As of today all my network connections have disappeared (both LAN and WLAN).
A long list of exclamation marks in the device manager, all wan miniports, wifi and ethernet devices are not functioning.
Couldn't get them to go away by installing new drivers, so I tried a system restore point.
Now all network adapters are gone from the device manager except the PCIe adapter, which appears to be working.
However, still no network connections.
Any ideas?
Have you turned off and then turned on your computer?
Have you unplugged your modem and then reset it for 30 seconds?
Yes, both.
Call the provider, see if there are any outages in the area?
Have you tried reinstalling the drivers in safe mode? That worked for me when my USB ports went missing.
I've seen this exact scenario, and it can play out one of a couple ways.
Best case, something messed with your chipset drivers. Reinstall chipset drivers, then LAN drivers, then WLAN. If either the LAN or WLAN still come up with errors after reinstallation, you've got bigger problems and may need a new motherboard.
I plugged in an old WLAN adapter, it seems to work. That'll do for now, I'll look into it again when I've got more time.
Thanks guys.
Follow DSB's advice, but first, uninstall everything.
In fact, I'd uninstall any chipset/Lan/Wlan drivers you have, restart windows, reinstall Lan or wifi drivers from disc then download all the new drivers if you don't already have them.
Thanks, I'll try that when I find some time.
I'd like to have a full day in case it turns into a complete nightmare, it usually does when I start tinkering with stuff. :blush:
Quote from: Maladict on September 25, 2014, 03:34:34 PM
Thanks, I'll try that when I find some time.
I'd like to have a full day in case it turns into a complete nightmare, it usually does when I start tinkering with stuff. :blush:
If you have a working internet connection right now, then download everything you need first:
- Make sure you have a Windows DVD/USB nearby with your license key in case something goes horribly wrong
- Make sure you have all your drivers* on your hard drive. Not on a USB key, in case Windows does not recognize your USB ports without the driver...
*Drivers:
- chipset
- video card
- Lan
- Wifi
- Audio card
- Keyboard and mouse, if required
- Monitor, if required
- Any other device you have plugged
Thanks, that's sensible advice. I'll give it a shot next weekend.
I just got my home wifi setup in my new condo, and while working fine yesterday and today, it is pretty well dead today.
My theory: As my laptop can seem to pickup around 20+ wifi signals, I assume interference is killing me dead and I'll have to go out and see if a dual-band router will solve it.
Anyone willing to confirm my theory, or is it crap? And if so, any specific router recommendations? :P
Try changing your router channel.
Quote from: Tonitrus on October 04, 2014, 11:37:03 PM
I just got my home wifi setup in my new condo, and while working fine yesterday and today, it is pretty well dead today.
My theory: As my laptop can seem to pickup around 20+ wifi signals, I assume interference is killing me dead and I'll have to go out and see if a dual-band router will solve it.
Anyone willing to confirm my theory, or is it crap? And if so, any specific router recommendations? :P
I have 20+ connections too and my laptop's signal is the same no matter if my router is set to dual band or just one.
Quote from: Maladict on October 05, 2014, 10:58:18 AM
Try changing your router channel.
Tried changing the channel, never helped.
Every time I go into the router settings and essentially reset everything, it will work for about 30 seconds and then go to crap. My other devices will say they can connect to it, but then the internet won't work (it works when I connect directly with a network cable, so the internet is fine). But after that, no devices can connect at all, even though the router is still visible.
I am moving towards the theory that my router is just an old POS that has finally given up the ghost (it's a Cisco/Linksys WRT54G2). :P
Just set it up again now, and it seems to be working fine. :hmm:
Since the trouble just started up last evening (when more people would be home, upping wifi network traffic), it has to be wifi inference/signal overload/channel traffic, or something like that....right? :unsure:
Ok, just kidding. After 5 minutes it went to crap again. The wifi network still shows up, but no devices can connect to it. :wacko:
That kinda trashes the network traffic idea unless everyone just started blowing it out in the last 5.
I powered the router up again after most of the day off...it worked fine for about 5 minutes, then crapped out. I got some wifi monitoring software, and had made sure it was on a channel none of the other networks were using, but still no good.
At this point, I am going to try a newer router (this is just an old 802.11g), and see if that will fix it. I'll probably try an Apple Airport Express. :snob: :P
Quote from: Tonitrus on October 05, 2014, 07:22:35 PM
I powered the router up again after most of the day off...it worked fine for about 5 minutes, then crapped out. I got some wifi monitoring software, and had made sure it was on a channel none of the other networks were using, but still no good.
At this point, I am going to try a newer router (this is just an old 802.11g), and see if that will fix it. I'll probably try an Apple Airport Express. :snob: :P
That's actually likely. Newer devices are going to be programmed more to use Wireless-N, Wireless-A, or Wireless-AC. They'll mostly keep G support just for legacy purposes, but not really optimize the drivers very well, since they're not expecting most users to be using a G router for almost all the time.
Weird.
So after going out to run some errands (I had the router unplugged again), I plug it back in and it starts running just fine...can connect with my Macbook and iPad, no problems.
One of the frustrating parts of this process, is that it always seemed to die when I start up my desktop PC and try to connect. So after it seems to be working fine for 10-ish minutes, I go over to the PC, boot it up, it connects to the internet and works...for about 5 seconds. Then all connected devices lose connection and it dies again. :hmm:
Either I am now paranoid, or some how the PC accessing the wifi connection kills it dead...but I have no idea how it would/could do that.
And doing a little isolation test...running just fine with only the Macbook and iPad for some time now.
Dunno how trying to connect my PC kills it for all devices (the first night I set it all up last week, the PC connected and worked just fine). :wacko:
Maybe you might want to try finding a generic driver for your PC's WLAN adapter. Normally, I advise using the one provided by the company, but it's starting to sound to me like a bad driver is flooding the network with bad packets.
When you pulled up the wireless monitoring software, did you get a count of packet retrys/resends? If it's sending enough bad data, it could flood the network with the resends, bogging you down and ending up with what you're describing.
It ended up dying again without using the PC, so I'll likely pick up a new router anyway. :P