is working properly. If it doesn’t say this, then let me know what it does say.
Now click the Drivers tab. Record down the Driver Provider, Driver date, and Driver version. On that same tab will be a button labeled Roll Back Driver. Is this button grayed out? If the button is not grayed out and appears active this means the driver has been updated since the device was first installed. If that button is active click the Diver Details button which will show the driver files and the location on the hard drive where the drivers are located. There will be several drivers listed but look for the files that end in .sys and note the location of where these files are (usually in Windows/System 32/drivers folder). Use File Explorer (must be set to show hidden and system files) to go to the file on your hard drive, right click and select properties. Look for date created. Is this date match when you first started having problems?

What does the info you collect mean?

The device not working properly means the device has trouble “talking” with Windows. This could be lost initialization or hardware problem. If the driver has been updated since first installed the updated driver could be causing the problems. Even if the device is working properly and the driver is the original driver the driver could have become corrupt and once corrupted it reloads the corruption thru the .dat file that goes with the driver. Also many users have reported loss of wireless connection after a Windows update that is corrected by reinstalling the adapter...update messes up the initialization of the adapter to Windows. Finally, an update and changes in Windows could be too much for the current driver and a new updated driver is needed.

Reinstall the adapter

Reinstalling the adapter can repair a lost initialization of the adapter or a corrupt current default driver.
Open Device Manager, locate the adapter and right click.
Select Uninstall (do not select disable as this will not reinitialize or remove the corrupt driver).
Shut the laptop down.
When you start the laptop again Windows will detect the adapter, install, and load the default driver for the adapter.
After reinstalling, check the performance and make sure it is set to Maximum performance.

If the problem still exists after the reinstall, then the only option left is to see if there is an updated driver for this device. An updated driver will have a higher version number. Most manufacturers of preloaded PCs have a web site. Look for Support at that web site. Many of these sites have a downloadable file that detects your PC and will search and install updated drivers. If you have problems with this, let me know.

If after all the above the problem still exists, then the only answer left is a hardware one; which can become expensive at a repair shop to fix or replace the adapter. The best and cheapest way if that is the case is to purchase an external USB wireless adapter. You can get these for $20 to $50.

Let me know what happens.

PS. My household is slowly recovering from the flu as both my wife and I got secondary bacterial infections and currently on antibiotics.