Wifi won't turn on/scan

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

i've just repasted my Dell XPS 13 (9310) as it gets super hot and thought that might help.

I've put it back together and now wifi seems to be broken. The device is there in device manager, I have latest drivers from Dell (same ones that worked before repasting). Now I go to wifi, turn it on and it just says Not available. It doesn't scan or find anything. I've tried uninstalling the device and reinstalling the drivers but nothing seems to be working.

I open the wifi panel from the bottom right, toggle it to on, it immediately flips back to off. I do it again and it appears to remain on but nothing happens

kelper · Apr 11, 2023

You may have dislodged or broken the antenna or a wire connected to the wifi card. Can you find and reseat any wires or cables? All is not lost as wifi USB dongles are small and cheap. You can probably buy a new wifi card for your Dell - it may be generic.

If you still think it is Windows problem, try running Ubuntu or Mint off a bootable USB stick. I done this a few times to determine if the hardware is working.

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

I took it back apart and couldn't see anything obviously out of place. I didn't go anywhere near that when I was working so it would be unfortunate if I had damaged it.
In the BIOS it says Wi-Fi Device {None}, BUT in Device Manager it says

PCI bus 113, device 0, function 0

and in Event Viewer under WLAN Auto-Config it says

Wireless security succeeded.

Network Adapter: Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX500-DBS Wireless Network Adapter
Interface GUID: {d5defc62-b4f4-4998-be5c-3cd4ac0ea0bc}
Local MAC Address: XXXXXXX
Network SSID: XXXXXXX
BSS Type: Infrastructure

How is Wireless security succeeding if it's not connecting to anything? This is so weird. I did have issues the other week where the entire thing disappeared from Device Manager, took it apart to check to see if it was soldered on or I could replace it (it is soldered), put it back together, then came back to it in the morning and it was working fine.

My next plan was to partition and install Windows on there but could also try a live USB

kelper · Apr 11, 2023

Why not try what I suggested?????

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

That's what I am going to do.

kelper · Apr 11, 2023

You can run Ubuntu off the USB, no need to install.

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

Ubuntu says no WiFi adpater found

kelper · Apr 11, 2023

Bummer. That suggests, but does not prove, that the wifi card is in a non-functional state. Wait for wiser words from the old hands.

glasskuter · Apr 11, 2023

Just as Kelper suggested, buy a dongle. About 10 bucks (or less) depending on where you buy one. I have 3 devices in my house running off of a usb wifi adapter(ie dongle). Any brand should work, but all I've ever personally used are TPlink and Cudy brands. Any electronics store, Walmart, or Amazon have them. They look like a cordless mouse receiver/

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

Only got two usb c ports on here. One for charging, another for WiFi, doesn't leave any for anything else.

glasskuter · Apr 11, 2023

You can also get a usb-C wifi adapter, but if it were me I'd buy a usb-c to usb 3.0 hub to expand your usb ports and then a cheap usb 3.0 wifi adapter. That's the route I would go. You get usb ports and a working wifi.

Also, Look around in device manager. See if you see an "unknown device". If you do, it's probably your wifi adapter and it would indicate the laptop sees the adapter but doesn't have a driver for it. (yeah, I can't understand why it would disappear just from changing thermal paste either but I'm stretching here and also going by some of the reports over in the Dell forum about wifi disappearing in that particular device) You can read the reports and what folks did to solve the problem HERE

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

Thanks, I'll look into thay.. It shows up fine in device manager, I can see the driver against it too. Even if I uninstall the device, and reboot or comes back so to me, clearly, the OS can see it. Bizarre

Winuser · Apr 11, 2023

Agent745098 said:
Ubuntu says no WiFi adpater found

Back in the days when I was running Mandrake Linux the needed Wi-Fi driver wasn't included in the clean installs. I had to buy a USB wireless adapter to access the net so I could download the driver.

kelper · Apr 11, 2023

I do not understand how you have a USB C port for wifi.

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

I have two usb c ports on the laptop and no others. One would need to be used for charging and the other would be taken up by a usb WiFi dongle. Unless I was to buy a usb c to usb a hub and purchase a usb a dongle.

Agent745098 · Apr 11, 2023

Winuser said:
Back in the days when I was running Mandrake Linux the needed Wi-Fi driver wasn't included in the clean installs. I had to buy a USB wireless adapter to access the net so I could download the driver.

I'm trying to think if I've successfully connected to WiFi with this live usb before but can't remember. Might look into way driver I might need then and see if it's a driver issue with Linux

glasskuter · Apr 11, 2023

So you are saying Windows device manager recognizes the wifi, Ubuntu does not.

Run network troubleshooter. Settings- System-troubleshoot-other troubleshooters-Internet connections-RUN

reset network adapters Reset Network Adapters in Windows 11 Tutorial

cereberus · Apr 12, 2023

Have you checked your router. I had a faulty router that was set up for wifi but did not transmit. Easy enough to check e.g. if other devices connect.

Winuser · Apr 12, 2023

glasskuter said:
So you are saying Windows device manager recognizes the wifi, Ubuntu does not.

Ubuntu would need to have the driver for the Wi-Fi card. I think that if possible, @Agent745098 should buy an inexpensive USB Wi-Fi card. I still have the one that I bought years ago to use on Mandrake Linux. I also have a newer one I bought when I was trying to get the Wi-Fi on my desktop to work in safe mode.

kelper · Apr 12, 2023

Ubuntu has always had the wifi drivers when I have installed it. I have just booted from a USB and confirmed this on one laptop. Am now making a 32-bit bootable USB to test on two other laptops.

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